Wikipedia

St. George's School (Rhode Island)

(Redirected from St. George's School, Newport)

St. George's School (nicknamed St. G's) is a private, Episcopal, co-educational day and boarding school in Middletown, Rhode Island, a suburb of Newport. The school is built on a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

St. George's School
Address
Map
372 Purgatory Road

Middletown
,
Rhode Island
02842

United States
Coordinates41°29′28″N 71°16′24″W / 41.49111°N 71.27333°W / 41.49111; -71.27333
Information
TypePrivate secondary, day and boarding
MottoSapientia Utriusque Vitae Lumen
("Wisdom, the light of every life.")
DenominationEpiscopal
Established1896
Head of SchoolMichael Wirtz
Grades9–12
GenderCoeducational
Enrollment370
CampusSuburban
Color(s)Red, black, and white
Athletics conferenceIndependent School League
MascotDragon
RivalMiddlesex School
NewspaperThe Red & White
YearbookThe Lance
Websitestgeorges.edu

History

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Early years

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Students at St. George's in 1933

St. George's (originally Diman's School for Small Boys or Mr. Diman's School for Boys) was founded in 1896 by Episcopal minister John Diman.[1] At the time, Rhode Island did not have tax-funded high schools; the state would not require towns to maintain a public high school until 1909.[2] The school initially leased temporary grounds in Newport, but moved across the bay to a permanent campus in Middletown in 1901.[2][3] The school was initially set up as a for-profit corporation, but became a non-profit corporation in 1903.[4]

Diman modeled his school after the English public schools. He implemented the prefect system and organized the school into six grades, called Forms I-VI in the British fashion.[3] The First and Second Forms were later discontinued in 1930 and 1966.[3]

In 1916, Diman resigned from St. George's; he formally converted to Catholicism the following year.[5] After a spell at Fort Augustus Abbey in Scotland, he returned to Rhode Island and established Portsmouth Abbey School, a Benedictine institution, in 1926.[6]

Modern times

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The school began admitting black students in 1963, female day students in 1971, and female boarders in 1972.[3][7] In 1987, girls outnumbered boys in the graduating class for the first time.[3]

In the current century, St. George's has focused on redeveloping and renovating its campus. The library was renovated in 2011.[8] A new STEM facility opened in 2015.[9] Memorial Schoolhouse was renovated in 2019–20.[10] The school is currently raising money to grow the endowment, expand student dormitories, and add new faculty housing.[11][12]

In the 2023–24 school year, St. George's educated 377 students in grades 9–12.[13] 85% of students were boarders.[13] 33% identified as students of color,[13] and 32% received financial aid.[14] 15% of the students were international.[13]

Finances

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Tuition and financial aid

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In the 2023–24 school year, St. George's charged boarding students $73,850 and day students $51,275. 32% of St. George's students are on financial aid, which covers, on average, $58,000 for boarders.[14]

Endowment and expenses

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In its Internal Revenue Service filings for the 2021–22 school year, St. George's reported total assets of $310.7 million, net assets of $247.4 million, investment holdings of $208.2 million, and cash holdings of $6.7 million. St. George's also reported $32.1 million in program service expenses and $5.6 million in grants (primarily student financial aid).[15]

Campus

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St. George's School—Church of St. George, Little Chapel, and Memorial Schoolhouse
 
Memorial Schoolhouse (1923)
and the Church of St. George (1928)
Location372 Purgatory Road, Middletown, RI
Arealess than one acre
Built1909-28
Architect
Architectural styleTudor Revival, Late Gothic Revival
NRHP reference No.04001235
Added to NRHPNovember 12, 2004
 
Old School
 
Diman Dormitory

St. George's campus covers 125 acres in southern Rhode Island, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.[4] The campus was laid out by the Olmsted Brothers architectural firm.[16] In 2004, the school's core buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places.[2] In 2018, Architectural Digest named St. George's the most beautiful private high school campus in Rhode Island.[17]

St. George's students refer to the campus as "The Hilltop," as it is located on a hill just east of Newport.[18] Outside Middletown, the school is occasionally nicknamed "St. Gorgeous" due to the school's picturesque location (and other factors).[18]

Academic facilities

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  • Memorial Schoolhouse (opened 1923, renovated 2020) hosts most classes.[10] It was designed by McKim, Mead & White.[19]
  • Academic Center (opened 2015) hosts STEM classes.[9] It contains various sustainable energy facilities, including a wind turbine and a solar-powered water heating system.[20]
  • Hill Library (renovated 2011) contains 30,000 volumes and 1,500 reference titles.[8]
  • Drury/Grosvenor Center for the Arts (opened 1999) hosts the arts and music departments, a makerspace, and a theater. It is named for two former heads of the St. George's art department.[21][22]
  • John Nicholas Brown '18 Center (opened 2005) hosts administrative offices and the college counseling department. The school intends to demolish this building as part of its broader plans to renovate the central campus.[11]
  • Sixth-Form House (built 1903) is the subject of renovation plans. Once renovated, it will host various administrative facilities.[11]

Student and religious life

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  • The Church of St. George (commonly referred to as "The Chapel") (opened 1928) was designed by Ralph Adams Cram and donated by alumnus John Nicholas Brown.[18] It contains nine statues by Joseph Coletti.[2]
  • The Old Chapel (opened 1911) was St. George's original religious building. It currently hosts music rehearsal facilities.[2]
  • King Hall – The school's dining hall.[11]
  • Hamblet Campus Center (opened 2004) is named for St. George's 10th headmaster Charles Hamblet and his wife Carol.[citation needed]
  • There are five boys' dorms and six girls' dorms. Old School (opened 1901) was the first building on the Middletown campus and currently hosts student residences.[23][11]

Athletic facilities

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St. George's has ten athletic fields, two hockey rinks, three basketball courts, eight international squash courts, ten tennis courts (six outdoor, four indoor), an indoor track, and an eight-lane swimming pool.[citation needed]

During the summer the squash facility hosts Mark Talbott's Squash Academy, the official training center of the U.S. Squash Racquets Association. It served as the site for both the National Junior Squash Championships in 1996 and 1998, and the Men's Squash Softball Championships in February 1997.[citation needed]

Extracurricular activities

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Athletics

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St. George's is a member of the Independent School League (ISL) and the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC).[24][25] The school offers 16 sports.[26]

Although the closest ISL team to St. George's is Tabor Academy, St. George's athletics rival is Middlesex School. The schools have played football on a near-annual basis since 1902.[3]

School-at-sea program

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Since 1974, St. George's has offered a school-at-sea program.[27] Currently, the program takes place in Geronimo, a 70-foot fiberglass sloop. Designed by Ted Hood and built in 1998, Geronimo has room for 8 students and 3 crewmen.[27] It hosts three six-week voyages a year, during which St. George's students are schooled in nautical science, oceanography, and marine biology.[28][29]

2015–16 sexual abuse investigation

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In April 2015, St. George's announced that it had retained a law firm to investigate reports of past sexual abuse by school faculty and staff.[30] The investigator—a partner at the law firm that was St. George's "then-regular outside counsel"[31]—released his 11-page report in December 2015.[30][32] Several alumni criticized the report, claiming that the investigation was not truly independent.[33] Two weeks after releasing the initial report, the school agreed to commission a second investigation by law firm Foley Hoag.[34]

In September 2016, Foley Hoag released a 390-page investigation report.[31][35][36] It found that at least 51 students were victims of sexual misconduct by six St. George's employees; the bulk of the reports dated back to the 1970s and 1980s.[31] (The December 2015 report had mentioned 23 victims and 3 employees.[33]) The investigators concluded that although St. George's "certainly took some concrete steps to protect students"—it fired three (and more likely four) of the six perpetrators—the school failed to timely act on reports of sexual misconduct and continued to recommend one of the perpetrators for other jobs even after firing him for sexual misconduct.[31] Finally, the report confirmed that St. George's currently has "state of the art" programs and policies to address sexual misconduct, bullying, and hazing.[31]

The investigators also highlighted an issue that was colloquially known as the "St. George's loophole":[37] according to Foley Hoag, it was legally ambiguous whether the version of Rhode Island's mandatory reporter law in place at the time required schools like St. George's to report allegations of sexual abuse to law enforcement, and the relevant government agencies had repeatedly claimed that abuse at schools were not within their jurisdiction.[31] In July 2016, the Rhode Island legislature amended the mandatory reporter statute to make it clear that the obligation to report abuse applies to "any public or private school, including boarding schools."[38][37]

In June 2016, Rhode Island law enforcement declined to file criminal charges against the school.[37] The school reached a financial settlement with a group of former students in August 2016.[39]

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  • In The Official Preppy Handbook, Lisa Birnbach states that the school "place[s] a strong emphasis on the spiritual life."
  • The film The Education of Charlie Banks (2007), directed by Fred Durst, was filmed on the St. George's campus.[40] The establishing shots of the Old School building, King Hall, and the chapel were used to represent Vassar College.[3]
  • In 2024, commentator Tucker Carlson '87 claimed that the school "wouldn't let me come" visit campus in person. He made this statement during a school-hosted Zoom session with current students. The school responded that Carlson travels with armed bodyguards and state law prohibits carrying guns on school campuses.[41]

Notable alumni

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See also: Category:St. George's School (Rhode Island) alumni

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Education: Father Diman". Time. June 3, 1946. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form". National Park Service. November 12, 2004. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "125 Interesting Tidbits about SG". St. George's School. Retrieved April 17, 2024 – via Issuu.
  4. ^ a b "Founding Vision". St. George's School. Retrieved April 17, 2024 – via Issuu.
  5. ^ MacGuire, James P. (2017). Real Lace Revisited: Inside the Hidden World of America's Irish Aristocracy. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press. p. 52.
  6. ^ "Fr. Hugh Diman: 1863-1949". Portsmouth Abbey Monastery. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  7. ^ Wallace, Benjamin (July 8, 2016). "How St. George's Atonement for Its Sex-Abuse Scandals Turned Ugly". Vanity Fair. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Library & Archives". St. George's School. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Academic Center". St. George's School. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Memorial Schoolhouse". St. George's School. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c d e "St. George's School Campus Plan". St. George's School Campus Plan. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  12. ^ "Our Horizon: The Campaign for St. George's". St. George's School. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d "About". St. George's School. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Tuition and Financial Aid". St. George's School. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  15. ^ "St Georges School, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. May 9, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  16. ^ "Olmsted Associates: A Register of Its Records in the Library of Congress" (PDF). Library of Congress. September 22, 2004. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  17. ^ Huber, Hannah (March 29, 2018). "The Most Beautiful Private High School in Every State in America". Architectural Digest. Archived from the original on October 18, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  18. ^ a b c Wallace, Benjamin (August 2016). "St. George's Hidden Dragons". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  19. ^ http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/nyhs/mckim/dscref12.html Folder FF21
  20. ^ Belmore, Ryan (September 8, 2015). "New Academic Center Provides Green Learning Opportunities at St. George's School". What's Up Newp. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  21. ^ "Richard Grosvenor". Arnold Art Store & Gallery. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  22. ^ "Center for the Arts". St. George's School. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  23. ^ "Old School". St. George's School. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  24. ^ "Independent School League". Independent School League. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  25. ^ "Member Schools – NEPSAC". New England Preparatory School Athletic Council. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  26. ^ "Athletics". St. George's School. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  27. ^ a b "About the Vessel". St. George's School. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  28. ^ "St. Georges School: Geronimo". St. George's School. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  29. ^ "Vessel Details – Geronimo". Sailing Ship Adventures. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  30. ^ a b "Letter to Alumni" (PDF). St. George's School. December 23, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  31. ^ a b c d e f Murphy, Martin F. (September 1, 2016). "Sexual Abuse at St. George's School and the School's Response: 1970 to 2015" (PDF). Foley Hoag LLP. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  32. ^ "Sex abuse scandal rocks exclusive prep school St. George's - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. January 21, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  33. ^ a b Seelye, Katharine Q. (December 24, 2015). "Rhode Island Prep School Expresses 'Sorrow and Shame' Over Sexual Abuse". The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  34. ^ Seelye, Katharine Q. (January 7, 2016). "St. George's School Agrees to Inquiry Into Sexual Abuse". The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  35. ^ Perez-Pena, Richard (September 1, 2016). "'Private Hell': Prep School Sex Abuse Inquiry Paints Grim Picture". The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  36. ^ Redden, Molly (September 1, 2016). "One in five girls at St George's school in 1970s sexually abused by trainer: report". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  37. ^ a b c Harrison, Elisabeth (July 7, 2016). "Governor Signs Bill Closing 'St. George's Loophole'". TPR: The Public's Radio. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  38. ^ "R.I. Gen. Laws § 40-11-2". webserver.rilin.state.ri.us. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  39. ^ "Ex-Students of St. George's School Reach Pact on Sex Abuse Accusations". The New York Times. August 3, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  40. ^ "Brown to appear in Fred Durst's directorial debut". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  41. ^ Vaillancourt, William; Bolies, Corbin (March 30, 2024). "Tucker Broke the Rules in Zoom Appearance, Ex-School Claims". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  42. ^ Koch, Bill. "Cumberland native Tyler Kolek a perfect fit for Marquette University". The Providence Journal. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  43. ^ "Marquette Earns Player, Coach of the Year Honors". www.bigeast.com. March 8, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2024.

Further reading

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