Saint Ann's School is a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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. The school is a non-sectarian, co-educational pre-K–12 day school with programs in the arts, humanities, and sciences. The students number 1,012 from preschool through 12th grade, as well as 324 faculty, administration, and staff members. The campus, located in

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south ...

, includes a central 15-story building, two adjoining brownstones, and a preschool and kindergarten located near the main campus. Annual tuition as of 2022 is between $48,000 and $52,000.

History

Saint Ann's School was founded in 1965 with 63 students and seven teachers in the basement of the St. Ann's Episcopal Church under the aegis of the vestry of the church and several interested parents. In 1966, the church purchased the former Crescent Athletic Club House, a building designed by Frank Freeman, which has since served as the school's main building.Gray, Christopher
"129 Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights; 1906 Building, Once an Athletic Club, Now a School"
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'', August 13, 2000. Stanley Bosworth became its first headmaster. In 1982, Saint Ann's School formally disaffiliated from the church, having been granted a charter from the Board of Regents of the State of New York. In 2023, Kenyatte Reid became head of school.

Academic program

The school allows its high school juniors and seniors to design their own curriculum. In a 2004 survey conducted by ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', Saint Ann's was rated the number one high school in the country for having the highest percentage of graduating seniors enroll in

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

and other highly selective colleges.April 2, 2004 ''

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'', Cover Story (Personal Journal) In late 2007, ''The Wall Street Journal'' again listed Saint Ann's as one of the country's top 50 high schools for its success in preparing students to enter top American universities. In 2012, the ''

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'' ranked Saint Ann's as the number one high school in New York City.

Divisions and demographics

The school is organized into four divisions: preschool, lower, middle and high school. The vast majority of the students are from Brooklyn and Manhattan, although other boroughs are represented. Approximately 22 percent of the student body receive some level of scholarship aid (8.5 percent receive tuition remission; 13.5 percent receive financial aid). Approximately 33 percent of the student body are nonwhite. In her memoirs, Claire Dederer wrote that when she was a student at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

, "all the coolest girls" had attended St. Ann's: "They had slept with Beastie Boys when the Beastie Boys were still a punk band. They had famous parents. ..The Saint Ann’s girls didn’t need anyone besides themselves. They ruled the school."

Controversies

Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

In 2017, allegations of sexual misconduct by teachers were posted to Facebook. In response, the school commissioned an independent investigation, which announced in 2019 that it had identified nineteen former St. Anne's teachers or staff who potentially engaged in inappropriate behavior or sexual misconduct with students, going back to the 1970s.

Suicide of Ellis Lariviere

In February 2021 an eighth grade St. Ann's student, Ellis Lariviere, committed suicide after being notified that he would not be permitted to continue at the school following the end of the year. Lariviere was noted as a talented artist who struggled with

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

. His midyear eighth grade reports noted his problems with writing and organization, but also noted the progress he had made that year, and praised him for creative thinking and contributions to his classes. Lariviere's suicide note specifically requested that the school not hold an assembly about his death, and the school's notification to parents failed to mention that he had been told not to return to the school. Two years later, in April 2023, Lariviere's parents filed suit against the school, its headmaster, and its board of trustees for

wrongful death Wrongful death is a type of legal claim or cause of action against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as authorized by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are ...

. A commentating law professor, David C. Bloomfield, stated that despite how private schools are not required to retain students, the school did make an ethical commitment not to give up on students.

Hiring of Winston Nguyen

In July 2024, St. Ann's math teacher Winston Nguyen was arrested and charged with "use of a child in a sexual performance, promoting a sexual performance by a child and disseminating indecent material to a minor", among other charges. It was revealed that Nguyen had previously been convicted of grand larceny, stealing more than $300,000 from an elderly couple he worked for, and that St. Ann’s had been aware of his criminal past when they hired him. Nguyen pleaded guilty to the charges relating to the July 2024 arrest in March 2025 and was sentenced to seven years in prison on March 19.

Faculty and alumni

The school maintains a list called ''The Growing Shelf'', which documents all published community members.

Notable faculty

* Pearl Abraham (novelist) * Staceyann Chin (poet and LGBT activist) *

Mark Denbeaux Mark P. Denbeaux (born July 30, 1943, in Gainesville, Florida) is an American attorney, professor, and author. He is a law professor at Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark, New Jersey and the Director of its Center for Policy and Resea ...

(lawyer) * Jonathan Elliott (composer) * Oskar Eustis (artistic director of Public Theater) *

William Everdell William Romeyn Everdell is an American teacher and author. He is Dean of Humanities, Emeritus, at Saint Ann's School. Biography Born on June 25, 1941, he graduated from St. Paul's School and from Princeton University in 1964. A Woodrow Wilson ...

(historian) *

Melissa James Gibson Melissa James Gibson is a Canadian-born playwright based in New York. Life The child of former British Columbia Liberal Party, BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly, MLA Gordon Gibson (politician, born 1937), Gordon Gibson and journalist ...

(playwright) * Adam Gidwitz (author) * Laura Gilbert (flutist) * Jonathan Hafetz (lawyer) * Cara Hoffman (writer) * Paul Lockhart (mathematician) * Willard Midgette (artist) * Anne Pierson Wiese (poet) * Leon Reid IV (artist) * Colette Rossant (author) * Greg Smith (artist) * Dave Schramm, (musician) *

Tazewell Thompson Tazewell Thompson is an American theatre director, the former artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse (2006–07) in Westport, Connecticut and the Syracuse Stage (1992–95) in New York state. Prior to that he was an assistant direc ...

(theater director)Midgette, Anne

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.'' "He’s also a committed and inspiring teacher, including an early stint at St. Ann’s School in Brooklyn where, full disclosure, he directed me in the high school musical." *

Heather A. Williams Heather A. Williams is a scholar of African American studies and lawyer. She serves as Presidential Professor and Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Heather Andrea Williams moved to the United States from Jamaica whe ...

(historian)

Notable alumni

*Actors **

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** Eva Amurri **

Jennifer Connelly Jennifer Lynn Connelly (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She began her career as a child model before making her acting debut in the 1984 crime film ''Once Upon a Time in America''. After a few more years of modeling, she began t ...

** Paz de la HuertaLevy, Ariel
"The Devil & Saint Ann's"
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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

.'' "And certainly, many a bright-eyed youth has passed through the halls of Saint Ann’s and come out the other end an artiste of one sort or another (Zac Posen, Jennifer Connelly, Paz de la Huerta, et al.)" ** Caitlin Dulany ** Cyrus Dunham **

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (; born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series '' Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations and two G ...

Carr, David
"Young Filmmaker’s Search for Her Worth Is Rewarded"
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.'' "Ms. Dunham grew up in SoHo, went to St. Ann’s School in Brooklyn and graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in creative writing in 2008." ** Alexis Dziena ** India Ennenga ** Michael Esper **

Josh Hamilton Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 2007 to 2015, most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers teams ...

Maya Hawke Maya Ray Thurman Hawke (born July 8, 1998) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of Hollywood actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. She began her career in modeling, and subsequently made her screen debut as Jo March in ...

** Fred Hechinger ** Lucas Hedges ** Michelle Hurd ** Monica Keena **

Jemima Kirke Jemima Jo Kirke (born 26 April 1985) is a British-American artist, actress and director. She gained international acclaim through her role as Jessa Johansson in the 2012 HBO series '' Girls''. She made her film debut in the 2005 indie short '' ...

** Lola Kirke ** Stephen Mailer ** Griffin Newman **

Mia Sara Mia Sarapochiello (born June 19, 1967), known professionally as Mia Sara, is an American actress. Her early roles include the soap opera ''All My Children'' (1983) and Ridley Scott's fantasy film ''Legend'' (1985). She gained wide recognition fo ...

** Eric Stuart **

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*Filmmakers and screenwriters **

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(screenwriter) ** Dan Goor (screenwriter) ** Immy Humes (documentary filmmaker) ** Garret Linn (filmmaker) **

Sarah-Violet Bliss Sarah-Violet Bliss is an American screenwriter and director best known for writing and directing the independent film, independent comedy film ''Fort Tilden (film), Fort Tilden'' and the TBS (American TV channel), TBS dark comedy television series ...

(filmmaker) *Musicians and writers ** Michael Diamond ** Stefan Zeniuk (musician) ** Barbara Brousal (musician) **

Vera Sola Danielle Aykroyd (born November 18, 1989), known professionally as Vera Sola, is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and recording artist. She studied poetry under Jorie Graham at Harvard University. She performed, pr ...

(musician, singer-songwriter, poet) ** Dan Coleman (composer) ** Simone Dinnerstein (pianist) ** Tomás Doncker (guitarist) ** Erika Nickrenz (pianist) **

Jeff Yang Jeff Yang ( zh, t=楊致和; born ) is an American writer, journalist, businessman, and business/media consultant who writes the ''Tao Jones'' column for ''The Wall Street Journal''. Previously, he was the "Asian Pop" columnist at the ''San Fra ...

(author, journalist) ** Anna Ziegler (playwright) ** Meghan O'Rourke (poet) ** Anne Midgette (journalist) **

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(writer/music critic) ** Jaida Jones (fantasy author) ** Thomas Beller (author and editor) ** Rebecca Pronsky (singer-songwriter) **

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(writer) ** Emma Straub (writer) ** John Pomfret (journalist) ** Ivy Pochoda (novelist) ** Joanna Fuhrman (poet) **

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(poet) ** Ann Herendeen (writer) **

Lynn Nottage Lynn Nottage (born November 2, 1964) is an American playwright whose work often focuses on the experience of working-class people, particularly working-class people who are black. She has received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice: in 2009 for he ...

(playwright) ** Sam Sifton (journalist) ** Samantha Gillison (writer) ** Eliza Callahan (singer) ** Lucy Wainwright Roche (singer-songwriter) ** Dan Brenner (musician) *Other notables **

Zac Posen Zachary E. Posen (; born October 24, 1980) is an American fashion designer. Early life Zachary E. Posen was born and raised in a American Jews, Jewish family in New York City, residing in the SoHo neighborhood of lower Manhattan. He is the son ...

(fashion designer) ** Katherine Healy (figure skater/ballerina) ** Meredith Rainey (athlete), ** Adam Bosworth (technology engineer) ** Willa Shalit (entrepreneur) ** Vito Schnabel (art curator)"Vito Schnabel on His Days as a 16-Year-Old Curator..."
February 2013, Lauren Cristensen, VF Culture ** Benjamin B. Wagner (attorney) **

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(artist) ** Risa L. Goluboff (law professor) ** Derrick Niederman (mathematician and author) **

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(type designer) ** Chitra Ganesh (artist) ** Kate Shepherd (artist) ** Justine Cassell (professor) ** Christian Martin (television executive) ** Bernadette Meyler (

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

professor) **