| Westminster School | |
|---|---|
|
Virtute Et Numine
(Grit and Grace) |
|
| Location | |
| 995 Hopmeadow St, Simsbury, CT 06070 |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Private, Boarding |
| Religious affiliation(s) | None |
| Established | 1888 |
| Faculty | 89 |
| Enrollment | 385 |
| Color(s) | Black and Gold |
| Mascot | The Martlet |
| Website | www.westminster-school.org |
Westminster School is a small, private, boarding school located in Simsbury, Connecticut.[1]
Contents |
Westminster School was founded by William Lee Cushing in 1888 as a boys’ school in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
In 1900, as enrollment increased, Mr. Cushing moved the school to its current location in Simsbury, Connecticut. The move to Simsbury provided more land, which had been donated through a trustee of the school, Arthur M. Dodge, a member of an old Hartford family. Williams Hill (the site of the school) offered more than 230 acres (0.93 km2) with commanding views of the Farmington River. The Simsbury location also provided train service for students to New York and Boston, a boon to families from those areas.
A graduate of Yale University and a firm believer in the traditional form of English boarding school education, Mr. Cushing was strongly influenced by the Reverend Edward Thring the headmaster of Uppingham School in England.
In the early 1970s, Westminster School opened its doors to day students. In 1971, girls were admitted for the first time as day students and in 1977 as boarding students. Like many boarding schools, Westminster faced difficult times in the 1970s as it competed for a shrinking pool of boarding students led by Headmaster Donald Werner (appointed in 1972). When Werner retired after nearly twenty-five years, he left a thriving school for successor Graham Cole. With Cole's retirement in 2010, Westminster has appointed William V.N. ("Bill") Philip as its eighth Headmaster. Philip has ascended to the top job after a 26-year career at Westminster as a teacher, coach, dorm-master, college counselor, and most recently Associate and Assistant Headmaster.[2]
Westminster has many traditions including Fall Bonfire, which was originally the time when freshman boys would throw their "freshmen ties" into the fire to show that they were now a member of the community. A tradition much beloved by students in particular are "Hill Holidays"--an unscheduled day off from academic classes. Hill holidays generally occur four times during the year and are usually announced in honor of the birth of a faculty child or another important school events. In recent years, Hill Holidays have been announced Headmaster W. Graham Cole is spotted in a building on campus wearing a hat (the only occasion on which he does so). William Phillip now raises the class flag to announce the Hill Holiday.
A relatively new tradition is the signing ceremony. At the beginning of each year all the new students file through the Headmaster's office, shake the hands of the prefects, and sign a book. The students then file to the pin ceremony.
Another long-time tradition is the Sixth Form lawn, a grassy area on the main quadrangle that can only be walked upon by Sixth Formers (seniors) or alumni in recognition of present and past leadership of the school. In past years, the prohibition on underclassmen walking on the Sixth Form lawn resulted in a bit of a cat-and-mouse game between vigilant Sixth Formers and bold freshmen and sophomores testing the limits of this senior privilege, with apprehended underclassmen paying a penalty usually involving the wearing of embarrassing attire (one unfortunate found himself wearing a piece of the lawn itself for several days). More recently the Sixth Form lawn is a focus of positive traditions celebrating the rising leadership of the school, including a pin ceremony in which new Sixth Formers are giving lapel pins, and several Commencement ceremonies (culminating in Sixth Formers' receiving their diplomas in a circle on the Sixth Form lawn).
Westminster offers a sports program in fifteen interscholastic and one non-competitive sport.
| Sport | Season | Boys/Girls | Competitive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross Country | Fall | B/G | Yes |
| Soccer | Fall | B/G | Yes |
| Football | Fall | B | Yes |
| Field Hockey | Fall | G | Yes |
| Ice Hockey | Winter | B/G | Yes |
| Basketball | Winter | B/G | Yes |
| Swimming | Winter | B/G | Yes |
| Squash | Winter | B/G | Yes |
| Martial Arts | Winter | B/G | No |
| Baseball | Spring | B | Yes |
| Softball | Spring | G | Yes |
| Lacrosse | Spring | B/G | Yes |
| Tennis | Spring | B/G | Yes |
| Track and Field | Spring | B/G | Yes |
| Golf | Spring | B/G | Yes |
Many students' favorite tradition is stickball, a game in which teams made up of dormitory floors and day student teams compete in a baseball-like game on the quad and athletic fields in the late spring when the days lengthen and the temperature rises. Each floor must make its own bat, usually a hockey or lacrosse stick that has been cut, or a wooden dowel of a large diameter. Generally the stickball "season" will culminate in a single-elimination tournament to crown the Hill Stickball champion.
The Westminster Dramat Association has performed many well known and popular shows. The schedule for the Association throughout the school year is typically a comedy or a tragedy in the fall, a musical in the winter, and a student produced show (or shows) in the spring.[4] The following is the list of plays and musicals that have been performed since the 1995-1996 school year.[5]
| Play | Year |
|---|---|
| An Enemy of the People | 1995 |
| All in the Time | 1996 |
| Dracular (play) | 1997 |
| Alice in Wonderland (play) | 1998 |
| The Dining Room | 1999 |
| You Can’t Take It With You | 2000 |
| A Midsummer Night’s Dream | 2001 |
| The Crucible | 2002 |
| The Madwoman of Chaillot | 2003 |
| Arcadia | 2004 |
| All’s Well That Ends Well | 2005 |
| Museum | 2006 |
| And Then There Were None | 2007 |
| The Glass Menagerie | 2008 |
| The Odd Couple (Female Version) | 2009 |
| Picasso at the Lapin Agile | 2010 |
| Musical | Year |
|---|---|
| Grease (musical) | 1996 |
| Big River | 1997 |
| Guys and Dolls | 1998 |
| Peter Pan | 1999 |
| Anything Goes | 2000 |
| The Boyfriend | 2001 |
| Merrily We Roll Along | 2002 |
| Leader of the Pack | 2003 |
| 42nd Street | 2004 |
| No, No Nanette | 2005 |
| On the Town | 2006 |
| Footloose | 2007 |
| How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | 2008 |
| Little Shop of Horrors | 2009 |
| Godspell | 2010 |
| A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum | 2011 |
Upcoming shows for the 2011-2012 school year are:
| Season | Show |
|---|---|
| Fall | Eurydice |
| Winter | The Drowsy Chaperone |
"Recently Demolished Buildings"
Notable alumni include: