The Gunnery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Gunnery | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Washington, Connecticut, U.S. | |
| Information | |
| Religion | None |
| Head of School | Susan G. Graham |
| Enrollment |
295 students |
| Faculty | 50 Teaching Faculty |
| Average class size | 14 students |
| Student:teacher ratio | 6:1 |
| Average SAT scores (2006) | 1260 |
| Type | Co-ed Private, Boarding |
| Campus | 220 acres |
| Athletics | 14 Interscholastic Sports Teams |
| Athletics conference | NEPSAC |
| Motto | 'Vir Bonus Semper Discipulus Est' |
| Mascot | Highlanders |
| Color(s) | Crimson and Gray |
| Established | 1850 |
| Homepage | Gunnery.org |
The Gunnery is a coeducational boarding and day Prep school for 295 students in grades nine through twelve. The 220-acre (0.89 km²) campus borders the village green of Washington, Connecticut, U.S., a small, historic town in the Litchfield Hills. The Gunnery has no religious or military affiliations.
The Gunnery was founded in 1850 by Frederick W. Gunn, a teacher, abolitionist, and father of recreational camping in America. The basic mission of The Gunnery is to promote the four cornerstones on which character is built: scholarship, physical fitness, mutual respect and personal integrity.
There are nine dormitories on campus that house from 12 to 48 students each. In most cases, students are grouped by class. Each dormitory consists primarily of single and double student rooms, but also houses faculty members and their families. 85 percent of the faculty lives on campus.
The Gunnery’s academic curriculum emphasizes the liberal arts; Advanced Placement courses and many electives are offered in all disciplines. Classes average 14 students in size and provide a seminar atmosphere, allowing for maximum student-teacher interaction.
Contents |
[edit] History
In 1850, Frederick William Gunn, educator, prominent abolitionist, and outdoorsman, along with his wife, Abigail Brinsmade Gunn, founded The Gunnery in Washington, Connecticut. Running the school out of his house, Gunn’s basic mission was to impart onto his youth four ideals: intellectual strength, moral courage, physical rigor, and character. In a much less inclusive era (1850-1882), The Gunnery welcomed girls, international students and students of color.
Frederick Gunn is recognized as the originator of leisure camping in the United States. He walked with his students 40 miles (64 km) to a Milford, Connecticut beach where they practiced camping skills in the 1860s. The custom continued into the 1870s at nearby Lake Waramaug, where academic subjects were added to the outdoor curriculum during a semester of camping. This legacy is commemorated every year when the whole school takes a fall holiday to hike in the nearby Steep Rock Reservation. Gunn was known to be a disciplinarian with an imaginative flair for reinforcing his points: When students were caught engaged in fisticuffs, they were forced to sit in each other's laps for 30 minutes; a child using foul language was asked to lecture to a herd of cows without using the same word twice; a restless interrupter of the class was told to run around the church blowing a horn at each corner until he was fatigued enough to sit still; and a liar walked 10 miles (16 km) and brought back a wood chip to prove he did it.
John Chapin Brinsmade succeeded his father-in-law as head of school in 1881 as the public school system established itself in Connecticut. He expanded the school outside of the family home, building a dormitory, a schoolhouse and a gymnasium. During his tenure fraternities were established, which had teachers as well as students as members, and the science curriculum was expanded to include labs. In 1922 the privately-owned school was purchased by a group of alumni acting as trustees, and Hamilton Gibson (’02) was installed as the third headmaster. He abolished the fraternities, believing they were detrimental to the community spirit of the school, and converted the institution into an all-boys school. Gibson restructured the campus around a quadrangle of newly-built neo-colonial buildings. During this time, the enrollment of the school tripled.
When Headmaster Russell Bartlett died in office, Ogden Miller was appointed headmaster in 1946. Having previously served as Director of Athletics at Yale, Miller raised the level of athletic participation and strengthened the Gunnery teams. During his tenure the school campus almost doubled in size with the purchase of the Bourne estate with its 40-room Tudor mansion, which serves as the administration building today. Burgess Ayres assumed the headship in 1969 and initiated a period of student and curriculum coordination with a nearby girls’ school, Wykeham Rise. in 1977, under the leadership of headmaster David Kern full coeducation was reintroduced.
In 1991 Susan Graham was named the first female head of school. During her tenure many renovations took place including the enclosure of the hockey rink, the construction of the Emerson Performing Arts Center, the building of an alumni center, the replacement of the dining facilities, and the establishment of a student center in the old dining area. Currently, construction has begun on the replacement of the 1960s era underclassmen dorms with the start in 2006 of Teddy House.
[edit] Interscholastic sports
| Fall | Winter | Spring |
|---|---|---|
| Crew (boys and girls) | Basketball (boys and girls) | Baseball (boys) |
| Cross-Country (boys and girls) | Wrestling (boys) | Crew (boys and girls) |
| Field Hockey (girls) | Basketball (boys and girls) | Golf (coed) |
| American football (boys)(2007 Colonial League Undefeated Champions) | Ice hockey (boys and girls) | Lacrosse (boys and girls) |
| Soccer (boys and girls) | Volleyball (girls) | Softball (girls) |
| Ultimate Frisbee (coed) | ||
| Tennis (boys and girls) |
[edit] Student clubs and organizations
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[edit] Tradition
- One of the first photographs of a Baseball game was taken at The Gunnery's first alumni day in 1869. The Alumni baseball game is still played every year during Alumni Weekend.
- A school tradition is to find The Stray Shot, a 20", 80 lb (36 kg). cannonball hidden by a group of seniors who then leak clues to its whereabouts to the junior class. When a group of juniors finds The Stray Shot they engrave their initials into the ball and hide it again for next year. The game is usually played in secrecy. The Gunnery faculty lost track of The Stray Shot I in 1992 and The Stray Shot II in 2002. The Stray Shot was spotted at Graduation 2007 before it was abruptly hidden again.
- Senior Rock is a large boulder in the middle of the Quad, in front of Gunn dormitory, dedicated to Hamilton Gibson (Third Headmaster). By tradition, seniors are the only group of people allowed to climb or sit on the rock.
- The School Walk - The whole school takes a day off classes on Fredrick W. Gunn's birthday to go for a recreational hike, a tradition that he started. This walk takes students around Steep Rock, the nature conservancy in the town.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Benjamin Foulois 1893 - Founder of US Army Air Corps.
- Harold Bache '12 - President of Bache and Co, later Prudential Bache.
- Richard L. Feigen '47 - American art dealer.
- Jonathan Linen '62 - Vice Chairman of American Express and Director of InterContinental Hotels Group.
- Sam Posey '62 - Racecar driver and sports broadcast journalist.
- George Grande '64 - Voice of the Cincinnati Reds on Fox Sports Net Ohio.
- Christopher Dunford ’66 - President of Freedom from Hunger.
- Stephen Baird ’68, Managing Director of UBS AG.
- Edsel Ford II '68 - Member of the board of directors for the Ford Motor Company
- Dick Wolf '68 - Creator of Law & Order.
- Samuel Newhouse III '70 - Editor, heir to Condé Nast Publications Inc.
- Jonathan M. Tisch '71 - Chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels and Treasurer of the New York Giants.
- Dr. David Abala '73 - Urologist, member of Duke University Medical Center, White House Fellow, and Official doctor for the Super Bowl.
- Maynard Webb '74 - COO of Ebay.
- David Modell '80 - Former owner of the Baltimore Ravens.
- Mark Lazarus ’82 - President of Turner Entertainment Group.
- James Perse '91 - Fashion Designer.
- Jesse Soffer '02 - Actor.
- Austin Smith '07 - NHL 5th round draft pick by the Dallas Stars.
