Taft School
| The Taft School | |
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| File:Taft.gif | |
| Location | |
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| Information | |
| Type | Co-ed, Private, Boarding |
| Motto | Non ut sibi ministretur sed ut ministret Not to be served but to serve |
| Religious affiliation(s) | None |
| Established | 1890 |
| Headmaster | William R. MacMullen '78 |
| Faculty | 112 |
| Enrollment | 570 Boarding: 464 Day: 106 |
| Average class size | 12 |
| Student to teacher ratio | 5:1 |
| Campus | 220 acres (.89 square km) |
| Color(s) | Maroon, Navy Blue |
| Athletics | 27 Interscholastic taftsports.com |
| Mascot | Rhino |
| Website | taftschool.org |
The Taft School is a private coeducational prep school located in Watertown, Connecticut. The School was founded by Horace Dutton Taft in 1890. It has 570 students, about 460 of whom live on the 220-acre campus. The Taft School is a member of The Ten Schools Admissions Organization.
History
Mr. Taft's School: 1890-1936
The Taft School got its start in 1890 when Horace Dutton Taft was invited by a family friend, Mrs. Robert Black, to head a brand new college preparatory school for boys in Pelham Manor, New York. Until then, Taft's experience as an educator had been limited to tutoring Latin at Yale, his alma mater. Here, presented with seventeen students of "extraordinary variety for how few they were," Horace Taft plunged headlong into the complete education of the boys, and indeed his own as a headmaster. Mrs. Black named the tiny institution "Mr. Taft's School."
The Taft Family
Horace Taft's brother was William Howard Taft, who was elected President of the United States in 1908 and later appointed as the Tenth Chief Justice of the United States in 1921. Horace and Will enjoyed a close relationship and the President's two sons graduated from Taft. The year 1909 opened with great excitement for the Taft family. Will's second son, Charles Phelps, was among the younger boys in the school when his father was elected President. Horace felt it only right that Charles should be allowed to attend his father's inauguration. But how to justify to the rest of the school Charles' absence? Horace's solution was to rule that no boy could leave campus-except to attend his father's inauguration as President of the United States! President Taft, an enormously fat man, is said to have guffawed upon hearing this news.
The same euphoric year in which his brother became President, Horace Taft suffered a tremendous personal blow: his wife died from cancer. Winifred Taft had taken critical part in the operation and sustenance of the new school, supporting her husband in his ideals and work, managing the school's finances, and in the myriad activities she planned with and for the students. She had also developed close friendships and associations in Watertown, and become a literary and intellectual leader in her circle. Horace Taft described her death as "the kind of blow that divides a man's life in two."
For years Horace and Winifred Taft together had envisioned a proper boarding school campus for their prospering enterprise, and planned to build it on their land on Nova Scotia Hill, some two miles distant. During the last years of her life, Winifred had been collaborating on architectural plans for a new school building with the New York firm of Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson. However, Mrs. Taft's illness made the relocation impracticable, and the campus developed in situ, just off the Watertown Green. The present-day heart of the school, HDT and CPT Halls, which house the administrative offices, reception areas, classrooms and auditorium, date from the first major construction phases of 1912-13 and 1929-30.
In 1908-10 "The Annex", the school's first building project, was constructed opposite the Warren House, where the Taft parking lot is now. This large, gambrel-roofed building served as a dormitory for students and faculty for the next fifty years. In 1911 a wooden gymnasium was built where HDT Hall stands now. The school's incorporation in 1912 was followed by the first major construction phase, with the building of Horace Dutton Taft Hall (1913-14), following Bertram Goodhue's design. A New Campus: Building in Brick for the Ages In order to raise the necessary funds to develop the campus, the privately-owned school was turned over to a board of trustees in 1926. With major new funds in place, the school built Martin Infirmary (now MacIntosh) and staff residence (Congdon). The main campus soon took on its present-day form as the Warren House was torn down and replaced with Charles Phelps Taft Hall and Bingham Auditorium in 1929-30. The student body had grown to 323 boys, the faculty numbered 27. Taft's mission was to educate "the whole boy." The masters were almost all Ivy League graduates who pushed their students relentlessly in their quest for excellence and high College Board scores. Most graduates in Mr. Taft's time went on to Yale, and there many became class leaders and Phi Beta Kappa students. Although Taft academics were demanding, they were only part of the whole picture. According to a student at the time, while the classroom atmosphere was "rigorous and unyielding, there existed quite a close and warm relationship out of class between us boys and our masters. Perhaps that was due to the amazingly high ratio of one master for every ten boys. More probably it was fostered by the colorful personalities of the members of the teaching staff which drew young man to them. We knew them well, and they us, and the net result was very good indeed." Athletics, music, drama, literary, and other club activities provided outlets for various extracurricular talents, and an alternative context for student-faculty interaction.
Headmaster Taft himself got to know his charges. Early on he began the long tradition of hosting small groups of boys for Sunday suppers in his living quarters. These evenings provided an informal setting for discussions of "any subject from European politics to the last unpopular rule adopted by the faculty."
In 1936, after 46 years as headmaster, Horace Dutton Taft retired. Since his inauspicious start at Pelham Manor he had come to be regarded as one of the most revered headmasters in New England. After a year away, he returned to teach his favorite course—Civics—to Taft seniors.
Campus and Facilities
The campus is located in Watertown, Connecticut and is approximately 220 acres in size. It includes an 18 hole golf course, 12 tennis courts, 8 squash courts, 2 gyms, 2 hockey rinks, and over 10 fields all situated around Potters Pond.
Dorms
There are eight dorms on the Taft Campus. There are 3 boys' dorms including Charles Phelps Taft (CPT), Horace Dutton Taft (HDT), and Upper School Boys Dormitory (USBD/The Rock). There are 5 girls' dorms including Mac, Centennial, Congdon, Vogelstein (Vogue), and ISP.
Students
In 2005, Taft had students from 33 states and 19 foreign countries and a total of 570 students. The school hosts students in 9th through 12th grades as well as Post Graduate (PG) students. Students are referred to by their grade's common name such as Lower Mids, Mids, Upper Mids, and Seniors or PG's. A dress code is required for all students. There are currently 464 boarders and 106 day students.
Faculty
The faculty at the Taft School includes 61 men and 51 women, a total of 112 teachers. Consequently, there is a 5:1 student to teacher ratio. The majority of the Taft faculty live on campus, in both private houses scattered across the grounds, or in apartments in the dorms. Each floor of each dorm has at least one faculty apartment.
Academics
There are over 207 academic courses offered at the Taft School. The average class consists of 12 students.
Class of 2005
Average SAT I Verbal: 651
Average SAT I Math: 655
From the middles 50% of the class, combined SAT scores ranged from 1190-1400
College Acceptance
For the past three years, approximately 28% of the Senior Class was admitted to an Ivy League or Little Three college.
Another 23% was admitted to Boston College, Carnegie Mellon, Duke University, Georgetown University, Hamilton College, Middlebury College, Trinity College, University of North Carolina, University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University.
Notable Alumni
- Trey Anastasio (Musician) ('83)
- Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (Musician/Government consultant)
- Peter Berg (Actor/Director) ('80)
- Darren Bragg (Professional Baseball Player)
- Mary-Chapin Carpenter (Musician) ('76)
- Eiza Clark (Actor) ('03)
- Spencer Treat Clark (Actor) ('05)
- James Driscoll (Professional Golfer)
- The Dude of Life ('83)
- Dr. Paul Ehrlich (One of the top allergy, asthma, and immunology specialists in the world) ('62)
- Patrick Kerney ('95) (Pro Bowl Defensive End for the Atlanta Falcons)
- John Welchli (Olympic silver medalist, Melbourne, 56) ('46)