The Birch Wathen Lenox School is a

college preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Birch Wathen Lenox comprises approximately 500 students from all around New York City. The Birch Wathen Lenox School is one of 322

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

s located in the city.

History

Birch Wathen Lenox was created in 1991 through the merger of the Birch Wathen School (founded in 1921 by Louise Birch and Edith Wathen), and The Lenox School (founded in 1916 by Jessica Garretson Finch). The Lenox School had been an all-girls school until 1974, when it went co-educational. Between 1962 and 1989, Birch Wathen was located in the

Herbert N. Straus House The Herbert N. Straus House is a large town house at 9 East 71st Street, just east of Fifth Avenue, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The exterior was designed by Horace Trumbauer, and completed in 1932. A roof extension wa ...

, an ornate French-style building at 9 East 71st Street across from the

Frick Collection The Frick Collection is an art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection (normally at the Henry Clay Frick House, currently at the 945 Madison Avenue#2021–present: Frick Madison, Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and Europe ...

, and later home to Jeffrey Epstein.

Sports

Birch Wathen Lenox fields teams in soccer, volleyball, swimming, basketball, baseball, softball, cross country, track and field, golf, tennis, and hockey. Athletic teams play under the auspices of the

Independent Schools Athletic League (New York) The Independent Schools Athletic League (ISAL) is a sports league for independent high schools in New York state. Member schools All schools are within the New York City borough of Manhattan unless otherwise noted.Bay Ridge Preparatory Schoolin Bay ...

or the Girls Independent School Athletic League, which are leagues in the NYSAISAA (New York State Association of Independent Schools Athletic Association).

Notable alumni

* Alfred A Knopf, Jr., publisher *

Barbara Walters Barbara Jill Walters (born September 25, 1929) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, Walters appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including ...

, journalist, writer, and media personality *

Joel Crothers Joel Anthony Crothers (January 28, 1941 – November 6, 1985) was an American actor. His credits primarily included stage and television work, including a number of soap opera roles, the best known being Miles Cavanaugh on ''The Edge of Night'', ...

(BW '58), actor *

Judith Krantz Judith Krantz (née Tarcher; January 9, 1928 – June 22, 2019) was a magazine writer and fashion editor who turned to fiction as she approached the age of 50. Her first novel ''Scruples'' (1978) quickly became a ''The New York Times Best Seller ...

(BW '44), novelist * Robert Gottlieb, president of Knopf Publishing. *

Hope Cooke Hope Cooke (born June 24, 1940) was the "Gyalmo" () ( Queen Consort) of the 12th Chogyal (King) of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal. Their wedding took place in March 1963. She was termed ''Her Highness The Crown Princess of Sikkim'' and became th ...

, last Queen of Sikkim. * Murray Rothbard (BW '42), Founder of

anarcho-capitalism Anarcho-capitalism (or, colloquially, ancap) is an anti-statist, libertarian, and anti-political philosophy and economic theory that seeks to abolish centralized states in favor of stateless societies with systems of private property enforce ...

* Edwin Schlossberg, designer * Mary Stolz (BW '36), novelistMary Stolz Biographical Sketch
. *

Gardiner L. Tucker Gardiner Luttrell Tucker (1925 – 2021) was an American scientist and former government official. He was the former director of IBM Research and was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Analysis in the Nixon administration. He also served ...

(BW '43), former director of IBM Research, Assistant Secretary of State, Assistant Secretary General of NATO *

Barbara Costikyan Barbara Heine Costikyan (December 25, 1928 – June 18, 2020), born Barbara Virginia Fatt, was an American food writer. Early life Barbara Virginia Fatt was born in New York City, the daughter of Arthur C. Fatt and Virginia Finder Fatt (later ...

, food writer * John Katzman, edupreneur, CEO of Noodle

References

;Notes

External links

Birch Wathen Lenox School websiteBirch Wathen Lenox School
at Private School Review
The Birch Wathen Lenox School
listing in the Bunting & Lyon Blue Book

on the midcentury BW building.

on the midcentury Lenox building. {{DEFAULTSORT:Birch Wathen Lenox School Private K-12 schools in Manhattan *