Collegiate School | |
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Address | |
260 W 78th St New York, NY 10024 USA |
|
Information | |
Type | Private, day, college prep |
Motto |
Latin: Nisi Dominus Frustra ("Unless God, then in vain") Eendracht maakt macht (In unity there is strength) |
Established | 1628 |
Founder | The Rev. Jonas Michaelius and the Dutch West India Company |
Chairman | George R. Bason, Jr. '72 |
Headmaster | Lee M. Levison |
Faculty | 113 |
Grades | K-12 |
Gender | Boys |
Number of students | 660 |
Campus | Urban |
Color(s) | Orange and blue |
Nickname | Dutchmen |
Newspaper | The Journal |
Yearbook | The Dutchman |
Affiliations |
Ivy Prep School League New York Interschool |
Website | collegiateschool.org |
Collegiate School is an independent school for boys in New York City and one of the oldest schools of any kind in the United States. The School is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and is a member of both the New York Interschool and the Ivy Preparatory School League. It is ranked one of the best K-12 all boys prep schools in the United States.
Collegiate was founded in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam in 1628 by the Dutch West India Company and the Classis of Amsterdam. The school’s initial incarnation was located south of Canal Street and was an academic institution for both sexes. The school's location has changed sixteen times over the last four centuries, although the school has been at its current location, next to the West End Collegiate Church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, since 1892.
Collegiate states it is the oldest school of any kind in the United States. Prior to 1984, the common belief was that the school had been founded in 1638, placing it two years later than the founding of Harvard University and three years after the founding date of Boston Latin School. Massimo Maglione, a historian and Upper School teacher at Collegiate, conducted research into the accuracy of this date and discovered a letter that Collegiate's founder—the Reverend Jonas Michaëlius, the first minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in America—had written in 1628 about his efforts to teach the catechism to Indian children. Based on this evidence, the school in 1984 officially moved up its founding to 1628.