Cascadilla School is a

co-ed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

preparatory school, in

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

, New York, established in 1876 as a tutoring and college preparatory school for

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

History

It was founded in 1876 as a boys' preparatory school for

. At this time Universities typically required students to be proficient in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

. However, students from rural areas often did not have access to instruction in these subjects. Some early members of the Cornell faculty became concerned about the quality of education available to such students and founded Cascadilla School to address this inequity. However, students also pursued athletic activities such as football and crew and created yearbooks to record their activities. Shortly after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the school fell on hard financial times. They were forced to sell several buildings and parcels of land including the Cascadilla School Boathouse which still stands and is the center piece of Stewart Park. The building immediately south of the main classroom building once housed the dormitory, a dining hall, and a gymnasium, but now has been remodeled to serve as an apartment building and is privately owned and operated. In the later part of the 20th century, Headmaster Maxwell Kendall began to accept female students, created a board of trustees for the school, made Cascadilla independent of (although still affiliated with) Cornell University, obtained accreditation from the New York State Board of Regents, obtained not-for-profit status, and marketed the school to international students with great success. His son, John Kendall, former history and math teacher at the school later took over as headmaster and successfully opened the school up to students who were looking for an accelerated approach to their education. The accelerated program allows students to earn one unit of credit in one semester. In 1999 John Kendall's wife, Patricia Kendall, officially became the dean of students and in 2001 she took over as headmistress, a position in which she serves to this day. Between 40 and 60 students from ten different countries are guided by a faculty of twelve teachers, many of whom hold advanced degrees. Typically, Cascadilla School students go on to four-year colleges such as Binghamton University,

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

.Approximately 3,750 students have attended the Cascadilla School since 1876.

Athletics

Cascadilla offers its students four different athletic programs: * Soccer (Cascadilla Gryphons Soccer) *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

Club (the Hippogriffs)

Notable alumni

Hermann Biggs Hermann Michael Biggs (September 29, 1859 – June 28, 1923) was an American physician and pioneer in the field of public health who helped apply the science of bacteriology to the prevention and control of infectious diseases. He was born in ...

, physician and pioneer in the field of

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

(Student, 1879) * John L. Collyer, businessman who served as chairman of the Board of Trustees at

and chairman, president, and CEO at B. F. Goodrich (Class of 1913) *

Adolph Coors II Adolph Herman Joseph Coors Jr. (January 12, 1884 – June 28, 1970) was an American businessman. He was the son of Louisa (Webber) and brewer Adolph Coors, and the second President of Coors Brewing Company. Life and career Coors was a graduate of ...

, businessman who served as president at

Coors Brewing Company The Coors Brewing Company started as an American brewery and beer company in Golden, Colorado. In 2005, Adolph Coors Company, the holding company that owned Coors Brewing, merged with Molson, Inc. to become Molson Coors. The first Coors b ...

; son of

Adolph Coors Adolph Herman Joseph Coors Sr. (February 4, 1847 – June 5, 1929) was a German American brewer who founded the Adolph Coors Company in Golden, Colorado, in 1873. Early years Adolph Hermann Joseph Kuhrs was born in Barmen in Rhenish Prus ...

(Class of 1903) * Charles King, engineer and entrepreneur; first person in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

to design, build, and drive a self-propelled

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

* John M. Olin, businessman and philanthropist; son of Franklin W. Olin (Class of 1909) *

Spencer T. Olin Spencer Truman Olin (August 20, 1900 – April 14, 1995) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He was an executive of the Olin Corporation, founded in 1892 by his father, Franklin W. Olin, eventually serving as first vice president of ...

, businessman and philanthropist; son of Franklin W. Olin (Class of 1917) *

Henry Schoellkopf Henry Schoellkopf (December 14, 1879 – December 5, 1912) was an American football player and coach. He was selected as an All-American fullback while attending Harvard Law School in 1903. He was the head coach of the Cornell Big Red foot ...

, football player at

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

; head football coach at

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

from 1907 to 1908 *

Walter Wanger Walter Wanger (born Walter Feuchtwanger; July 11, 1894 – November 18, 1968) was an American film producer active from the 1910s, his career concluding with the turbulent production of '' Cleopatra,'' his last film, in 1963. He began at Para ...

, film producer and movie executive during the

Golden Age of Hollywood Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...

(Class of 1912)

References

External links

Cascadilla School
{{authority control Preparatory schools in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Ithaca, New York Schools in Tompkins County, New York Private high schools in New York (state)