| The Allen-Stevenson School | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Fortiter et Recte (Strongly and Rightly) |
| Established | 1883 |
| Type | Private Elementary for Boys |
| Headmaster | David R. Trower |
| Students | 400+ (2008) |
| Grades | Kindergarten to 9th Grade |
| Location | New York, New York, USA |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Blue and Gold |
| Mascot | The Unicorn |
| Rival | Buckley |
| Website | Allen-Stevenson.org |
Allen-Stevenson is a private boys elementary school located at 132 East 78th Street in New York City, New York.
Contents |
The Allen School was founded in 1883 by Francis Bellows Allen at a home on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. Its first class enrolled only three boys. In 1885, the school moved to rented rooms at Madison Avenue and 44th Street with an enrollment of 20 boys. In 1904, Mr. Allen met Robert Alston Stevenson, a tutor, who by chance had taken a room at 509 Fifth Avenue, where the School was then located. In 1904, Mr. Allen and Mr. Stevenson joined forces and then moved to 50 East 57th Street with 100 students. By 1918 enrollment exceeded 200. The School published its first newspaper, The Spotlight, and introduced an exercise program and team sports.
In 1924, the School purchased two brownstones for a new schoolhouse and moved to its present location on the Upper East Side. In 1939, Mr. Allen retired at the age of 80, after 56 years of service. In 1947, Mr. Stevenson retired after 43 years of service. His son, Robert "Huck" Alston Stevenson Jr., who had taught at the School, succeeded him as Headmaster.
In 1950, Joseph C. Rennard became Headmaster of Allen-Stevenson and served for nine years. The School introduced team sports at Randall's Island and required boys to wear navy blue blazers and gray flannel pants. In 1959, Henry Dyer Tiffany, Jr. became Headmaster until 1974. Under his leadership, a modern science lab and a paneled library, a gift from the Bell family, were added. In 1974, Desmond Cole became Headmaster and served for 16 years. During his tenure, he created the Middle School division.
In 1983, The Allen-Stevenson School celebrated its first 100 years and published The Allen-Stevenson Centennial Album. Around that time an East 77th Street addition, designed by A-S parent Alfredo De Vido, was built onto the school.
In 1990, the Board of Trustees appointed Mr. David Trower as Allen-Stevenson's seventh Headmaster. In 2001, Allen-Stevenson launched its first website to improve communication about the School.
In 2007, a total renovation-expansion of the school interior was completed, which preserved the school's Classical Revival brick and Victorian brownstone facades according to New York Landmarks Preservation Commission guidelines for the Upper East Side Historic District.
"Allen-Stevenson’s distinctive “enlightened traditional” approach educates boys to become scholars and gentlemen. In the belief that there are many ways to be a boy, the School offers an ongoing commitment to each student and uses the best insights and tools available to understand him as a whole person. We inspire in each boy an appreciation of responsible citizenship and a lifelong love of learning."
"Allen-Stevenson’s vigorous, pre-secondary program of academics, athletics, and the arts teaches boys to value the gratifying process by which excellence is attained. By creating a joyful, safe environment for learning, the School seeks to ensure a productive, diverse community of learners. We challenge our students to take suitable risks, learn from their mistakes, and support each other. Ultimately, we encourage boys to move through life strongly and rightly—with confidence, knowledge, enthusiasm, resilience, and respect for all."
An Allen-Stevenson Boy is a Scholar and a Gentleman. The 2011 annual tuition is $37,850.00.
Allen-Stevenson is known for its vigorous but well-balanced academic curricula, which includes English, Spanish, Mathematics, Science, and History. Most A-S alumni continue at some of the finest schools in the country.
Common Boarding Schools to which A-S students matriculate: Hotchkiss, Kent, Choate, Exeter, Tabor, Lawrenceville, St. George's, Brooks, Taft, Loomis, Andover, St. Paul's, Groton, Middlesex
Common Day Schools to which A-S students matriculate: Collegiate, Dalton, Browning, Riverdale, Horace Mann, Trinity, Fieldston, Stuyvesant
Although sports are played at all ages the Varsity teams are drawn from the Upper School grades. A-S competes against the other Manhattan Private schools in addition to a few nearby country day schools. The league varies by sport, but they field teams in the following:
Fall - Soccer (JV and Varsity), The Schools Signature Sport Football (Varsity) and Intramurals (JV and Varsity)
Winter - Basketball (JV and Varsity), Wrestling (Varsity), Ice Hockey (Varsity), and Intramurals (JV and Varsity)
Spring - Baseball (JV and Varsity), Lacrosse (Varsity), Track (Varsity), and Intramurals (JV and Varsity)
Daily afternoon sports are held outdoors on playing fields on Wards Island and Randall's Island and indoors in the school gymnasium, depending on the weather and the season. Afternoon sports and informal kickball games are sometimes played on "The Roof," the school's chainlink-fenced rooftop court.
A-S offers art, shop, and music programs for grades K-9. The orchestral and choral programs are esteemed features.
Orchestras
Allen-Stevenson hosts two orchestras for grades Five through Nine and two preparatory ensembles through Fourth Grade. The senior orchestra, called Philharmonia, typically travels and performs in the North East. Local performances have included the Brearley, Chapin, Collegiate, and Nightingale-Bamford schools, As well as Carnegie Hall, and Alice Tully Hall. Past trips have included Princeton University, Yale University, Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia, Mystic, Connecticut, and The White House in Washington, D.C. In 2002, both orchestras participated in an orchestral festival at Lincoln Center. The Philharmonia performed at Carnegie Hall in the winter of 2008. Currently an estimated 200+ boys are taking instrumental lessons during the school week, and an estimated 120 boys play in ensembles and/or orchestras. Just recently, both the Philharmonia and the Upper School Chorus performed on the stage of Alice Tully Hall, with out any other schools present. 1000+ people attended this event
Choruses
Since 1990, the Allen-Stevenson School Choruses have established themselves as first-rate choral ensembles, performing at the White House, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and for many organizations throughout New York City. Recent professional engagements include a performance of the St. Nicolas Cantata by Benjamin Britten and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, both with the Musica Viva Chorus of New York City. The two Choruses include boys in the fourth through sixth grade and seventh through ninth grade, and stand alongside the Allen-Stevenson Orchestra as a testimony to the School's commitment to music and art.
Performances
In addition there is an annual fall play usually with sister school Nightingale, an annual performance of a William Shakespeare play, and, in March, the traditional all-male production of a rotation of 5 Gilbert & Sullivan operettas (Iolanthe, HMS Pinafore, The Mikado, Patience and Pirates Of Penzance). The Middle School does the Female Leads and the Upper School does the Male Leads.
School publications include
Allen-Stevenson's school song, composed by music teacher Rolande Schrade in 1968, is as follows:
We hail thee, Allen-Stevenson,
Fortiter et recte.
With joy untold, the Blue and Gold
Will be with us always.
We hail thee, Allen-Stevenson,
Fortiter et recte.
The days grow short as we grow tall,
Our faith grows firm, our fears grow small.
We hail thee, Allen-Stevenson,
Fortiter et recte.
And as the lamplight shows the way,
We strongly, rightly live each day.
We hail thee, Allen-Stevenson,
Fortiter et recte.