The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine is an independent, Episcopal, K-8

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compa ...

for girls and boys of all faiths located in Morningside Heights,

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Founded in 1901, it is located on the 13-acre campus of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and has an enrollment of 300 students. The School is divided into a Lower School (Grades K-4) and an Upper School (Grades 5–8).

Facts and figures

* 300 students * 6:1 student to teacher ratio * 78% of faculty members have advanced degrees * 13 acres of academic buildings, gardens, and green space * 2 on-campus playgrounds * 2 on-campus gyms * 33 Upper School Electives, Clubs and Affinity Groups * 18 interscholastic sports teams

History

The choir school building, now the Cathedral School of St. John the Divine, is located on the eastern border of the cathedral close of St. John the Divine. The building is in the Collegiate Gothic style and is stories tall. The exterior contains gray schist cladding and limestone trim, with architectural features such as a gabled roof, dormers protruding from the roof, and Tudor-style arched openings. Inside, the building contained classrooms; gathering space for reception, dining; music rooms; a library; a gymnasium; a dormitory; and masters’ and service rooms. The choir school was created in 1901 within the Ithiel Town Building. A separate structure was first proposed in Walter Cook & Winthrop A. Welch's 1906 plan for the cathedral close. In January 1910, Mary Eliza Blodgett (also known as Mrs. J. Jarrett Blodgett) donated $25,000 toward the new school building's projected $150,000 cost, as a gift to honor her father John H. Sherwood. Blodgett later covered the rest of the choir school building's cost after no one else donated, while former choirboy Frederick G. Bourne provided a $500,000 endowment in 1914. Cathedral architect Ralph Adams Cram approved Cook & Welch's plan in January 1912 and filed construction plans that July, with work beginning that October. The school building was finished in September 1913. The choir school consisted of day school for 20 adult men and a boarding school for 40 choirboys who paid no tuition. It was turned into a boys' day school in 1964 and a coeducational day school for grades K-8 in 1972.

Academics

The Cathedral School's Lower School includes kindergarten through 4th grade, with two homeroom classes in each grade level. Kindergarten through 2nd grade classes have two homeroom teachers, a head teacher and an associate teacher. Homeroom teachers develop and implement Language Arts, Mathematics, and Social Studies curricula and are responsible for their homeroom class throughout the day. Specialists in each area teach science, art, music, library, and physical education. Students in kindergarten through 3rd grade study Spanish. Students in the 4th grade take one semester of French and one semester of Spanish, and then choose one language to study in Upper School. Cathedral School Upper School students take classes in English, math, science, social studies, world languages (Spanish or French), art, music and physical education. Latin is mandatory beginning in the sixth grade. Students also learn coding, digital citizenship and online research skills through the dedicated technology curriculum. Across all grades and disciplines, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) is an organic part of the daily academic curriculum at The Cathedral School. Using the National Science Standards as a guide, Lower School students develop STEAM skills through collaborative learning. In the Upper School, they use those skills as a framework to explore increasingly complex, high-level projects.

Athletics

The Cathedral School offers many sports through the fall, winter, and spring. Interscholastic sports include volleyball, soccer, cross country, basketball, track and field, tennis, softball, and baseball. More than 90% of Upper School students participate in at least one interscholastic sport per school year.

Campus

Three

peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...

s, which were first donated by the

Bronx Zoo The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and is the largest metropolitan zoo in ...

in the 1980s, live on the grounds of The Cathedral School. The school hosts an annual Spring Fair that welcomes the greater New York City community.

Notable alumni

* Jon Abbott, CEO of

WGBH Educational Foundation The WGBH Educational Foundation (also known as GBH since August 2020) is an American public broadcasting group based in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1951, it holds the licenses to all of the PBS member stations in Massachusetts, and ...

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

, actor *

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...

, actor *

Emma Straub Emma Straub is an American novelist and bookstore owner. Her novels include '' Modern Lovers'', ''The Vacationers'', ''Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures'' and ''All Adults Here''. She is the author of a short story collection entitled ''Other Peo ...

, American novelist * Isabel Leonard, Grammy award winner and American mezzo-soprano * Bethany Donaphin, former WNBA star and current WNBA Head of League Operations *

John Gary John Gary (born John Gary Strader; November 29, 1932 – January 4, 1998) was an American singer, recording artist, television host, and performer on the musical stage. Early life From Watertown, New York, Gary started singing at the age of 5. ...

, actor, famous for his rendition of '' Danny Boy'', 1930s *

Alex Westerman Alexander Westerman is an American creative director based in Los Angeles. He began his career as an art director in 1991. Where he studied at Ithaca College and New York University. He is an executive creative director at OpusLA In 2016. Ca ...

, award-winning creative director based in Los Angeles. *

Wiki A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pub ...

, record producer and rapper in Ratking

Affiliated organizations

National Association of Independent Schools The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1962, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, boa ...

New York State Association of Independent Schools The New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) is an association of 201 independent schools and organizations, ranging from nurseries to high schools, in New York (state), New York State. Founded in 1947, NYSAIS is the second la ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cathedral School, New York Educational institutions established in 1901 Private elementary schools in Manhattan Episcopal schools in the United States Private middle schools in Manhattan Morningside Heights, Manhattan 1901 establishments in New York City Schools in Harlem