Wooster School
Encyclopedia
Wooster School is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory Pre-K-12 school in Danbury, Connecticut
, in the United States
. Wooster was founded in 1926 by Aaron Coburn and is named after General David Wooster
, a Revolutionary War hero. Wooster's four cardinal principles are simplicity, religion, hard work, and intellectual excellence. An Episcopal school, Wooster emphasizes community service and helping others.Wooster states that its mission is to "maintain a school for the intellectual, spiritual, ethical, aesthetic, and physical development of boys and girls of diverse backgrounds." The school motto is Ex Quoque Potestate, Cuique Pro Necessitate. This translates roughly as "From each according to ability, to each according to need."
As of the 2003–04 school year, the school had an enrollment of 417 students and 56.1 faculty members (on a full-time equivalent
basis) for a student-teacher ratio
of 7.4.
Notable alumni include award-winning folk singer and guitarist Tracy Chapman
, trial attorney Cyrus Mehri, developer Marc Vandenhoeck, and Neil Rudenstine, president of Harvard University
for a decade in the 1990s.
It has earned 5 stars on the "Great Schools" web site. The school is a member of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, and other prep school groups.
Wooster School is named for General David Wooster
, whom fought at the Battle of Ridgefield
for the Colonial side in the American Revolution
, the battlefield for the Danbury Raid is near the campus.
The school was the first prep school
to actively recruit minority candidates
as a "feeder system" for elite Ivy League
colleges, such as Harvard University.
Students are not only responsible for cleaning and maintaining the campus, but also for the program's organization and management.
As students in the Lower School (grades K - 5) progress through the grades, they assume more responsibility for their classrooms and the Lower School building. Students in the Middle and Upper Schools (grades 6 - 12) are in charge at all times of the upkeep of the whole school.
In addition to self-help and volunteering, Upper School students meet the requirement of 100 hours of community service outside the Wooster community, which can be completed between the summer before freshman year and graduation.
Seniors in good standing academically may also participate in the Senior Independent Study (SIS) program the last six weeks of their senior year, at which time they may pursue a community service project or career interest as a job off campus. Upon completion of SIS, each student submits a written report and makes an oral presentation to the faculty and senior classmates about what he or she learned.
Headmaster: Timothy B. Golding, the ninth head of the school
Religious affiliation: Episcopalian
Accreditation: New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Memberships:
• Connecticut Association of Independent Schools
• National Association of Independent Schools
• National Association of Episcopal Schools
• Cum Laude Society
Size of campus: 127 acre (0.51395122 km²)
Number of school buildings: 15
School song: The hymn
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
(based on Psalm 90
).
Schools; the church's top educator award is named for former School Head John D. Verdery. The school's library received a grant of over $6,000 from U.S. Senator
Chris Dodd
's office to improve its Internet
access through the E-rate
grants.
Wooster School students co-founded, and are hosts to, YRTA (Youth Reacting to AIDS
), the first teen-run organization to increase awareness of AIDS and to assist persons living with AIDS
.
Danbury, Connecticut
Danbury is a city in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It had population at the 2010 census of 80,893. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut....
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Wooster was founded in 1926 by Aaron Coburn and is named after General David Wooster
David Wooster
David Wooster was an American general who served in the French and Indian War and in the American Revolutionary War. He died of wounds sustained during the Battle of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Cities, schools, and public places were named after him...
, a Revolutionary War hero. Wooster's four cardinal principles are simplicity, religion, hard work, and intellectual excellence. An Episcopal school, Wooster emphasizes community service and helping others.Wooster states that its mission is to "maintain a school for the intellectual, spiritual, ethical, aesthetic, and physical development of boys and girls of diverse backgrounds." The school motto is Ex Quoque Potestate, Cuique Pro Necessitate. This translates roughly as "From each according to ability, to each according to need."
As of the 2003–04 school year, the school had an enrollment of 417 students and 56.1 faculty members (on a full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...
basis) for a student-teacher ratio
Student-teacher ratio
Student-teacher ratio refers to the number of teachers in a school or university with respect to the number of students who attend the institution. For example, a student-teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students for every one teacher...
of 7.4.
Notable alumni include award-winning folk singer and guitarist Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...
, trial attorney Cyrus Mehri, developer Marc Vandenhoeck, and Neil Rudenstine, president of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
for a decade in the 1990s.
It has earned 5 stars on the "Great Schools" web site. The school is a member of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, and other prep school groups.
Wooster School is named for General David Wooster
David Wooster
David Wooster was an American general who served in the French and Indian War and in the American Revolutionary War. He died of wounds sustained during the Battle of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Cities, schools, and public places were named after him...
, whom fought at the Battle of Ridgefield
Battle of Ridgefield
The Battle of Ridgefield was a battle and a series of skirmishes between American and British forces during the American Revolutionary War. The main battle was fought in the village of Ridgefield, Connecticut on April 27, 1777 and more skirmishing occurred the next day between Ridgefield and the...
for the Colonial side in the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, the battlefield for the Danbury Raid is near the campus.
The school was the first prep school
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
to actively recruit minority candidates
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
as a "feeder system" for elite Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
colleges, such as Harvard University.
Educational philosophy
Wooster follows a liberal arts tradition. Self-help has been one of the fundamental principles at Wooster since the School's founding in 1926. It is a philosophy that places total responsibility for the physical environment of the school on the students.Students are not only responsible for cleaning and maintaining the campus, but also for the program's organization and management.
As students in the Lower School (grades K - 5) progress through the grades, they assume more responsibility for their classrooms and the Lower School building. Students in the Middle and Upper Schools (grades 6 - 12) are in charge at all times of the upkeep of the whole school.
In addition to self-help and volunteering, Upper School students meet the requirement of 100 hours of community service outside the Wooster community, which can be completed between the summer before freshman year and graduation.
Seniors in good standing academically may also participate in the Senior Independent Study (SIS) program the last six weeks of their senior year, at which time they may pursue a community service project or career interest as a job off campus. Upon completion of SIS, each student submits a written report and makes an oral presentation to the faculty and senior classmates about what he or she learned.
General information
Date Founded: 1926 – Rev. Aaron C. CoburnHeadmaster: Timothy B. Golding, the ninth head of the school
Religious affiliation: Episcopalian
Accreditation: New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Memberships:
• Connecticut Association of Independent Schools
• National Association of Independent Schools
National Association of Independent Schools
The National Association of Independent Schools is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1963, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, boarding, and day/boarding schools; elementary and secondary...
• National Association of Episcopal Schools
• Cum Laude Society
Size of campus: 127 acre (0.51395122 km²)
Number of school buildings: 15
School song: The hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
O God, Our Help in Ages Past is a hymn by Isaac Watts and paraphrases Psalm 90. It originally consisted of nine stanzas. In present usage, however, the hymn is usually limited to stanzas one, two, three, five and nine...
(based on Psalm 90
Psalm 90
Psalm 90 is the 90th psalm from the Book of Psalms. According to its title, it is attributed to Moses.-Judaism:*Is recited during the Pesukei Dezimra during Shabbat, Yom Tov, and Hoshana Rabbah....
).
Recent notice
From 2001 to 2004, Wooster School made some improvements to its physical plant, notably the addition of a new gymnasium and a middle school. The school is a frequent site of Toastmasters meetings. Wooster continues to retain its reputation as a leader amongst EpiscopalianEpiscopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
Schools; the church's top educator award is named for former School Head John D. Verdery. The school's library received a grant of over $6,000 from U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Chris Dodd
Christopher Dodd
Christopher John "Chris" Dodd is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States Senator from Connecticut for a thirty-year period ending with the 111th United States Congress....
's office to improve its Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
access through the E-rate
E-rate
E-Rate is the commonly used name for the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund, which is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company under the direction of the Federal Communications Commission .-Function:...
grants.
Wooster School students co-founded, and are hosts to, YRTA (Youth Reacting to AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
), the first teen-run organization to increase awareness of AIDS and to assist persons living with AIDS
PWA
PWA may stand for:* Patients' welfare association* Pacific Western Airlines* People With AIDS* Pirates With Attitude, a warez release group* Prince Willem Alexander, Crown prince of the Netherlands* Printed Wiring Assemblies, Printed Circuit Boards...
.
External links
- Wooster School — official site
- The General — student newspaper
- John D. Verdery Library — library site