Miss Porter's School | |
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Location | |
Farmington, Connecticut United States |
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Information | |
Type | Independent, boarding |
Motto | Puellae venerunt. Abíerunt mulieres. |
Established | 1843 |
Head of School | Katherine G. Windsor |
Faculty | 52 |
Grades | 9–12 |
Gender | Girls |
Enrollment | 325 total 212 boarding 113 day (2014) |
Average class size | 10 |
Student to teacher ratio | 7:1 |
Campus | 55-acre (220,000 m2) township campus |
Color(s) | Green and White |
Athletics | 18 Interscholastic teams |
Mascot | none |
Average SAT scores | 627 Critical Reading 633 Math 642 Writing |
Endowment | $106 million |
Annual tuition | $56,700 boarding $45,660 day |
Website | www |
Miss Porter's School is a private college preparatory school for girls located in Farmington, Connecticut. Porter's enrollment for 2017-8 academic year is 313; 200 boarding students, and 113 day students. Known for its nationally and internationally diverse population, Porter's girls come from 21 states, 31 countries (with dual-citizenship and/or residence), and 17 countries (citizenship alone). All told, international students comprised 14% as of the 2017-2018 year Average class size is 10.
Porter's alumnae are referred to "Ancients," and as of the current year encompass 5,990 women worldwide, 33% of which support the school through giving, for a total of $7.47 million in donations for the 2017-2018 year alone. Porter's is the second-highest endowed all-girls' school in the country. The schools has a long-standing tradition of support among its staff and faculty in addition to its Ancients and parents, as the faculty and staff have once again achieved a 100% support rate for the 2017-8 year.
Miss Porter's School was established in 1843 by education reformer Sarah Porter, who recognized the importance of women's education. She was insistent that the school's curriculum include chemistry, physiology, botany, geology, and astronomy in addition to the more traditional Latin, French, German, spelling, reading, arithmetic, trigonometry, history, and geography. Also encouraged were such athletic opportunities as tennis, horseback riding, and in 1867 the school formed its own baseball team, the Tunxises. In 1884, Sarah Porter hired her former student, Mary Elizabeth Dunning Dow, with whom she began to share more of her duties as Head of School. From then until her death in 1900, Miss Porter gradually relinquished her control of the school to Mrs. Dow.
Sarah Porter's will named her nephew, Dr. Robert Porter Keep, as executor of her estate, of which the school was the most valuable asset. Mrs. Dow's compensation for her position as sole Head of School was also specified in the will. As executor, Dr. Keep began extensive repairs and renovations to the school. While Mrs. Dow continued to receive a salary as per Porter's will, she became convinced that Dr. Keep, in diverting the school's income to pay for construction, was enriching his inheritance with funds that were rightfully hers. The conflict escalated and culminated in Mrs. Dow's resignation in 1903. She moved to Briarcliff, New York, taking with her as many as 140 students and 16 faculty members, and began Mrs. Dow's School for Girls, which would come to be known as Briarcliff Junior College only to be absorbed by Pace University in 1977.