Dwight School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dwight School |
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| Motto: Use your spark of genius to build a better world | |
| Established | 1880 |
| Type | Private |
| Students | 400 |
| Grades | K - 12 |
| Location | 291 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024 New York City, New York United States |
| Colors | Blue and white |
| Mascot | Dwight Tiger |
| Website | http://www.dwight.edu/ |
The Dwight School is a selective, combined elementary and secondary private school on the Upper West Side in New York, NY.
The school was founded in 1880 by Julius Sachs, founder of The College Board and member of the Goldman Sachs banking family. Throughout the early decades of the school, it catered to the Upper East Side's "German Jewish aristocracy," in the words of Stephen Birmingham in his book, "Our Crowd": The Great Jewish Families of New York (see famous alumni below). In the 1890s, Timothy Dwight became involved in the affairs of the school and it became a feeder school for Yale University. The school's campus was originally located on Central Park South, adjacent to the Plaza Hotel, but later moved to a more economically viable location on East 67th Street between First and York Avenues as a result of the Great Depression. In 1993, Dwight merged with the Anglo-American International School (formerly known as the Franklin School, founded 1872) and moved its campus to Anglo-American's location on Central Park West and 89th Street. In addition to the original building on 89th street, the school expanded, occupying several floors of a building across the street at 291 Central Park West.
Children who are enrolled in Dwight's lower school are placed in an immersion program where they are expected to become fluent in a foreign language. Dwight has traditionally encouraged their lower school students to become proficient in French, but has recently switched to Spanish in an effort to update their curriculum. In the 1980s, Dwight became the first school in the United States to offer the three International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, grades K-12.
Despite Dwight's small size of about 400 students, 37 countries are represented due to the large diplomatic contingent that elect to send their children to the school. The school's expatriate student body represents at least a quarter of the students in most classes. Many parents of Dwight students are ambassadors, consul generals, or employees of the United Nations Secretariat.
The former coach of Dwight's state champion basketball team Pee Wee Kirkland is a New York City streetball legend and Chicago Bulls draft pick who was featured in a major article in Sports Illustrated. Dwight is also a powerhouse in fencing and tennis, in which it has won national championships.
Dwight is infamous for the acronym: Dumb White Idiots Getting High Together after having been publicized in an article written by W magazine in 2003 regarding the reputations of private schools in Manhattan. The pressure resulting from the article forced the school's administration to create a highly applauded drug abuse prevention program to combat the wide use of high-end narcotics within the school.
Dwight is considered one of the top private schools in Manhattan. Dwight's mascot is the "Dwight Tiger," a visible symbol around the school. Their school colors are Blue and White, and an annual "Blue and White" competition between students is held annually. The school motto is: "Use your spark of genius to build a better world."
The crest of Timothy Dwight can be seen on the Dwight School flag, polo shirts, turtlenecks, neckties, and the navy blazers of students in elementary and middle school. It is also the crest of Timothy Dwight College, one of the residential colleges at Yale University.
[edit] Notable alumni
Notable alumni of Dwight School include. This may include graduates, current students, those who transferred to other schools, and those who dropped out of high school altogether (Primary source: Dwight School):
- Henry Morgenthau, Secretary of the Treasury to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt [1]
- Fiorello LaGuardia, Mayor of New York City [2]
- Herbert Lehman, Governor of New York, Senator, and Investment banker (co-founder of Lehman Brothers) [3]
- Walter Lippmann Advisor to President Harry Truman, political columnist and arguably an intellectual forerunner of neo-conservatism. [4]
- David A. Harris, Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee
- Truman Capote, author
- Julian Casablancas of The Strokes
- Nick Valensi of The Strokes
- Fabrizio Moretti of The Strokes
- Robert Moses, was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, and other suburbs. [5]
- Hal Prince, Director [6]
- Roy Lichtenstein, artist [7]
- Jonah Goldberg, conservative commentator [8]
- Lizzie Grubman, high profile publicist [9]
- Yehuda HaKohen, Zionist activist and leader of ZFA
- Paris Hilton, celebutante and heiress [10]
- Dana Barron, Actress [11]
