Spence School | |
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Address | |
56 East 93rd Street (Lower Sch) 22 East 91st Street (Mid/Upp Sch) New York City (Manhattan), New York 10128 United States |
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Coordinates | 40°47′03″N 73°57′25″W / 40.784146°N 73.956958°WCoordinates: 40°47′03″N 73°57′25″W / 40.784146°N 73.956958°W |
Information | |
Type | Private, Day, College-prep |
Motto |
Latin: Non scholae sed vitae discimus (Not for school, but for life we learn) |
Established | 1892 |
Founder | Clara B. Spence |
Head of School | Ellanor "Bodie" Brizendine |
Faculty | 210 (2014-15) |
Grades | K–12 |
Gender | Girls |
Enrollment | 736 (2014-15) |
Student to teacher ratio | 7:1 |
Campus | Urban |
Color(s) | Blue, Gold and White |
Athletics conference |
AAIS (most sports) NYSAISAA |
Nickname | Sabers |
Accreditation | NYSAIS |
Tuition | $43,000 (2014-15) |
Affiliations | New York Interschool |
Website | www |
The Spence School is an American all-girls independent school in New York City, founded in 1892 by Clara B. Spence.
Spence has about 688 students, with grades K-4 representing the Lower School, 5-8 representing the Middle School, and 9-12 representing the Upper School. Lower school average class sizes are 16-18 and middle and upper school average class sizes are 13-14. The student: teacher ratio is 7:1 and students of color in all grades make up approximately 33 percent of the student body.
For the 2017-18 academic year, tuition and fees total $49, 980 for all grades. Its sister schools are the all-girls Brearley School, the all-girls Chapin School and the all-boys Collegiate School, all in New York City. Forbes magazine ranked Spence ninth on its "America's Best Prep Schools" list in 2010.
The Spence School was founded in 1892 by Clara B. Spence, who was its head for 31 years. The school's motto is "non scholae sed vitae discimus" (Latin for "Not for school, but for life we learn"). The first building was located on New York City's West 48th Street.The school once had a boarding option, but all current girls are day students.
Clara B. Spence described her school as: "A place not of mechanical instruction, but a school of character where the common requisites for all have been human feeling, a sense of humor and the spirit of intellectual and moral adventure."
The school has been located on East 91st Street since 1929.
Spence offers a liberal arts and science curriculum, including programs in the arts and foreign languages. Computers are integrated into the curriculum in the Kindergarten class and continue through the twelfth grade. In addition, English courses include Asian, African, African American,Caribbean, Latin American, and Middle Eastern Literature. In the Upper School most students, even though not required, take four years of math and science. Beginning in 2007-08, Mandarin Chinese was added to the teaching of French, Spanish and Latin. Foreign language requirements begin in the third grade with either French, Spanish, or Chinese and in the seventh grade both Latin and Mandarin Chinese become electives as the students continue their study of foreign language. A specialized computer/robotics course also becomes an elective in the seventh grade.