King and Low-Heywood Thomas School
Encyclopedia
King Low Heywood Thomas, commonly referred to as King, is a private
, co-educational day school
for Grades PreK-12 in Stamford, Connecticut
. The school serves children and families in the Fairfield County (CT) and Westchester County (NY) areas.
The oldest of the schools, Low-Heywood, was founded by Mrs. C.E. Richardson in 1865 and was located in downtown Stamford. In 1883, Miss Louisa Low purchased Mrs. Richardson’s School for Girls. Her niece, Miss Edith Heywood, was her assistant.
In 1875, Hiram King, a Dartmouth College
graduate, was asked by several local families to form a private boys' school. King’s Day School was also located in downtown Stamford and had several homes before settling on Colonial Road in 1933. Twenty-five years later, the school building burned to the ground and was relocated to a replacement building. Five years later, the King School moved to the Simon Estate, the summer home of singer/songwriter Carly Simon
and her family. The Simon House still stands on the campus, and serves as the location of many of the administrative departments of the school.
In the meantime, the Low-Heywood School was forced to move from its downtown location to Shippan Point
to make way for the main Post Office building. The school was successful but in 1944, the heirs of Miss Louisa Low and Miss Edith Heywood sold the property on which the school was located. Within a month of the sale, the school relocated to Judge Lockwood’s estate on Courtland Avenue and, in 1969, finally settled into the Walker estate adjacent to the King School on Newfield Avenue.
While all this was going on in Stamford, a few miles away in Rowayton, Mabel Thomas created a school on her parent’s summer estate. Opening in 1922, the Thomas School was intended to be both a day and boarding school. According to a story in the Norwalk Hour, the school would offer “lessons in the morning and after a wholesome hot dinner, there will be games and sports in the afternoons, both indoor and outdoor, under the supervision of a physical director.”
In 1974, the neighboring Low-Heywood and King schools began coordinating their educational and extracurricular programs in the Upper Schools. In 1975, the Thomas School merged with the Low-Heywood School at the latter’s Newfield Avenue campus. Both the King School and Low-Heywood-Thomas School maintained individual identities until 1988, when the King & Low-Heywood Thomas School was formed as a coeducational school. The Lower School and Middle School were located on the former King Campus while the Upper School took over the former Low-Heywood Thomas Campus. In July 2008, the School's name was officially changed to King Low Heywood Thomas, and its official nickname became "King."
The Lower School Program is composed of four broad categories of general education: Language Arts (colloquially referred to as "English"), Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Each is designed to cover a broad spectrum of topics, and establish enough knowledge so that students can participate in more advanced learning. The FLES Program in Spanish was introduced in September 2008.
The Middle School Program begins to focus on more in-depth examination of the basic topics established at the Lower School; a language requirement is also added. The topics are generally referred to as English (corresponding to the Language Arts category), History (corresponding to the Social Studies category), Mathematics, Modern Language, and Science. Students must choose between Spanish
or French
for the Modern Language requirement.
The Upper School focuses on opportunities to specialize. The English Department more closely resembles literary studies. The History and Social Science Department provides comprehensive overviews of European and U.S. History, as well as opportunities to focus on such topics as AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, Philosophy, and America in the 1960s. The Science Department provide a basis in biology
, chemistry
, and physics
, and offers courses in specialized topics such as forensics, oceanography, and organic chemistry as well. The Science Department also sponsors a course titled "Challenge 20/20," a course modeled after an NAIS-sponsored program that allows secondary students to research and propose solutions to the 20 most pressing global issues that the world will face in the next 20 years. The Mathematics Department covers basic algebra
, geometry
, trigonometry
, calculus
, and statistics
. The Modern Language Department focuses on Spanish, French, and Chinese from the fundamentals to advanced literary studies. Visual Art offerings including drawing, painting, and clay, with a sequence for talented artists to explore a variety of media in depth in their four years. Performing Arts are also quite strong, with an array of vocal and instrumental music, drama, and technical theater courses available to students. AP courses are generally offered in every subject, and independent studies are available for interested students, as are opportunities for research and teaching assistantships.
http://www.jstor.org/about/participants_ss.html.
Notable past King athletes include:
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
, co-educational day school
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
for Grades PreK-12 in Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
. The school serves children and families in the Fairfield County (CT) and Westchester County (NY) areas.
Formation and history
King Low Heywood Thomas is the product of the convergence of three distinct independent schools that, from the beginning, shared similar educational missions.The oldest of the schools, Low-Heywood, was founded by Mrs. C.E. Richardson in 1865 and was located in downtown Stamford. In 1883, Miss Louisa Low purchased Mrs. Richardson’s School for Girls. Her niece, Miss Edith Heywood, was her assistant.
In 1875, Hiram King, a Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
graduate, was asked by several local families to form a private boys' school. King’s Day School was also located in downtown Stamford and had several homes before settling on Colonial Road in 1933. Twenty-five years later, the school building burned to the ground and was relocated to a replacement building. Five years later, the King School moved to the Simon Estate, the summer home of singer/songwriter Carly Simon
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
and her family. The Simon House still stands on the campus, and serves as the location of many of the administrative departments of the school.
In the meantime, the Low-Heywood School was forced to move from its downtown location to Shippan Point
Shippan Point
Shippan Point is the southernmost neighborhood in Stamford, Connecticut, located on a peninsula in Long Island Sound. Street names such as Ocean Drive West and Lighthouse Way reflect the neighborhood's shoreline location....
to make way for the main Post Office building. The school was successful but in 1944, the heirs of Miss Louisa Low and Miss Edith Heywood sold the property on which the school was located. Within a month of the sale, the school relocated to Judge Lockwood’s estate on Courtland Avenue and, in 1969, finally settled into the Walker estate adjacent to the King School on Newfield Avenue.
While all this was going on in Stamford, a few miles away in Rowayton, Mabel Thomas created a school on her parent’s summer estate. Opening in 1922, the Thomas School was intended to be both a day and boarding school. According to a story in the Norwalk Hour, the school would offer “lessons in the morning and after a wholesome hot dinner, there will be games and sports in the afternoons, both indoor and outdoor, under the supervision of a physical director.”
In 1974, the neighboring Low-Heywood and King schools began coordinating their educational and extracurricular programs in the Upper Schools. In 1975, the Thomas School merged with the Low-Heywood School at the latter’s Newfield Avenue campus. Both the King School and Low-Heywood-Thomas School maintained individual identities until 1988, when the King & Low-Heywood Thomas School was formed as a coeducational school. The Lower School and Middle School were located on the former King Campus while the Upper School took over the former Low-Heywood Thomas Campus. In July 2008, the School's name was officially changed to King Low Heywood Thomas, and its official nickname became "King."
Academics
King has three divisions: the Lower School (PreK-Grade 5), the Middle School (Grade 6-Grade 8), and the Upper School (Grade 9-Grade 12).The Lower School Program is composed of four broad categories of general education: Language Arts (colloquially referred to as "English"), Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Each is designed to cover a broad spectrum of topics, and establish enough knowledge so that students can participate in more advanced learning. The FLES Program in Spanish was introduced in September 2008.
The Middle School Program begins to focus on more in-depth examination of the basic topics established at the Lower School; a language requirement is also added. The topics are generally referred to as English (corresponding to the Language Arts category), History (corresponding to the Social Studies category), Mathematics, Modern Language, and Science. Students must choose between Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
or French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for the Modern Language requirement.
The Upper School focuses on opportunities to specialize. The English Department more closely resembles literary studies. The History and Social Science Department provides comprehensive overviews of European and U.S. History, as well as opportunities to focus on such topics as AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, Philosophy, and America in the 1960s. The Science Department provide a basis in biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and offers courses in specialized topics such as forensics, oceanography, and organic chemistry as well. The Science Department also sponsors a course titled "Challenge 20/20," a course modeled after an NAIS-sponsored program that allows secondary students to research and propose solutions to the 20 most pressing global issues that the world will face in the next 20 years. The Mathematics Department covers basic algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
, geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
, trigonometry
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...
, calculus
Calculus
Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...
, and statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
. The Modern Language Department focuses on Spanish, French, and Chinese from the fundamentals to advanced literary studies. Visual Art offerings including drawing, painting, and clay, with a sequence for talented artists to explore a variety of media in depth in their four years. Performing Arts are also quite strong, with an array of vocal and instrumental music, drama, and technical theater courses available to students. AP courses are generally offered in every subject, and independent studies are available for interested students, as are opportunities for research and teaching assistantships.
Library Resources
The school is one of only ten secondary schools in Connecticut which have become subscribers to the online journal repository JSTORJSTOR
JSTOR is an online system for archiving academic journals, founded in 1995. It provides its member institutions full-text searches of digitized back issues of several hundred well-known journals, dating back to 1665 in the case of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society...
http://www.jstor.org/about/participants_ss.html.
Athletics
King is part of the Fairchester Athletic Association, consisting of independent schools in Fairfield County, CT, Westchester County, NY, and of the Western New England Preparatory School Association.Notable past King athletes include:
- Nate CollinsNate CollinsNathaniel Allen Collins is an American football defensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League. He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2010...
, a defensive end/nose guard with the Jacksonville Jaguars
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