Thornton Donovan School

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thornton-Donovan School Emblem
Thornton-Donovan School Emblem

Contents

[edit] History

The Thornton-Donovan School (lovingly called TD) was founded as the New Rochelle School and Kindergarten in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded by Judge Martin Jerome Keogh in 1901 for his children, but eventually included the children of a number of family friends. The first teacher and headmistress was Miss Emily Scott Thornton, a Philadelphia native educated at University College Nottingham, now the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

Image:Oldtd.jpg
A Vintage Photograph of the "Little Red Schoolhouse" TD's Main Building at 100 Overlook Circle

The school is now at its third campus, on Overlook Circle in the affluent Beechmont neighborhood of New Rochelle. It inhabits three former homes, including the former J.W.R. Crawford estate, now the Main Building.

The third and current headmaster is Mr. Douglas E. Fleming, Jr., a graduate of Columbia University.

[edit] TD in the Present

International and independent, The Thornton-Donovan School is now a New York State accredited high school educating over 175 students in grades K-12 every year.

In the summer, the school also holds a summer camp program, in its 38th consecutive year. Children aged 3-14 are permitted to join the program. The children are split into two divisions: Play School (3-7 years) and sports fitness (7-14 years). They participate in a wide variety of sports. Activities include: tennis, softball, hockey, swimming, arts and crafts, karate, dance, basketball, soccer, trampolining, capture the flag, an outdoor playset and kickball. The older group is also transported to a bowling alley every Friday, where the children have the chance to bowl.

The school features a swimming pool, an outdoor playset, woodchips, a driveway, more than thirty trees, a large field, a basketball/tennis court, three buildings, a parking lot/hackey-sack arena, a parrot, and a shed for arts and crafts which is used only during the summer. The patron saint of the shed is Ms. Mino, the Jailkeeper.

Watch a video [1] about the Thornton-Donovan School

[edit] Thematic Education

Middle and Upper School curricula are themed each year on an area of the world. Students are exposed to a dynamic course of learning throughout the year learning not only about international cultures, but politics, history and the arts in an interdisciplinary and experiential context.

A rigorous course of learning is punctuated by a spring-time trip to locations associated with the year's theme. Students, faculty and friends can all join for an exceptional educational excursion.

Year Themes Trip Locations Highlights
1997 Italy
1998 Romancing the Stone New Mexico & Arizona Residence with families on the Zuni tribal reservation
1999 The Unfinished symphony Austria Trip to UNO headquarters in Vienna
2000 The Philosopher's Apprentice Greece & Turkey Cruise around the Greek Islands
2001 Dare to Dream Spain & Morocco Residence with families in Marbella, Spain on the Costa Del Sol
2002 New York State of Mind New York Ending the trip in Montreal
2003 Islands in the Sun Key West, Florida
2004 New Orleans, Virginia, Washington, DC, Philadelphia
2005 Lincoln Monumental, Lands of Lincoln Philadelphia & Washington, DC; Illinois & Missouri
2006 Commemorating Churchill London
2007 Land of the Rising Sun Japan

[edit] The Arts & Community Connections

  • The mural "The Constellations" on the first floor of TD's main building was painted by Alton S. Tobey
  • The Lumen Martin Winter house was TD's second acquisition for the current campus. Winter's mosaic is in the United Nations' headquarters in Manhattan. There is also a mural by him titled "Aspiration" in the school's main building.

[edit] School Culture

Thornton Donovan has a fun, intellegent and quirky school culture. Inside jokes and random antics are normal both during the school year and on upper school trips.

[edit] External links

[edit] Alumni on the Web