Millbrook School

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Millbrook School
Motto Non sibi sed cunctis ("Not for oneself, but for others")
Established 1931
Type Private coeducational secondary
Headmaster Drew Casertano
Students 250
Grades 9–12
Location Millbrook, New York, USA
Campus Rural
Mascot Mustang
Website [1]

Millbrook School is a private, coeducational preparatory school located in Dutchess County, New York, USA It is governed by a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees, and is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools and the Board of Regents of the State University of New York. Institutional memberships include the Cum Laude Society, the Secondary School Admission Test Board, the National Association of Independent Schools, the New York State Association of Independent Schools, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, and A Better Chance.

Contents

[edit] History

Millbrook School was founded in 1931 by Edward Pulling. Pulling was a graduate of both Princeton University and Cambridge University and he taught at both Groton School and Avon Old Farms as well as private schools in the United Kingdom. While at Avon, Pulling began to think of creating his own school. His philosophy for a school was heavily influenced by the traditional setting he experienced at Groton and in the UK as well as the progressive ideology that Avon possessed. After searching for suitable grounds to house the school-including an offer from then Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt to build in Hyde Park, New York- Pulling and his wife decided on the Stephenson farm just 5 miles (8 km) outside of Millbrook NY.

After the purchase of the property Pulling drafted his first board of trustees which included Endicott Peabody Sr., who was headmaster at Groton, and Henry Harkness Flagler, who became the first President of the Board of Trustees. With the generous support of the Flagler family and Pulling's father-in-law Russell Leffingwell the campus increased from the original farm buildings to include a vast majority of the current campus infrastructure.

[edit] Campus

The Millbrook School campus is situated on 634 acres (2.6 km²) of woods, streams and farmland. The surrounding area is all farmland that is now protected from development, preserving the area's natural beauty. The campus proper is situated around West Quadrangle, which is the main academic quad. It is organized much like a New England green with the Flagler Memorial Chapel at the head. Schoolhouse, which is the main academic building and holds the Harkness Library, is the other main building on the west quad. Pulling Quad is the other major quad which is surrounded by the Prum Hall as well as the headmaster's residence and "The Barn" both of which are holdovers from the original farm. The newest quad is commanded by the brand new Hollbrook Arts Center completed in 2001. Much of the campus has been renovated since the early 90's including a new 80,000 square foot (7,000 m²) Mills Athletic Center completed in 1997.

The campus, which sits atop a small hill, looks down onto the playing fields and most of the school property that extends south. On Ski Hill, which is at the southern end of the property, is a forest canopy walkway for biology research and below is a wetlands preserve where freshmen and advanced senior biology classes go "marsh-mucking" every fall and spring.

[edit] School Mission and Community Service

While the campus has many traditional values what makes Millbrook unique is the progressive mission that the school embodies. The school motto is "Non Sibi Sed Cunctis" Latin for "Not for Ones Self but for All" and this is incorporated in every facet of school life, most notably in the Community Service Program. Edward Pulling wanted every student who attended Millbrook to contribute something to the maintenance and upkeep of the school as well as contributing something to the surrounding community. Originally functions performed by students included fire safety, running the post office, growing food, dishwashing, helping to maintain the zoo (zooies) and a variety of other duties to help the school. By the time WWII began Millbrook used its community service program to help the war effort. In the subsequent years the community service program has changed considerably to encompass a much larger variety of programs that are much more specialized. They run the gamut from tour guides to an outreach program to head waiters (in charge of the dishwashers to peer counselors that help students deal with the stressful life of boarding school. Every student is required to participate in a community service all four years of their stay at Millbrook and many keep with the same service all four years.

[edit] Winter Weekend

A unique Millbrook School event which encompasses the entire campus with Dorm vs. Dorm competitions. Pep rallies, scavenger hunts, kickball, broom-hockey, and the prestigious snow-sculpture competition are just a few of the events. However the snow sculpture competition has gone downhill since its pinnacle in the 2004-2005 school year with Case's fully functional ice Hot-tub. Destroying the previous year's ice cold ice-shower, this engineering feat defied the odds, and equipped with a slide from a students window, won hands down. Capped off with the Empire Cup, Winter Weekend is always something students look forward to, along with the bragging rights thereafter. These bragging rights, however, have remained with Case Hall since the very first Winter Weekend over a decade ago. With strong leadership and unfathomable dorm spirit, Case Hall enjoys an undefeated record in overall points.

[edit] The Trevor Teaching Zoo

If there was one thing that separates Millbrook from any other secondary school in the country it is the Trevor Teaching Zoo. It was founded in 1936 by Frank Trevor, the schools famed first biology teacher. According to Pulling, Trevor pulled up to his house directly from Cornell University with a car full of caged animals and told him "Here is the Millbrook Zoo". With the help of students Trevor began construction of the Zoo across School Road on six acres (24,000 m²) that backed up against a large horse farm. In the early days the zoo was mostly local animals, but soon the occupants became more exotic. In 1973 Jonothan Meigs '65 arrived back on campus 6 years after Trevor retired. He began to expand the zoo, building new cages and collecting new animals. In the early 80s he was named Director of the Zoo. Since then the Trevor Zoo has gotten every stamp of approval from national agencies and in 1989 was accredited by the AZA, which only 214 zoos have the distinction. There are now well over 100 species with exhibits separated by continents, all but Antarctica represented. There are currently over a dozen endagered species such as Red Wolfs, White Naped Cranes, lemurs, Red Pandas and tamarins. The zoo participates in many rehabilitaion and conservation programs locally, nationally and internationally. The staff is somewhat unusual with 5 full time faculty including an animal behavior expert, but most of the grunt work is performed by "zooies", willing and devoted students who choose to work at the zoo as their community service. Trevor Zoo mimics the practices of larger zoos by beginning students off feeding animals and cleaning cages. As their experience grows, a select few are promoted to curators to take charge of the younger "zooies". One head curator is also elected (with the exception of the 2006-2007 year where there will be two head curators).

[edit] Alumni

Millbrook School enjoys an active alumni body of 2,396 including such notables as:

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