Pomfret School

Pomfret School
Certa Viriliter (Strive Valiantly)
Address
398 Pomfret Street Pomfret, Connecticut USA
Information
Type	Private, Coeducational, Secondary, Boarding
Established	1894
Founder	William E. Peck
Chairman	Justin P. Klein
Head of School	J. Timothy Richards
Grades	9–12, PG
Enrollment	360
Campus	Rural
Student Union/Association	Olmsted Student Union Pomfret Alumni Association
Color(s)	red and black
Athletics	42 interscholastic teams
Mascot	Griffin
Newspaper	Pontefract
The Grauer Institute	Director - Jamie Feild Baker
Website	www.pomfretschool.org

Pomfret School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory boarding and day school in Pomfret, Connecticut, United States, serving 360 students in grades 9 through 12 and post-graduates.^[1] Located in the Pomfret Street Historic District, an hour's drive west from Boston,^[2] the average class size is 11 students with a student-teacher ratio of 6:1. Over 80% of faculty hold master's or doctorate degrees.^[3] Typically, 40% of students receive financial aid or support from over 60 endowed scholarship funds (see Endowed scholarships), 14% are students of color, 17% are international students.^[4]

Pomfret is ranked in the top 20 of similarly sized U.S. boarding schools,^[5] in the top 50 of all U.S. boarding schools,^[6] and has been recognized as one of the "Most Beautiful Boarding Schools Around the World."^[7]

Opened October 3, 1894^[8][9] by Founder William E. Peck^[10] and his wife Harriet Jones Peck, who designed the school's coat of arms,^[11] Pomfret's graduates have distinguished themselves in sports, government, the arts, sciences, business, and public service as philanthropists and activists (see Notable alumni). In 2014, Pomfret established The Grauer Family Institute for Excellence and Innovation in Education.^[12] Pomfret is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASAC). Memberships include the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), the Headmasters' Association, the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the Secondary School Admission Test Board, the Cum Laude Society, and A Better Chance (ABC),^[13][14] The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS), the Sphere Consortium, the Folio Collaborative,^[15] and The Independent Curriculum Group.^[16]

Facilities

A number of Pomfret's buildings and houses are listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).^[17][18]

• 500 acre campus, established 1894, designed by landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted,^[19] expanded over the years to its current size through gifts and acquisitions
• Facilities plan designed c.1906 by the significant American architect Ernest Flagg^[20]
• School Building (NRHP) and Pyne Infirmary (NRHP) completed 1907
• George Newhall Clark '04 Memorial Chapel (NRHP), 1908, dedicated on St. George's Day, 1908, consecrated on May 16, 1909,^[21] also designed by Ernest Flagg,^[22] houses a fine pipe organ built by George S. Hutchings Organ Company of Boston that has been restored and expanded over the years,^[23] and three extraordinary stained glass windows from 13th century France^[24][25] (see Historical notes)
• Dunworth, Pontefract, Plant, and Bourne dormitories completed 1909 (NRHP);
• Lewis Gymnasium, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frederic E. Lewis;^[26] completed 1912 (NRHP), also by Ernest Flagg^[27]
• Hard Auditorium, 1928,^[28] donated by Anson W. Hard, Jr. (class of 1904), and his wife Florence Bourne Hard, daughter of one of the school's first benefactors, Frederic G. Bourne
• Main House, 1956 (begun 1954)^[29]
• Monell Science Building, 1958, gift of the Ambrose Monell III Foundation (class of 1926)^[30]
• Mallory Field, plaque laid 1962^[31]
• Strong Field House, dedicated 1983^[32]
• du Pont Library, 1969, gift of Henry B. du Pont (class of 1916), multi award winning design by Cambridge Seven Associates
• Centennial Academics and Arts Center, 1996, designed by Mark Simon (class of '64) of Centerbrook Architects^[33]
• Schoppe Dance Studio, established 1999 by former Dance Director, later Associate Head of School Pam Mulcahy, along with Irv and June Schoppe, parents of three Pomfret graduates. ^[34]
• Olmsted Observatory, 2001, equipped with a Celestron 14 and a Takahashi refracting telescope combined with a super-cooled CCD camera to enable digital photography. The system is robotic and can be fully controlled by students in the observatory or anywhere on campus through the school's wireless network.^[35]
• Chester K. Lasell '26 Alumni House, 2001, donated by Honorary Life Trustee Chester K. Lasell '54 and members of the Lasell family in honor of three generations of Lasells graduating from Pomfret.^[36]
• Corzine Athletic Center, 2004, gift of Jon Corzine, former governor of New Jersey, and Joanne (Corzine) Brown, parents of a graduate, designed by Tai Soo Kim Partners,^[37] expanding and remodeling Lewis Gymnasium
• Olmsted Student Union, 2004, donated by long-serving Trustee Robert Olmsted, designed by Tai Soo Kim Partners^[38]
• Jahn Ice Hockey Rink, 2005, designed by architect Helmut Jahn,^[39] parent of a recent graduate
• Blodgett Boathouse, 2005, and Blodgett Tennis Center, 2007,^[40] gift of Mark Blodgett (class of 1975)
• Parsons Lodge, 2010 AIA Connecticut People’s Choice Award for “the building in which people would most like to study”; 2009 Best Fireplace Award from Masonry Construction magazine.^[41]
• WBVC (FM) 91.1 FM, a student run radio station^[42]
• Picerne, Robinson, Kniffin, Hale, Clement, and Eastover Houses originally built as private homes during late 1800's and early 1900's (NRHP)^[43] and later incorporated into the campus

The Grauer Family Institute for Excellence and Innovation in Education

Founded in 2014 by Laurie and Peter Grauer, parents of two Pomfret graduates, the Grauer Institute at Pomfret School researches and develops innovations in secondary education.^[44][45][46] Peter Grauer is the former CEO and current Chairman of Bloomberg LP. The institute is also supported by the Class of 1965 Endowment Fund.

Named as the institute's first Director in July 2014, Jamie Feild Baker was previously Executive Director of the Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence^[47] and is "a nationally recognized and sought-after expert in innovation and school transformation."^[48] The Institute's Advisory Board includes Peter Grauer; Tony Wagner, author of The Global Achievement Gap and Creating Innovators;^[49] John Hunter, educator, one of 50 TED2014 All-Stars,^[50] creator of the World Peace Game Foundation,^[51] Fellow at the Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence;^[52] and Stephanie Rogen, principal and founder of Greenwich Leadership Partners.^[53]

Among the Institute's innovations:^[54]

• Daily start of classes moved from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 to better conform with recent studies on the effects of adolescent physiology on learning
• Extension of daily classes from 45 minutes to 80 minutes to increase depth and richness of learning
• Redesign of academic learning spaces to test recent research into effects on learning of color, seating, and other aspects of classrooms
• Testing of "Flipped Classrooms" wherein students watch lectures on video outside of class and use time in class for discussion
• Development and initiation of Q.U.E.S.T. (question, understand, engage, share, and transition), a non-academic program focused on Character and Leadership, Social Justice, Health and Wellness, and students' lives outside of, and after their careers at Pomfret
• Partnership with the Council on International Education (CIEE) to create a year-long course that includes an immersive study experience overseas to enhance global perspective and responsibility as a global citizen

Academics

Curriculum includes a broad range of college preparatory courses in the sciences and liberals arts, including advanced and honors level courses, and foreign language study in Mandarin Chinese, French, Spanish, and Latin. Computer sciences include courses in Web Design, Digital Cinema, Flash, Audio Art, and Gaming Animation.^[55] A three-week interdisciplinary project-based learning period known as Project:Pomfret takes place each December, during which faculty and students focus on concentrated thematic projects outside the classroom.^[56]

Pomfret's Experiential & Global Learning program offers students the opportunity to study abroad or within the United States in off-campus adventure-based programs, community service, or internships. Students may apply to Pomfret's Global Learning Coordinator at any point during their career at Pomfret for summer, one term, or yearlong programs.

Pomfret academic teams have won numerous awards and championships, including the 2015 Connecticut State Association of Math League (CSAML) Class S State Championship.^[57] Recent notable Math Team victories include: 1999 Harvard MIT Math Tournament First Place, 1999 CSAML 1st Place, 2000 Greater New London Competition (GNLC) 1st Place, 2001 CSAML 2nd Place and GNLC 1st Place, 2002 New England Tournament 3rd Place, 2003 CSAML 3rd Place, 2004–2009 GNLC 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Places, 2009 Connecticut State Math Meet 2nd Place, 2010 GNLC 1st Place and Connecticut State Math Meet 3rd Place, 2011 - 2014 GNLC 3rd Place, 2014 CSAML 2nd Place, 2015 Eastern Connecticut Math League 3rd Place and CSAML 1st place. (see respective league results)

Endowed Chairs, Prizes, and Endowments
The Ludlow S. Bull 1903 Conference Fund	The Fund for Mathematics and Science (1959)
The Thomas C. Eastman 1904 Chair of English Literature	The Edward S. Davis, Jr. 1982 Memorial Fund
The Richard H. Randall, Jr. 1944 Award	The Carol Ann DeBlois 1982 Memorial Fund
The Henry F. “Nick” Harris 1947 Endowed Chair In Literature	The C. Russell Stringer Memorial Prize (1990)
The William Polk Carey 1948 Chair in Mathematics	The Gilbert Family Fund for Environmental Sciences (1999)
The Benjamin B. Morgan 1953 Endowed Chair in Science Fund	The David A. Wilson III 2001 Memorial Prize in Computer Science

Faculty and Program Endowments
Charles E. Dunlap 1906 Faculty Endowment Fund	The Sooho Cho 1974 Faculty Award	E.E. Ford Foundation Faculty Fund (1989)
Howard S. Kniffin 1926 Memorial Faculty Fund	The Colleen Murray Coggins 1979 Endowed Fund	Class of 1990 Fund
Edward S. Davis 1949 Faculty Fund	Bernard Lee Schwartz Chair for Dean of Students (1985)	Terry Murdoch Fund for Faculty Recognition (1998)
Class of 1957 Endowed Fund for the Faculty	Halleck Lefferts Faculty Fund (1986)	Per-Jan Ranhoff Teacher Enrichment Fund (1998)
Class of 1958 Endowed Fund for Faculty	Teaching Development Fund (1987)	The Prize for Teaching Excellence in Math, Science & Foreign Language (1998)
Brad 1968 and Betsy Hastings Fund for Faculty Enrichment	Class of 1989 Faculty Endowment Fund	The Melville Fund for Faculty (2007)

Athletics

A member of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC),^[58] Pomfret fields 42 teams^[59] in 15 different sports^[60] and has won numerous championships during its history in both men's and women's sports.^[61] Recently, Girls Varsity Volleyball won the 2015 NESPAC Class B Championship.^[62]

Among its alumni are notable collegiate and professional athletes, including two-time, women's hockey Olympic gold medalist, Sarah Vaillancourt '04 and National Hockey League (NHL) player, Brian Flynn '07. Students compete on Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Third and Fourth Form teams (freshmen and sophomores) throughout the year in cross country, field hockey, football, soccer, and volleyball in the fall; basketball, ice hockey, squash, and wrestling in the winter; and baseball, crew, golf, lacrosse, softball, and tennis in spring.^[63] Third and Fourth Form students are required to participate on a team in each of the three seasons each year. Fifth and Sixth Form students (juniors and seniors) are required to participate on at least two teams each year.^[64] Endowments include The Barton L. Mallory, Jr. 1924 Memorial Fund for Athletics and The Griswold Family Fund (1989).

Pomfret Crew Regatta 2011

Arts

Pomfret's arts programs are guided by practicing artists and offer formal classes and other opportunities for training and participation in drawing, painting, digital arts, film and video, sculpture and ceramics, photography, music, theatre, and dance.^[65] Performance opportunities are available to all students in theater, dance, and music throughout the year.^[66] Facilities include sculpture, ceramics, painting, and drawing studios; rehearsal and practice rooms for dance and music; the Schoppe Dance Studio; Hard Auditorium stage; and a photography laboratory.

The Pomfret Grifftones and Chorus tour within the United States and overseas for concerts, most recently to Italy where they performed in Florence, Lucca, and St. Stephen's School in Rome, and in the United States at the University of Connecticut (all March 2015).^[67]

Among a variety of musical instruments maintained by the school is a fine pipe organ housed in Clark Memorial Chapel. “The Pomfret School Chapel Organ was originally built by George S. Hutchings Organ Company of Boston in 1908 (opus 1640). Extensive modifications were made in 1962 by the Portsmouth, Rhode Island firm of Welte-Whalon. Further improvements in 1987 included a new three-manual draw-knob console designed and built by the Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Connecticut and extensions of two reed ranks. Messrs. Czelusniak et Dugal, Inc. did additional tonal work and maintains the instrument. Two electronic 32-foot stops were added by the Walker Technical Company of Zionsville, Pennsylvania. In honor of Pomfret School’s Centennial Year, a Festival Trumpet was added in 1993. This stop, modeled after the Harrison festival trumpet at All Saints' Church, Worcester, Massachusetts, was built by David Broome at The Austin Organ Company.”^[68]

Arts Endowments and Prizes
Ludlow S. Bull 1903 Conference Fund	Cameron Duke Stebbins 1995 Memorial Fund
Milton M. Morse, Jr. 1948 Prize Fund	The Pomfret School Writer’s Studio (2001)
The Benjamin B. Morgan 1953 Endowed Fund for the Arts	The Scripps Chair for Fine Arts Fund (2003)
Joseph Mannas 1972 Memorial Drama Fund	The WBVC-Hardy Recording Studio Endowment Fund (2004)
Carol Ann DeBlois 1982 Memorial Fund	Robert Pearson Short Fiction Award (2007)
Alice W. Dunbar Visiting Artist Fund (1991)

Student organizations and clubs

Cum Laude Society, National Honor Society, A Capella, Chorus, Diplomacy, Gay-Straight Alliance, International Club, Key Society, Math Club, Student Council, Pontefract newspaper (founded 1896), Subterraneans, Voice, Women's Action Coalition,^[69][70] Ambassadors Club, Chick Flick Film Club, Chinese Club, Christian Fellowship, Classic Film Club, Debate Club, Discussion Group, Hillel, International Club, Investment Club, Maple Syrup Club, Meditation Club, Model United Nations, Relay for Life, Ski Club, Student Activities, The Olmsted Observer, The Page Turners, Pomfret Radio Station WBVC (FM) 91.1 FM, Young Republicans.^[71]

Student life is additionally supported by The Paul M. Rosenfield 1967 Award, The Johnathan A. Williams 1969 Memorial Fund, and The Lasell Visiting Alumni Fund (2001).

Alumni Association

Founded June 20, 1899,^[72] The Pomfret Alumni Association actively participates in the development of the school, hosts career networking events throughout the U.S. for alumni, and provides career mentoring for alumni in college and beginning their professional career. Each February, alumni speak to students about their careers and career development during the school's Career Fair, and each spring, in conjunction with the school, hosts Alumni Weekend festivities and the Alumni Awards Dinner. Graduating students become members of the Association at the end of their senior year at a formal dinner in their honor.^[73]

Alumni Association Presidents^[74]

1899-1900 Clive Runnells'96	1926-1927 William B. Olmstead, Jr.'12	1971- 1973 Hugh R. Taylor'58	2015 George Santiago'75
1900-1902 Charles C. Davis'97	1927-1932 Henry L Chisholm'17	1973-1975 David L Seymour'54
1902-1904 Grenville Clark'99	1932-1934 Maynard C. lvison'14	1975-1977 Edward S. Davis'49
1904-1905 James M. Montgomery, Jr.'02	1934-1935 Richard G. Croft'19	1977-1981 Robert M. Olmsted'59
1905-1907 Grenville Clark'99	1935-1938 Frederic W. Lincoln, Jr.'17	1981- 1983 Richard R. Reynolds'47
1907-1909 Anson W. Hard, Jr.'04	1938-1941 Winston Sizer'26	1983-1985 Lewis Turner, Jr.'66
1909-1910 Daniel W. Knowlton'99	1941-1943 Morgan Wing, Jr.'29	1985-1987 Foye F. Staniford, Jr.'49
1910-1911 Robert A. Gibney'07	1943-1946 Frederick Tilney, Jr.'31	1987-1989 Justin P. Klein'65
1911-1912 James W. Scully, Jr.'09	1946-1948 Dwight A. Home'29	1989-1991 Jeb N. Embree'59
1912-1913 A. Wallace Chauncey'10	1948-1950 J. Henry Alexandre'33	1991- 1993 William B. Cargill'74
1913-1914 Harrison Wright'05	1950-1953 Eric R. Hansen'37	1993-1995 A. Carter Hinckley'70
1914-1915 Raymond Ives'04	1953-1955 W. Shippen Davis, Jr.'38	1995-1997 Peter W. Clement'64
1915-1916 Harrison Wright'05	1955-1957 John W. Ream'39	1997-1999 Johanna M. Moffitt'82
1916-1919 Clement L Despard'04	1957-1958 Charles King, Jr.'38	1999-2001 Ronald A. Levene'82
1919-1920 Clarence C. Pell'04	1958-1961 Charles R. Beattie, Jr.'47	2001-2005 Linda Bartley Kittler'71
1920-1921 Shelton E. Martin'02	1961-1965 Newell Garfield, Jr.'42	2005-2007 Chester K. Lasell'54
1921- 1922 Raymond Ives'04	1965-1967 E. Ware Cady, Jr.'44	2007-2009 Robert K. Mullarkey'79
1922-1923 Auguste Richard'08	1967-1969 W. Denning Harvey'44	2009-2010 Michael G. Farina'93
1923-1926 A. Wallace Chauncey'10	1969-1971 William P. Carey'48	2010-2015 Paul D. Fowler'64

Notable alumni

Alumni listed below are recorded in the school's official records as having received their diploma from Pomfret.^[75]

• Herbert Claiborne Pell, Jr. 1902, member of Congress (D-NY) and U.S. Minister to Hungary & Portugal^[76][77]
• Arthur Purdy Stout 1903, noted surgeon and pathologist
• Edward Streeter 1910, New York Times Bestselling author of Father of the Bride and Mr. Hobbs' Vacation,^[78] vice president, The Bank of New York c. 1928–1953
• Henry B. du Pont 1916, vice president and director, DuPont Chemical; director, North American Aviation Corp. and General Motors; 1936 Republican National Convention delegate; philanthropist^[79][80][81]
• Frederic W. Lincoln, Jr. 1917, former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the New York Medical College
• Edward Stettinius, Jr. 1920, U.S. Secretary of State 1945, instrumental in the creation of the United Nations and first U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations^[82]
• William F. Draper '31, combat artist and prominent portrait painter of U.S. presidents and other notables^[83]
• Roger Angell '38, fiction editor and regular contributor at The New Yorker^[84]
• Robert Vickrey '44, author, painter in major museum collections, and a leader in the Magic Realism art movement^[85]
• Robert B. Fiske '48, United States Attorney and Whitewater controversy Special Prosecutor^[86]
• William P. Carey '48, founder of WP Carey, Inc., the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University, the Carey School of Law, and the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University^[87]
• Jon Stone '48, Emmy winning founding producer of Sesame Street^[88] and author^[89]
• Theodore R. Sizer '49, noted leader of U.S. educational reform,^[90] dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (1964–72),^[91] founding director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform,^[92] author of numerous influential books on education reform^[93]
• Reverend Peter L. Pond '51, Director for Resettlement, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service; consultant, Lutheran Social Services of New England, the Peace Corps in Colombia and Chile, VISTA on Navajo reservations; appointed by First Lady Rosalynn Carter to the White House National Cambodian Crisis Committee
• Peter Beard '56, nature photographer and conservationist author,^[94] numerous international exhibitions, museum and private collections
• Orville Hickock Schell III '58, author, journalist, expert on Asian affairs; former dean, Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley; Arthur Ross Director of the Center on US–China Relations at the Asia Society in New York City; 1980 Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship, 1992 Emmy Award and Alfred I. duPont Award - Columbia University Silver Baton for 60 Minutes' Made in China; 1997 Peabody Award for Frontline's documentary Gate of Heavenly Peace^[95][96][97]
• Anthony Call '58, actor appearing in numerous TV series including Star Trek: The Original Series, The Virginian (TV series), The FBI Files, One Life to Live^[98] and on Broadway
• Adam Hochschild '60, a founder of Mother Jones, author of the best-selling book King Leopold's Ghost^[99]
• Joe Boyd '60, record producer and author of White Bicycles - Making Music in the 1960's^[100]
• Buz Yudell '65, noted pioneer of planning and architecture for sustainable communities, 2006 National American Institute of Architects Firm Award,^[101] 2007 American Institute of Architects Los Angeles Gold Medal Award^[102]
• Jack Hardy '65, influential writer, performer, and mentor in North American and European folk music, founding editor, Fast Folk Musical Magazine
• Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade '66, professor, Public International Law, University of Brasilia; judge, the International Court of Justice, The Hague; former president, Inter-American Court of Human Rights^[103][104]
• James Rothman '67, Nobel Prize 2013,^[105] Fergus F. Wallace Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Yale University, chairman of the Department of Cell Biology at Yale School of Medicine, and director of the Nanobiology Institute at the Yale West Campus^[106]
• Eric D. Coleman '69, State Senator, Deputy President Pro Tempore in the Connecticut Senate
• Alex Gibney '71, Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature 2008 Taxi to the Dark Side;^[107] multi Emmy winning documentary film director, writer, and producer^[108]
• Robert W. McChesney '71, noted author,^[109] Gutgsell Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign,^[110] co-founder of the Free Press (organization).^[111]
• Ridley Pearson '71, New York Times best-selling author, Undercurrents, The Art of Deception, The Kingdom Keepers series, Steel Trap: The Academy set at Pomfret School, co-author of the Peter & The Starcatchers series,^[112] one of which was adapted for a multi Tony Award winning Broadway play^[113]
• Eben Fiske Ostby '73, founding employee of Pixar Animation,^[114] Vice President of Software, 1998 Academy Award, Scientific and Engineering, for development of the Marionette 3-D Computer Animation System; Technical and Modeling Director on Cars 2005, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story and many other motion pictures^[115][116]
• Sooho Cho '74, chairman and CEO of Hanjin Shipping, South Korea; Director, Korean Airlines; founder of the Yanghyun Prize for artistic achievement
• Donald E. Williams, Jr. '75, State Senator, former President Pro Tempore of the Connecticut Senate
• Prince Lorenzo Borghese '91, star of ABC's The Bachelor: Rome and three other reality TV shows, owner of Royal Treatment LLC, maker of pet care products
• Spencer Bailey '04, survivor of United Airlines Flight 232 plane crash; editor-in-chief of Surface^[117]
• Sarah Vaillancourt '04, two-time Olympic hockey gold medalist^[118]
• Brian Flynn '07, NHL player^[119]
• Jaimie Leonoff '11, record-setting goalkeeper for the Yale Bulldogs,^[120] and was named to the 2014-15 ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team.^[121] Signed by the Connecticut Whale team in the National Women's Hockey League, won the inaugural game in NWHL history,^[122] selected as one of two goalkeepers for the first NWHL All-Star Game^[123]

Prominent guests & Fellows

Through Pomfret's Schwartz Visiting Fellow Program, the school hosts a prominent figure from the world of art, literature, science, or politics invited to the campus for three days each year to share their unique experiences, ideas, and insights. Additionally, the school invites other speakers through its Lasell Visiting Alumni/ae Program and the W.P. Carey '48 College Admission Lecture Series.^[124] All Fellows and guests are recorded in the official records of Pomfret School.^[125]

• Robert Ballard, oceanographer, discoverer of RMS Titanic
• The Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg, mayor of the City of New York
• David Brinkley, co-anchored of The Huntley-Brinkley Report and NBC Nightly News
• Tom Brokaw, anchor of the NBC Nightly News
• Bill Bryson, writer A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
• Oteil Burbridge, bass guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band
• Chevy Chase, writer, actor, performer
• Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, (D-NY) first African American woman elected to the United States Congress
• Jean-Michel Cousteau, explorer, environmentalist, educator, film producer
• Jacques d'Amboise, world-renowned dancer with the New York City Ballet Company
• Wade Davis, noted Canadian anthropologist, ethnobotanist, author and photographer
• Brian Dennehy, actor
• Bob Feller, Hall of Fame Major League Baseball pitcher
• Shelby Foote, author and American Civil War historian
• Carlos Fuentes, Latin American novelist
• Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts
• Benny Goodman, jazz musician, clarinetist and bandleader
• Brian Greene, physicist and string theorist
• Chuck Hogan, novelist known for The Prince of Thieves and the Strain Trilogy co-authored with Guillermo del Toro
• Donald Johanson, paleoanthropologist, discovered the 3.2-million-year-old skeleton known as "Lucy"
• Peter Kaplan, editor-in-chief of the New York Observer
• Frank McCourt, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Angela's Ashes
• David McCullough, writer, historian and host of The American Experience on public television
• Joyce Carol Oates, national award-winning author
• George Plimpton, journalist, writer, editor, and actor
• Carolyn Porco, planetary scientist and director of NASA's Cassini Imaging Team
• Carole Simpson, ABC News anchor
• Ray Suarez, PBS broadcast journalist
• Governor Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., (R-CT) U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator and Governor of Connecticut
• Governor Christine Todd Whitman, former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and Governor of New Jersey
• Victor Wooten, bass guitarist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
• Cheryl West, playwright, recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Playwriting Award, Helen Hayes Charles McArthur Award, AUDELCO Award, and others

Headmasters

The title of Headmaster has been changed to Head of School. Pomfret's Head of School is responsible for all administration and reports to the school's Board of Trustees.^[126]

1894–1897 William E. Peck	1989–1993 Patrick F. Bassett
1897 Rev. Frederic Gardiner (acting)	1993–2011 Bradford Hastings '68
1897–1929 Rev. William Beach Olmsted	2011 J. Timothy Richards
1929–1930 Rev. George D. Langdon (acting)
1930–1942 Halleck Lefferts
1942–1951 Dexter K. Strong
1951–1961 David C. Twichell
1962–1973 Joseph K. Milnor
1973–1976 Kenneth M. Deitch
1976–1977 Per-Jan Ranhoff (acting)
1977–1979 Rev. Burton A. Maclean
1979–1989 Gerrit M. Keator

Former faculty

Former faculty members are recorded in the employee records of the school.^[127]

• Governor John N. Dempsey, soccer coach and subsequently Governor of Connecticut 1961–1971
• Michael K. Farr, English teacher, award-winning author, CNBC contributor; founder, president, and CEO of Farr, Miller & Washington, an investment advisory firm
• William E. Peck, founder and first headmaster 1894–1897, previously headmaster of St. Mark's School (Massachusetts)
• Congressman Horace Seely-Brown, Jr., science teacher and athletics coach, member of Congress (R-CT) 1947–49, 1951–59, 1961–63

Endowed scholarships

Scholarships are available to all students meeting criteria established by the donors.^[128]

Class of 1990 Fund	William H. Eshbaugh, Jr. 1931 Memorial Scholarship Fund	Kathryn E. Maloney 1981 Memorial Scholarship Fund
Vincent C. Banker 1949 Scholarship Fund	Seth B. French 1907 Memorial Scholarship Fund	Wendell D. Mansfield Memorial Scholarship Fund
Charles R. Beattie, Jr. 1947 Scholarship Fund	John W. & Jeanette M. Gahan Memorial Scholarship Fund	The Mees Family Scholarship
Galen L. Blodgett Memorial Scholarship Fund	Edward McCrady Gaillard, Jr. 1941 Memorial Scholarship Fund	The Melville Scholarship
John Francis Boyer Memorial Scholarship Fund	General Scholarship Fund	The Moffitt Family Scholarship Fund
John Cabot III 1929 Memorial Scholarship Fund	The Edith P. Gengras Scholarship Fund	Thomas F. Oakes 1919 Memorial Scholarship Fund
The Malcolm G. Chace Scholarship Fund	Robert E. Glenn III Scholarship Fund	George Peabody 1909 Memorial Scholarship Fund
Class of 1940 Memorial Scholarship Fund	Johnathan DeWitt Grout 1936 Memorial Scholarship Fund	George T. Purves, Jr. 1944 Memorial Scholarship Fund
Class of 1947 Memorial Scholarship Fund	Luarence N. & Janet D. Hale Memorial Scholarship Fund	Ensign Curtis S. Reed 1914 Memorial Scholarship Fund
Class of 1959 Endowed Merit Scholarship Fund	The Newell & Betty Hale Scholarship Fund	Reader’s Digest Endowed Scholarship Fund
Class of 1988 Scholarship Fund	The DeCourcy L. Hand 1907 Memorial Scholarship Fund	Barcaly Robinson, Jr. 1952 Memorial Scholarship Fund
Class of 1991 Scholarship Fund	Carl T. Herman 1963 Memorial Scholarship Fund	Horace Seely-Brown, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund
Class of 1992 Scholarship Fund	Benjamin B. Hinman 1936 Memorial Scholarship Fund	Donald W. Smith, Jr. 1956 Memorial Scholarship Fund
Class of 1993 Scholarship Fund	George H. Hyde 1941 Scholarship Fund	The Stapleton Family Scholarship Fund
Class of 1997 Scholarship Fund	Gerrit & Marnie Keator Scholarship Fund	The Thorne Family Scholarship Fund
Elliot Cobb, Jr. 1942 Memorial Scholarship Fund	John P. King 1967 Memorial Scholarship Fund	William H. P. Townsend, Jr. 1942 Memorial Scholarship Fund
Peter T. Cook 1960 Memorial Scholarship Fund	The Lasell Family Scholarship	Morgan Wing, Jr. 1929 Memorial Scholarship Fund
Jerome L. DeJur 1948 Scholarship Fund	P. Blair Lee 1914 Memorial Scholarship Fund	The Patrick D. Wood 2001 Memorial Scholarship Fund
Henry B. du Pont 1916 Memorial Scholarship Fund	Gerorge H. Macauley Scholarship Fund	World War II Memorial Scholarship Fund
Donald L. Eccleston Memorial Scholarship Fund	Robert I. Mcdonald 1945 Scholarship Fund	WSH Scholarship Fund

Historical notes

Pomfret's coat of arms

Designed by Harriet Peck Jones, wife of founder and first Headmaster William E. Peck, Pomfret’s Coat of Arms is derived from that of the Lords of Pontefract Castle in the town of Pomfret in West Yorkshire, England.^[129] In Elizabethan times, the castle and the surrounding medieval market town of Pontefract were referred to as "Pomfret".^[130] England's King Richard II died in the castle, by starvation or murder,^[131] and the castle has a significant role William Shakespeare's plays The Life and Death of King Richard the Second, V.i, V.iii, and the penultimate scene V.v which is set entirely in Pomfret Castle; and The Tragedy of King Richard the Third, II.iv, III.i, III.ii, III.iii, all set in Pomfret Castle, and V.iii.

Pomfret's 13th century stained glass windows

Pomfret’s Clark memorial chapel contains fine stained glass windows known to have been created by American firms Heaton, Butler & Bayne; Connick Associates, and Nicola D’Ascenzo for the chapel, completed in 1908. However, the ten-foot-high rose window above the chapel doorway and two of the arched-top, oblong windows along the walls are apparently from the 13th century cathedral, Saint Julien of Tours, on the Loire river in France. Research indicates these three extraordinary windows were removed from St. Julien during one of its many expansions. The arch tops on the two oblong windows were added at a later date to match the others in the chapel. The ancient windows were donated to Pomfret in 1947 in memory of John Grant Fitch ‘42, an alumnus killed in 1945 in Germany during World War II. They are recorded as having been imported to the U.S. in 1904 and offered to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, but were declined due to the extensive restoration needed. They were subsequently auctioned by the Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York to an anonymous bidder, restored by Reynolds, Francis & Rohnstock of Boston, and installed in Clark Chapel in 1949.^[132][133]

Ernest Flagg's architecture for Pomfret

In the first decade of the 1900s, Pomfret was transformed from a collection of "vernacular buildings—most were Colonial Revival frame structures adapted to school use—to a planned institution. The building campaign was financed principally by two patrons: Edward Walker Clark, one of three sons of the Singer [Manufacturing Company] heir, Alfred Corning Clark, and Frederick G. Bourne,"^[134] then president of that company. By 1906, Flagg had designed a master plan, using the casual relationship among the original buildings and their New England town green style arrangement as his guide for a formal institutional complex. "Flagg’s master plan reinforced the enduring colonial image of the New England village green."^[135] The design set a School Building as anchor for a series of semidetached pavilion style dormitories with a connecting open arcade. The Chapel was appropriately located to be visible from the main road, while the gymnasium and infirmary were arranged along the slope of the hill that led to the playing fields. The pavilion arrangement reflected the influence of Thomas Jefferson’s design for the University of Virginia. "The dynamic focus of the scheme was the arcade. It acted as a spine and artery, linking the dormitories together while providing covered access to classrooms in the School Building, a Jeffersonian concept that distinguishes both Monticello and UVA. Regrettably, the architectural virtues of the arcade were abandoned in favor of practicality, and in 1957, it was walled-in during dormitory remodeling."^[136]

"The School Building with its belfry and white appliqué ornament, similar to the Colonial Revival structures of the former campus, as well as the dormitories and infirmary, maintained a domestic scale and architectural character."^[137] For the Chapel, commissioned by Edward Clark in 1907 as a memorial to his son George Newhall Clark (1885–1906), a Pomfret alumnus who tragically died while attending Harvard University, Flagg chose Norman architecture as an appropriate model and emulated the rich textures of the unpolished stone-work characteristic of that style.^[138]

Following a visit to the campus in 1910, when construction was nearing completion, Flagg compared Pomfret to his design of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, remarking, "These buildings are certainly among the best things I have done. The school is better architecturally than Annapolis." While his design for Annapolis had been repeatedly altered by the Navy during construction, the work at Pomfret scrupulously followed his design.^[139]

Convinced that American architects should return to eighteenth century forms, both American and French, to revive the lost thread of Renaissance classicism, "Flagg saw Pomfret School as part of the process of evolution that would contribute to the creation of a national style of architecture."^[140]

References

External links

• Pomfret School Online Viewbook
• Pomfret School website
• Pomfret School Radio Station: WBVC 91.1 FM - Online streaming in Safari and Firefox only

Coordinates: 41°53′10″N 71°57′54″W / 41.8862°N 71.9651°W / 41.8862; -71.9651