Portledge 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 ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...

located in

Matinecock, New York Matinecock is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 810 at the 2010 census. History Matinecock incorporated as a village on April 2, 1928, in order to ...

with 414 students in Pre-nursery through 12th grade (2006–2007

school year A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

History

Portledge was founded in 1965 in the

Coffin A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation. Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...

estate in Locust Valley, NY. The estate was named after

Portledge Manor Portledge Manor is an English manor house in the parish of Alwington, southwest of Bideford, Devon. It and the land surrounding it belonged to the Coffin family, a noble family of Norman origin, for almost 1000 years. History The house sits on ...

, the Coffin family's ancestral home in England. Originally just the Carriage House (Middle School) and the Mansion (Lower School), the school built an Upper School (Gilmour Library), a Gym (Wellington Gym), Slanetz Science Center (SSC), and various sports fields over 40 years. Since 2000, the Middle School was completely rebuilt from an aging stable to a modern three level classroom and performance area complex. Most recently, a baseball and multipurpose field were constructed on lands backing up on Duck Pond Road. The school went through various headmasters in its early years until Hugh Gregory was hired. Responsible for growing the school from one without a unified grading system to a nationally accredited institution, Gregory served for 29 years. Afterwards, a search committee selected Steven Hahn, who served from 2006 until 2012. Simon Owen-Williams succeeded Mr. Hahn and is the c