The Shipley School is an independent pre-K12 college preparatory school in

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Bryn Mawr (, from Welsh language, Welsh for 'big hill') is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located just west of Philadelphia along Lancaster Avenue, also known as U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania, U.S. ...

, United States, approximately 10 miles west-northwest of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

History

Hannah Shipley, Elizabeth Shipley, and Katharine Shipley, all sisters, founded The Shipley School in 1888 as a preparatory school for

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

, a women's college located directly across the street. The Shipley sisters were strong-willed, highly educated

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

women who created the school to pass on their values to similarly minded young women. The school opened in the fall of 1894 with six students and nine faculty members. By the 1940s, Shipley had expanded the student body to 341 students. At this time, about half of all Upper School students were boarders hailing from all over the country and from Europe, Asia, Russia, the Middle East, and Latin America. During the 1970s and 1980s, Shipley discontinued its boarding department and began to admit male students. The last boarders graduated in 1982, and by 1984 the school was fully coeducational with equal numbers of girls and boys. And is a school with a

science Olympiad Science Olympiad, sometimes abbreviated as SciOly, is an American team competition in which students compete in 23 events pertaining to various fields of science. The subjects include earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. O ...

Campus

The Shipley School has three divisions: Lower School (pre-kindergarten through grade 5), Middle School (grades 6 through 8), and Upper School (grades 9 through 12).

Notable alumni

* Robb Armstrong, author of '' Jump Start'' comic strip * Gavin Becker, American singer, songwriter and actor * David Corenswet, American actor, screenwriter, and producer * Alice Elliot Dark, American writer * Lydia Denworth, award-winning science writer and contributing editor for Scientific American * Helen Fisher, anthropologist * Tad Friend, journalist * Jessica Knoll, author * Victoria Legrand, of the dream pop duo

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* Dave Lieberman, chef and physician *

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, American electronic music producer/DJ * Madeline Miller, author * Pamela Miller, American politician, first woman mayor of

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* Vinton Liddell Pickens, American county planner and artist * Roxana Robinson, American novelist and biographer * Happy Rockefeller, Second Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977 * Nancy Schwartzman, documentary filmmaker and author * Nancy Talbot, American businesswoman * Sarah Megan Thomas, American actor, writer, and film maker * Dana Veraldi, artist * Alicia Roth Weigel, intersex activist and writer *

Beatrice Wood Beatrice Wood (March 3, 1893 – March 12, 1998) was an American artist and studio potter involved in the Dada movement in the United States; she founded and edited '' The Blind Man'' and '' Rongwrong'' magazines in New York City with French ...

, artist and studio potter

Heads of School

* Hannah, Elizabeth, and Katharine Shipley, 1894–1916 * Alice Howland and Eleanor Brownell, 1916–1941 * Mildred and J. Russell Lynes, 1941–1944 * Margaret Bailey Speer, 1944–1965 * Isota Tucker Epes ’36, 1965–1972 * Nancy E. Lauber, 1972–1979 * Frederic L. Chase III, 1979–1985 * Gary R. Gruber, 1985–1992 * Steve Piltch, 1992–2019 * Michael G. Turner, 2019–2024 * Steve Lisk, 2024-2025 (interim)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shipley School, The Preparatory schools in Pennsylvania Private elementary schools in Pennsylvania Private middle schools in Pennsylvania Private high schools in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1894 Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania Schools in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania 1894 establishments in Pennsylvania