Kingswood Oxford School is a private school located in
West Hartford, Connecticut
West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
The town's popular downtown area is colloquially ...
instructing day students in grades 6 through 12 with a college preparatory curriculum. Originally two separate schools, Kingswood School and Oxford School for boys and girls respectively, KO is now a co-educational institution. KO employs 75 teachers as well as administrative, library, building and grounds, and culinary staff.
History
Kingswood Oxford School was formed by the merger of two independent schools: Oxford School for girls, founded in 1909 by Mary Martin, and Kingswood School, founded by George R.H. Nicholson in 1916. Martin and Nicholson founded their schools on the premise that "wise parents know they must share with teachers the shaping of the minds and character of young people" as first expressed by The American Country Day School Journal in the early 1900s.
Martin opened Oxford School in 1909 in her home on Oxford Street in
Hartford
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
's West End. In 1924, the School moved to 695 Prospect Ave. in
West Hartford
West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census.
The town's popular downtown area is colloquially known as "West Hartford Center," or simply "The ...
. The Prospect Street site became the permanent home of Oxford and served as the home for Kingswood Oxford's Middle School until the new Estes Family Building for the Middle School opened on the same campus as the Upper School in 2003. In the summer of 2007 KO expanded and improved the dining facility and added the multisport (football, lacrosse, soccer, field hockey and softball) artificial turf field. In 2008 construction began on the new Chase-Tallwood Science Math Technology Center, which was completed at the commencement of the 2009 school year coinciding with the School's Centennial Celebration.
Nicholson established the Kingswood School seven years later. He named the School for his
alma mater, the
Kingswood School
(''In The Right Way Quickly'')
, established =
, closed =
, type = Independent
, religious_affiliation = Methodist
, president =
, head_label = Headmaste ...
based in Bath,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The new Kingswood School inherited some of the traditions of the English school, including the School's crest, motto, colors (black and crimson) and distinctive symbol, the wyvern. The wyvern is a mythical creature said to have two legs, two clawed wings and a serpent's tail.
Upon the merger in 1969, the combined institution took the name Kingswood-Oxford School, as originally hyphenated. At the time of the merger, Kingswood Oxford adopted the Oxford School motto: Vincit qui se vincit (One conquers by conquering oneself). Kingswood's motto had been "In via recta celeriter" (In the right direction swiftly). In 2010, the School dropped the hyphen from its name, making it Kingswood Oxford School.
The current Head of School, Thomas Dillow, joined Kingswood Oxford in 2018.
Academics
KO students continually score well on
Advanced Placement exams; the school is one of the top achievers on AP tests among Connecticut high schools.
The school has also been voted the best prep school in the West Hartford area for the ninth consecutive time in the May 2017 edition of the Hartford Courant.
Kingswood Oxford students also continually score well within the
National Merit Scholarship Program
Extracurricular activities
Student groups at KO range from a newspaper (the KO News), a literary magazine called epic and a student-run yearbook to multicultural and community-service organizations.
KO's debate and public speaking club, the Forensic Union, has been consistently winning tournaments in the Debating Association of New England Independent Schools for over twenty years and has placed highly in international competitions including the
World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship
The World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships (WIDPSC) is an annual English language debating and public speaking tournament for individual high school-level students representing different countries. It is the public speaking e ...
.
There are also numerous performing groups (part of the required arts program), including the Octopipers, a selective group of eighth-grade girls that began in Oxford; F2B, a selective chorus group for Middle School boys; the sixth-grade Upper Prep Choraliers; Crimson 7, an a cappella group of Upper School boys; Voce Novissima, an elite all-girls' Upper School choir; Middle and Upper School mixed choruses; Middle and Upper School Concert Band; and the Jazz Ensemble in both the Middle School and Upper School. Kingswood Oxford has both a Middle School and Upper School string orchestra as well.
Notable alumni & faculty
*
Tim Brennan, lead guitarist of the
Dropkick Murphys
*
E. Michael Burke
Edmund Michael Burke (August 6, 1916 – February 5, 1987) was a U.S. Navy Officer, O.S.S. agent, C.I.A. agent, general manager of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, CBS executive, and President of the New York Yankees, the New York ...
, former President of the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
, the
New York Knicks, and
Madison Square Garden
*
Kate Cheney Chappell, co-founder of
Tom's of Maine
Tom's of Maine is a brand name and manufacturing company of natural personal care products. Tom's of Maine has been a majority-owned subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive since 2006. The company's products are sourced and derived from nature, with for ...
*
John Conklin, theater designer
*
Dominick Dunne
Dominick John Dunne (October 29, 1925 – August 26, 2009) was an American writer, investigative journalist, and producer. He began his career in film and television as a producer of the pioneering gay film '' The Boys in the Band'' (1970) and ...
, investigative journalist
*
Colin McEnroe
Colin McEnroe (born 1954) is an American columnist and radio personality. He hosts ''The Colin McEnroe Show'' on Connecticut Public Radio, writes a weekly column that runs in eight Hearst Communications, and writes a newsletter also for Hearst.
B ...
, columnist and radio personality
*
Tarik Ergin, actor
*
Brendan Gill
Brendan Gill (October 4, 1914 – December 27, 1997) was an American journalist. He wrote for ''The New Yorker'' for more than 60 years. Gill also contributed film criticism for ''Film Comment'', wrote about design and architecture for Architectu ...
, writer for ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''
*
Marion Coats Graves
Marion Coats Graves (August 2, 1885 - November 19, 1962) was an American educator known for her work in creating two-year junior colleges for women. She helped establish and was the first president of Sarah Lawrence College.
Biography
Marion Coa ...
''(faculty in 1910)'', first president of
Sarah Lawrence College
*
Katharine Hepburn, actress
*
Katharine Houghton
Katharine Houghton (born Katharine Houghton Grant; March 10, 1945) is an American actress and playwright. She portrayed Joanna "Joey" Drayton, a white woman who brings home her black fiancé to meet her parents, in the 1967 film '' Guess Who's ...
, actress and playwright
*
Jared Jordan, professional basketball player
*
Nancy Lublin, founder and former CEO of
Crisis Text Line, former CEO of
DoSomething, creator of
Dress for Success
*
John O'Hurley
John George O'Hurley Jr. (born October 9, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, singer, author, game show host and television personality. He is known for his portrayal of J. Peterman on the NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld'', and was the sixth host of the ...
, actor and former host of ''
Family Feud
''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes.
The show has had three separate runs, th ...
''
*
William A. Tomasso, construction executive
*
Isaiah Wright, professional football player
References
{{authority control
Buildings and structures in West Hartford, Connecticut
Schools in Hartford County, Connecticut
Private high schools in Connecticut
Educational institutions established in 1909
Private middle schools in Connecticut
Preparatory schools in Connecticut
1909 establishments in Connecticut