Miss Porter's School
Encyclopedia
Miss Porter's School, sometimes simply referred to as Porter's or Farmington, is a private college preparatory school
for girls located in Farmington, Connecticut
.
, who recognized the importance of women's education. Management passed onto her nephew, Robert Porter Keep, after her death in 1900. The school was incorporated as a non-profit institution in 1943. To this day, "Porter's remains a place where girls are supported by a close-knit community of students and faculty."
Historic buildings
Interscholastic sports
Fall
Winter
Spring
Opponents
Porter's competes in the Founders League with Choate Rosemary Hall
, Hotchkiss
, Kingswood-Oxford
, Loomis Chaffee
, Taft and Westminster schools. Porter's arch-rival is Ethel Walker's.
Championships
In 2010, the varsity volleyball team defeated Convent of the Sacred Heart to become the 2010 New England School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Class B Champions.
Porter's Terminology
Campus room terminology
Notable alumnae
In fiction
External links
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...
for girls located in Farmington, Connecticut
Farmington, Connecticut
Farmington is a town located in Hartford County in the Farmington Valley area of central Connecticut in the United States. The population was 25,340 at the 2010 census. It is home to the world headquarters of several large corporations including Carrier Corporation, Otis Elevator Company, and Carvel...
.
History
Miss Porter's School was established in 1843 by education reformer Sarah PorterSarah Porter
Sarah Porter was the American educator who founded Miss Porter's School, a private college preparatory school for girls.-Biography:...
, who recognized the importance of women's education. Management passed onto her nephew, Robert Porter Keep, after her death in 1900. The school was incorporated as a non-profit institution in 1943. To this day, "Porter's remains a place where girls are supported by a close-knit community of students and faculty."
Historic buildings
The Thomas Hart Hooker House, now used as the school's admissions building, was part of the Underground RailroadUnderground RailroadThe Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
when owned by abolitionist Samuel Deming. It is part of the Connecticut Freedom Trail.
Interscholastic sportsFall
- BadmintonBadmintonBadminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
V - Cross CountryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
V/JV - EquestrianEquestrianismEquestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
V - Field HockeyField hockeyField Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
V/JV - Soccer V/JV/III
- VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
V/JV/III
Winter
- BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
V/JV/III - EquestrianEquestrianismEquestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
V - SkiingSkiingSkiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
V - SquashSquash (sport)Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
V/JV/III - SwimmingSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
V
Spring
- CrewRowing (sport)Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
V/JV - EquestrianEquestrianismEquestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
V - GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
V - LacrosseLacrosseLacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
V/JV/III - SoftballSoftballSoftball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
V/JV - TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
V/JV - TrackTrack and fieldTrack and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
V - Ultimate Frisbee V
Opponents
Porter's competes in the Founders League with Choate Rosemary Hall
Choate Rosemary Hall
Choate Rosemary Hall is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school located in Wallingford, Connecticut...
, Hotchkiss
Hotchkiss School
The Hotchkiss School is an independent, coeducational American college preparatory boarding school located in Lakeville, Connecticut. Founded in 1891, the school enrolls students in grades 9 through 12 and a small number of postgraduates...
, Kingswood-Oxford
Kingswood-Oxford School
Kingswood Oxford School is a private day school located in West Hartford, Connecticut. Originally two separate schools, Kingswood School and Oxford School for boys and girls respectively, KO is now a co-educational institution and offers grades 6 through 12...
, Loomis Chaffee
Loomis Chaffee
The Loomis Chaffee School is a premier coeducational boarding school for grades 9–12 and postgraduates located on a 300-plus acre campus in the Connecticut River Valley in Windsor, Connecticut, six miles north of Hartford...
, Taft and Westminster schools. Porter's arch-rival is Ethel Walker's.
Championships
In 2010, the varsity volleyball team defeated Convent of the Sacred Heart to become the 2010 New England School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Class B Champions.
Porter's Terminology
- Big-D - Formal Dress
- Daeges Eage - yearbook, loose translation from Old English for daisy, "the day's eye."
- Haggis Baggis - school literary magazine
- Little-D - Semi-Formal Dress
- Milk Lunch - Morning Break
- Mountain DayMountain DayMountain Day is a traditional student celebration in which classes are cancelled without prior notice, and the student body heads to the mountains or a park.The day chosen is often a beautiful, crisp day when the fall foliage is in full color...
- School holiday granted once a semester - Nova Nine - 9 members of student council
- P-lettes - Perilhettes, Senior Singing Group
- Prescott - Visiting Speaker Program sponsored by The Prescott Fund
- Salma - Salmagundy, School Newspaper
- Sit-Down Dinner - Semi-Formal Dinner
Campus room terminology
- Amphitheater - Outdoor stage
- Congo - Congregational Church used as a meeting house
- Cool House - Squash and Pool Building
- Counting House - the business office, formerly the Music Cottage
- Cowbarn Field - playing fields on Garden Street, former site of the school farm
- Daisy - Daisy Cafe and Common Room
- Hacker - Barbara Hacker Theater
- Hamilton - English Literature, History Building
- Nonie - Nona Evans Room
- Olin - Sciences, Mathematics, Arts, and Computer Sciences Building
- Timco - Timothy Cowles Archives Building
Notable alumnae
- Dorothy Walker BushDorothy Walker BushDorothy Wear Walker Bush , mother to 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, and the grandmother of 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. Time on her death wrote that "George Bush was shaped and tempered by his mother's nature." Dorothy Bush raised her five children...
(1919) - Mother of the 41st President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, George H. W. BushGeorge H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, grandmother of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000.... - Anne Cox ChambersAnne Cox ChambersAnne Beau Cox Chambers is a media proprietor, who is primary owner of Cox Enterprises, a privately held media empire that includes newspapers, television, radio, cable television, and other businesses....
(1938) - Former U.S. Ambassador to BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... - Laura Rockefeller ChasinLaura Rockefeller ChasinLaura Rockefeller Chasin is the daughter of Laurance Spelman Rockefeller and Mary French and a fourth generation member of the Rockefeller family. Her paternal great-grandfather is Standard Oil's co-founder John D...
(1954) - American socialite - Pema ChodronPema ChödrönPema Chödrön is a notable American figure in Tibetan Buddhism. A disciple of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, she is an ordained nun, author, and teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage which Trungpa founded....
(formerly Deirdre Blomfield-Brown) (1955) - Buddhist nun and author; resident director of Gampo AbbeyGampo AbbeyGampo Abbey is a Buddhist abbey located in Pleasant Bay, Nova Scotia.It was founded by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1984 as a centre of North American Buddhism in the Vajrayana tradition of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Abbey is associated with the Vajradhatu Buddhist Church of... - Brenda FrazierBrenda FrazierNot to be confused with actor Brendan FraserBrenda Diana Duff Frazier was an American debutante popular during the Depression era...
(1939) - American socialite - Ruth Pine FurnissRuth Pine FurnissRuth Pine Furniss , was an American writer who published several short stories and novels.-Biography:Ruth Kellogg Pine Furniss was born on March 2, 1893, to Charles LeRoy and Grace Eddy Kellogg Pine in Lansingburg, New York. She attended the Emma Willard School and Miss Porter’s School...
- Short story writer and novelist. - Mamie GummerMamie GummerMary Willa "Mamie" Gummer is an American actress, and the daughter of actress Meryl Streep.-Early life:Mamie Gummer was born to actress Meryl Streep, and sculptor Don Gummer...
- (never graduated) Actress and daughter of Actress Meryl StreepMeryl StreepMary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with... - Alice HamiltonAlice HamiltonAlice Hamilton was the first woman appointed to the faculty of Harvard University and was a leading expert in the field of occupational health...
(1888) - First female faculty member of Harvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
, founder of the field of industrial medicine - Edith HamiltonEdith HamiltonEdith Hamilton was an American educator and author who was "recognized as the greatest woman Classicist". She was sixty-two years old when The Greek Way, her first book, was published in 1930...
(1886) - Greek Mythology scholar and sister of Alice Hamilton - Barbara HuttonBarbara HuttonBarbara Woolworth Hutton was an American socialite dubbed by the media as the "Poor Little Rich Girl" because of her troubled life...
(1930) - American socialite, dubbed "Poor Little Rich Girl" - Dorothy Bush KochDorothy Bush KochDorothy Walker Bush Koch, often called "Doro", , is the daughter of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush, and the youngest sibling of George W. Bush, the 43rd President...
(1977) - Philanthropist and First Family member - Julia LathropJulia LathropJulia Clifford Lathrop was an American social reformer in the area of education, social policy, and children's welfare...
(1876) - the first woman ever to head a government agency in the United States. - Elizabeth MayElizabeth MayElizabeth Evans May, OC, MP is an American-born Canadian Member of Parliament, environmentalist, writer, activist, lawyer, and the leader of the Green Party of Canada. She was the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada from 1989 to 2006. She became a Canadian citizen in 1978.May's...
(1972) - Leader of the Green Party of CanadaGreen Party of CanadaThe Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and... - Ruth Hanna McCormickRuth Hanna McCormickRuth Hanna, Ruth Hanna McCormick or Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms was a United States Representative from Illinois.-Life:Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms was the daughter of Mark Hanna and the wife of Sen...
(1897) - First woman to run for the U.S. Senate. - Polly Allen MellenPolly Allen MellenPolly Allen Mellen has been a stylist and fashion editor for more than 60 years at Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. From 1991 to 1999 she was the creative director of Allure. Mellen formally retired from Conde Nast Publications in 1994 and remains a consultant on various projects. She was born and raised...
(1942) - Editor with VogueVogue (magazine)Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
magazine - Dina MerrillDina Merrill-Early life:Merrill was born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton in New York City, New York, the only child of Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her second husband, Wall Street stockbroker Edward Francis Hutton...
(née Nedenia Hutton) (1943) - Actress and American socialite - Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy OnassisJacqueline Kennedy OnassisJacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
(1947) - First Lady of the United States - Hayley Petit, victim of the Cheshire, Connecticut, home invasion murders
- Lilly PulitzerLilly PulitzerLillian Pulitzer Rousseau , better known as Lilly Pulitzer, is a socialite and prominent fashion designer. She is known for founding Lilly Pulitzer, Inc., which produces clothing and other wares featuring bright, colorful prints...
(née Lillian Lee McKim) (1949) - Fashion designer and American socialite - Elizabeth Cushman Titus PutnamElizabeth Cushman Titus PutnamElizabeth Cushman Titus Putnam is an American conservationist whom in 2010 won the second highest civilian award, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and was the first conservationist to have ever won the honor....
(1951) - founding president of the Student Conservation AssociationStudent Conservation AssociationThe Student Conservation Association is a non-profit group in the United States whose mission is to build the next generation of conservation leaders and inspire lifelong stewardship of our environment and communities by engaging young people in hands-on service to the land through service...
(SCA) and recipient of the Presidential Citizens MedalPresidential Citizens MedalThe Presidential Citizens Medal is the second highest civilian award in the United States, second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is awarded by the President of the United States, and may be given posthumously.... - Theodate Pope RiddleTheodate Pope RiddleTheodate Pope Riddle was an American architect. She was one of the first American women architects as well as a survivor of the Lusitania.-Life:...
(1888) - Architect - Gene TierneyGene TierneyGene Eliza Tierney was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as one of the great beauties of her day, she is best remembered for her performance in the title role of Laura and her Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress in Leave Her to Heaven .Other notable roles include...
(1938) - Academy Award-nominated actress - Gloria VanderbiltGloria VanderbiltGloria Laura Vanderbilt is an American artist, author, actress, heiress, and socialite most noted as an early developer of designer blue jeans...
(1941) - Fashion designer and American socialite
In fiction
- In the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Buffy's mother thinks it would be best to send Buffy away to school, she picks up an application to Miss Porter's.
- In the television show The NannyThe NannyNanny may refer to:* Nanny, a child's caregiver* A grandmother * A Cajun word for godmother * A female goat* Nanny , a 1981–83 British drama series starring Wendy Craig* Nanny of the Maroons...
, in Mr. Sheffield's office, Fran suggests Gracie attend the summer program at Miss Porter's. - In the musical RentRent (musical)Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
, one of the leads, Harvard-educated lesbian lawyer Joanne, attended and learned to tango with the French ambassador's daughter in her dorm room at Miss Porter's. - In the novel, Betrayed (A House of Night Novel) by P.C and Kristin Cast, Zoey finds Miss Porter's after researching different "private preparatory schools" to find examples of good student councils to model her own new Dark Daughters' council after.
- In the novel The Debutantes by June Flaum Singer, the four main characters met at Miss Porter's.http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/june-flaum-singer/debutantes.htm
- In the novel The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry, a main character is sent to Miss Porter's.
- The novel The New Girls (1979), by Beth Gutcheon, is set in a school called Miss Pratt's based on Miss Porter's.
External links