Marlborough School is an independent

college-preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to state school, public, Independent school, private independent or parochial school, parochial schools primaril ...

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

for grades 7 through 12 at 250 South Rossmore Avenue in the

Hancock Park Hancock Park is a city park in the Miracle Mile section of the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. The park's destinations include the La Brea Tar Pits; the adjacent George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries, which display ...

neighborhood of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Marlborough was founded in 1889 by New England educator Mary Caswell and is the oldest independent girls' school in Southern California.Marlborough School
/ref> In 2016, '' Town & Country'' magazine ranked Marlborough as the "best girls' school in America."

History

Mary S. Caswell Mary S. Deering Caswell (1847 – February 11, 1924) was an American educator and writer, founder of the Marlborough School (Los Angeles), Marlborough School in Los Angeles. Early life Mary S. Deering was born in Paris, Maine in 1847 (some sourc ...

, a young teacher from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, founded Marlborough in 1889 as St. Margaret's School for Girls. In 1890, the school adopted the name Marlborough and moved from

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

to the rapidly growing city of Los Angeles. Caswell led the school until 1924, when Ada Blake (recruited from

Louisville Collegiate School Louisville Collegiate School is a Junior Kindergarten - 12th grade, co-ed independent day school located in the historic Highlands neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Founded in , the school enrolls 750 students at 2427 Glenmary ...

) assumed its leadership. Blake expanded the curriculum substantially and the School gained a reputation for providing young women with an uncommonly rigorous education. By the 1960s, the School was supported by a healthy foundation and an active board of trustees, who hired William Pereira and Associates to design new buildings. The Los Angeles business community actively supported the school in the latter half of the 20th century, with local titans including

Robert H. Ahmanson Robert H. Ahmanson (February 14, 1927 – September 1, 2007) was an American businessman and philanthropist from Los Angeles, California. He was a corporate director of H.F. Ahmanson & Co. and served as the President of The Ahmanson Foundati ...

and

Charlie Munger Charles Thomas Munger (born January 1, 1924) is an American billionaire investor, businessman, and former real estate attorney. He is vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett; Buffett has described Mun ...

giving generously. In 2014, a sexual misconduct investigation resulted in the imprisonment of a former teacher. In 2015, Dr. Priscilla Sands was named head of school. Sands came to Marlborough after a career at the

Agnes Irwin School The Agnes Irwin School is a non-sectarian college preparatory day school for girls from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. It was founded in 1869 by Agnes Irwin in Philadelphia. Irwin, a great-great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin, later beca ...

and the

Springside Chestnut Hill Academy Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (also known as SCH Academy or SCH) is an independent, non-sectarian Pre-K through grade 12 school located in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, approximately 10 miles from Center City. SCH serves ove ...

, both independent schools in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

area. In 2022, Jennifer Ciccarelli became the head of school after serving in the same role at the Columbus School for Girls in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

, Ohio.

Academics

The student-to-teacher ratio at Marlborough School is approximately 8:1, lower than the national high school average of 11:1 and the public school average of 16:1. This ratio enables Marlborough to offer over 156 courses. Over 80% of faculty members have more than ten years of teaching experience and almost 90% have advanced degrees. In recent years, the most popular postgraduate destinations for Marlborough women include a mix of elite private and "public ivy" institutions. Marlborough ranked sixth in the nation among high schools with the highest standardized test scores according to ''Business Insider''. Recent guest speakers at Marlborough include

Queen Rania of Jordan Rania Al-Abdullah ( ar, رانيا العبد الله, ; born Rania Al-Yassin, 31 August 1970) is Queen of Jordan as the wife of King Abdullah II. Rania was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. She received her bachelor's degree in busi ...

, former Secretary of State

Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic ...

, Pulitzer Prize-winning ''New York Times'' columnist

Nicholas Kristof Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''. Born in Chicago, Kristof wa ...

, historian Edward L. Ayers, Nobel Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee, and producer/actor Mindy Kaling.

Notable alumnae

* Carolin Babcock tennis player * Katherine Bashford landscape architectKeylon, Steven
"The California Landscapes of Katherine Bashford"
''Eden: Journal of the California Garden and Landscape History Society'', vol. 16, no. 4 (Fall 2013)."Katherine Emilie Bashford"
The Cultural Landscape Foundation website. Accessed Oct. 22, 2015. * Camilla Belle film and television actress *

Betsy Bloomingdale Betty Lee "Betsy" Bloomingdale (née Newling; August 2, 1922 – July 19, 2016), was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was considered a fashion icon, first appearing on the International Best Dressed List in 1962, and in 1970 was nam ...

philanthropist and fashion icon *

Cornelia Butler Cornelia H. "Connie" Butler (born 1 February 1963) is an American museum curator, author, and art historian. Since 2013, Butler is the Chief Curator at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Career Butler is a 1980 graduate of Marlborough School, and ...

museum curator (currently Chief Curator at the

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

) *

Joan Riddell Cook Joan Riddell Cook (January 5, 1922 in Portland, Oregon – February 5, 1995"Joan R. Cook, 73, Reporter for Times". ''The New York Times'', February 6, 1995 in New York City) was an American newspaper journalist and editor, a trade union leade ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

leader, and a founding director of JAWS (Journalism and Women Symposium) *

Jacqueline Emerson Jacqueline Bonnell Marteau Emerson (born August 21, 1994) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for portraying Foxface in the film ''The Hunger Games'' (2012). She is also known for starring as Skye in the film '' The Last Surviv ...

actress and singer * Sabaah Folayan award-winning documentary filmmaker * Olivia Jade Giannulli and Bella Giannulli (transferred after 9th and 10th grade) *

Suzanne Goin Suzanne Goin is a chef and restaurateur from Los Angeles, California. As a restaurateur, she runs three fine dining restaurants in the Los Angeles area: a.o.c., Lucques, and Tavern, which she runs with partner Caroline Styne, as well as four Larde ...

chef and restaurateur * Kate Grace Olympic finalist in the women's 800m * Dolly Green philanthropist and thoroughbred ownerMyrna Oliver
Philanthropist 'Dolly' Green; Heiress Owned Thoroughbreds
''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', September 05, 1990Marc Wanamaker, ''Early Beverly Hills'', Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2005, pp. 17-1

/ref> *

Leila Holterhoff Leila Holterhoff (October 29, 1885 – February 21, 1968) was an American soprano concert singer from Los Angeles, California, who later (as Leila Mosher) became a psychoanalyst, translator, and philanthropist. Early life Leila S. Holterhoff was ...

singer, linguist, psychoanalyst *

Marian Osgood Hooker Marian Osgood Hooker (1875–1968) was a physician and photographer in the early 20th century. She is known for her photographs of rural Italy, published in several books including ''Farmhouses and Small Provincial Buildings in Southern Italy''. ...

physician and photographer * Caroline Howard Hume art collector and philanthropistMeredith May
Caroline Howard Hume, S.F. philanthropist, dies
''

San Francisco Gate The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...

'', October 30, 2008 *

Lois January Lois January (October 5, 1913 – August 7, 2006) was an American actress and singer who performed small roles in several B-movies during the 1930s. Early life Born in McAllen, Texas, as Laura Lois January, she "was prodded into show busin ...

film actress * Marion Jorgensen philanthropist and civic leader *

Zoe Kazan Zoe Swicord Kazan (; born September 9, 1983) is an American actress, playwright, and screenwriter. She made her acting debut in the film ''Swordswallowers and Thin Men'' (2003) and later appeared in films such as '' The Savages'' (2007), ''Revol ...

actress and playwright *

Jessica Levinson Jessica Levinson is an American law professor and political commentator. Levinson teaches at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where she lectures in the areas of constitutional law, election law Election law is a branch of public law that rela ...

law professor and political commentator *

Diane Disney Miller Diane Marie Disney-Miller (December 18, 1933 – November 19, 2013) was the eldest daughter of Walt Disney and his wife Lillian Bounds Disney. Diane co-founded the Walt Disney Family Museum alongside her family. She was president of the Board ...

author, philanthropist, and vintner, daughter of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

Peggy Moffitt Margaret Anne "Peggy" Moffitt (born May 14, 1940) is a former American model and actress. During the 1960s, she worked very closely with fashion designer Rudi Gernreich, and developed a signature style that featured heavy makeup and an asymmetric ...

model and actress (famous for associations with

Rudi Gernreich Rudolf "Rudi" Gernreich (August 8, 1922 April 21, 1985) was an Austrian-born American fashion designer whose avant-garde clothing designs are generally regarded as the most innovative and dynamic fashion of the 1960s. He purposefully used fashio ...

) * The daughters of President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

(

Tricia Nixon Cox Patricia Nixon Cox ( Nixon; born February 21, 1946) is the elder daughter of the 37th United States president Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon, and sister to Julie Nixon Eisenhower. She is married to Edward F. Cox and is the mother of Chr ...

and

Julie Nixon Eisenhower Julie Nixon Eisenhower ( Nixon; born July 5, 1948) is an American author who is the younger daughter of former U.S. president Richard Nixon and his wife Pat Nixon. Her husband David Eisenhower, David is the grandson of former U.S. president Dwi ...

) briefly attended in the early 1960s *

Abi Olajuwon Alon Abisola Arisicate Ajoke Olajuwon, better known as Abi Olajuwon (born July 6, 1988) is a Nigerian-American basketball coach and former player. Currently, she is an assistant coach for Connecticut Sun in the WNBA. Olajuwon is the daughter of ...

WNBA player and college basketball coach *

Melissa Rivers Melissa Warburg Rosenberg (previously Endicott; born January 20, 1968), known professionally as Melissa Rivers, is an American actress and television host. She is the only child of comedian Joan Rivers and producer Edgar Rosenberg. Early life M ...

actress, television host and producer (attended but transferred for tenth grade) *

Sasha Spielberg Sasha Rebecca Spielberg (born May 14, 1990), also known by her stage name Buzzy Lee, is an American actress and musician. Life and career Spielberg was born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, the daughter of film director Steven Spi ...

actress and musician, daughter of

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

* Alex Witt

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

news anchor * Stephanie Zimbalist actress (did not graduate) *

Leigh Bardugo Leigh Bardugo ( he, לי ברדוגו) is an Israeli-American fantasy author. She is best known for her young adult Grishaverse novels, which include the ''Shadow and Bone'' trilogy, the ''Six of Crows'' duology, and the '' King of Scars'' duolo ...

young adult and fantasy author *

Eden McCoy Eden may refer to: *Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis Places and jurisdictions Canada * Eden, Ontario * Eden High School Middle East * Eden, Lebanon, a city and former bishopric * Camp Eden, Iraq Oce ...

actress

Notable faculty and staff

Josh Deu Josh Deu is the co-founder of Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. He and Win Butler co-founded Arcade Fire in late 1999. Deu formally left the band in late 2003. He went on to co-found the Los Angeles-based animation and visual effects and anima ...

musician and songwriter, co-founding member of indie rock band

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...

* Gertrude Gogin former

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

national secretary for girls' programs, joined the Marlborough faculty in 1938 * George Toley tennis coach (later at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

)

Pop culture mentions

Marlborough recently has been mentioned in the shows ''

Ray Donovan ''Ray Donovan'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ann Biderman for Showtime. The twelve-episode first season premiered on June 30, 2013. The pilot episode broke viewership records, becoming the biggest premiere of all t ...

'' and ''

Red Band Society ''Red Band Society'' is an American teen medical comedy-drama television series, developed by Margaret Nagle, that aired on Fox for the 2014–15 American television season. The series premiered on September 17, 2014. Based on the Catalan d ...

.''

References

External links

*
Official Marlborough School newspaper
{{authority control Preparatory schools in California Educational institutions established in 1889 High schools in Los Angeles Girls' schools in California Private high schools in California Private middle schools in California Hancock Park, Los Angeles 1889 establishments in California