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Marlborough School is an independent college-preparatory secondary school for girls in grades 7 through 12 at 250 South Rossmore Avenue in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Marlborough was founded in 1889 by New England educator Mary Caswell and is the oldest independent girls' school in Southern California.[2] In 2016, Town & Country magazine ranked Marlborough as the "best girls' school in America."[3]
Marlborough School | |
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Address | |
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250 South Rossmore Avenue , 90004 United States | |
Coordinates | 34°04′12″N 118°19′37″W / 34.0699°N 118.32685°W |
Information | |
Type | Private all girls middle school and high school |
Established | 1889 |
Head of school | Jennifer Ciccarelli |
Teaching staff | 72.5 (FTE) (2017–18)[1] |
Grades | 7–12 |
Enrollment | 533 (2017–18)[1] |
Student to teacher ratio | 7.4:1 (2017–18)[1] |
Color(s) | Purple , white , & yellow |
Athletics conference | CIF Southern Section Sunshine League |
Nickname | Mustangs |
Newspaper | The UltraViolet |
Website | marlborough |
History
editMary S. Caswell, a young teacher from Maine, founded Marlborough in 1889 as "St. Margaret's School for Girls".[4]
One year later, in 1890, the school moved from Pasadena to the city of Los Angeles. On October 1, 1890, the school opened at the corner of 23rd and Scarff Streets in the West Adams district. [4][5] Occupying the empty Marlborough Hotel, the school adopted the name of its new location and was renamed the "Marlborough School for Girls".[4]
In 1916, Mrs. Caswell purchased land in the newly opened La Brea tract at a cost of $70,000. After 26 years in the West Adams district, the Marlborough School moved to Hancock Park and opened at its current site on the corner of Third Street and Rossmore Avenue.
Caswell led the school until 1924, when Ada Blake (recruited from Louisville Collegiate School) assumed its leadership. Blake expanded the curriculum substantially and the School gained a reputation for providing young women with an uncommonly rigorous education.
By the 1960s, the School was supported by a foundation and an active board of trustees, who hired William Pereira and Associates to design new buildings. The Los Angeles business community actively supported the school in the latter half of the 20th century, with local titans including Robert H. Ahmanson and Charlie Munger donating generously.
In 2014, a sexual misconduct investigation resulted in the imprisonment of a former teacher.[6]
In 2015, Dr. Priscilla Sands was named head of school. Sands came to Marlborough after a career at the Agnes Irwin School and the Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, both independent schools in the Philadelphia area. In 2022, Jennifer Ciccarelli became the head of school after serving in the same role at the Columbus School for Girls in Columbus, Ohio.[7]
Academics
editThe student-to-teacher ratio at Marlborough School is approximately 8:1, lower than the national high school average of 11:1 and the public school average of 16:1.[8] This ratio enables Marlborough to offer over 156 courses. Over 80% of faculty members have more than ten years of teaching experience and almost 90% have advanced degrees. In recent years, the most popular postgraduate destinations for Marlborough women include a mix of elite private and "public ivy" institutions.
Marlborough ranked sixth in the nation among high schools with the highest standardized test scores according to Business Insider in 2014.[9]
Recent guest speakers at Marlborough include Queen Rania of Jordan,[10] former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, historian Edward L. Ayers, Nobel Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee, and producer/actor Mindy Kaling.
Notable alumnae
edit- Anne Archer – film and television actress[11][12]
- Carolin Babcock – tennis player[13][14]
- Katherine Bashford – landscape architect[15][16]
- Camilla Belle – film and television actress[17]
- Betsy Bloomingdale – philanthropist and fashion icon[18]
- Cornelia Butler – museum curator (currently Chief Curator at the Hammer Museum)[19]
- Joan Riddell Cook – newspaper journalist and editor, trade union leader, and a founding director of JAWS (Journalism and Women Symposium)[20][21]
- Jacqueline Emerson – actress and singer[22]
- Sabaah Folayan – award-winning documentary filmmaker[23]
- Olivia Jade Giannulli and Bella Giannulli (transferred after 9th and 10th grade)
- Suzanne Goin – chef and restaurateur[17]
- Kate Grace – Olympic finalist in the women's 800m[24]
- Dolly Green – philanthropist and thoroughbred owner[25][26]
- Leila Holterhoff – singer, linguist, psychoanalyst[27]
- Marian Osgood Hooker – physician and photographer[28]
- Caroline Howard Hume – art collector and philanthropist[29]
- Lois January – film actress[30]
- Marion Jorgensen – philanthropist and civic leader[31]
- Zoe Kazan – actress and playwright[32]
- Jessica Levinson – law professor and political commentator[33]
- Diane Disney Miller – author, philanthropist, and vintner, daughter of Walt Disney[34]
- Peggy Moffitt – model and actress (famous for associations with Rudi Gernreich)[35]
- The daughters of President Richard Nixon (Tricia Nixon Cox and Julie Nixon Eisenhower) briefly attended in the early 1960s[32]
- Abi Olajuwon – WNBA player and college basketball coach[36]
- Melissa Rivers – actress, television host and producer (attended but transferred for tenth grade)[37]
- Sasha Spielberg – actress and musician, daughter of Steven Spielberg[38]
- Alex Witt – MSNBC news anchor[citation needed]
- Stephanie Zimbalist – actress (did not graduate)
- Leigh Bardugo – young adult and fantasy author[39]
Notable faculty and staff
edit- Josh Deu – musician and songwriter, co-founding member of indie rock band Arcade Fire[40]
- Gertrude Gogin – former YWCA national secretary for girls' programs, joined the Marlborough faculty in 1938[41]
- George Toley – tennis coach (later at University of Southern California)[42]
Pop culture mentions
editMarlborough has been mentioned in the shows Ray Donovan and Red Band Society.[43]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for Marlborough School". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ Marlborough School
- ^ Dangremond, Sam (April 11, 2016). "Here Are the Top Boys and Girls Schools in America". Town & Country. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
- ^ a b c "School History". Marlborough.org. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
- ^ "Marlborough School". Los Angeles Evening Express. September 17, 1890. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
- ^ "Former Marlborough School teacher gets jail time in sexual abuse case". October 22, 2015.
- ^ Filipek, Suzan (December 29, 2022). "Marlborough School is in capable hands". Larchmont Chronicle.
- ^ Marlborough School - Los Angeles, California/CA - Private School Profile
- ^ "The 25 US High Schools with the Highest Standardized Test Scores". Business Insider.
- ^ "Queen Rania of Jordan". CBS News. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
- ^ https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1265/images/sid_10863_1965_0049?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=prf229&_phstart=successSource&pId=30027201 [bare URL]
- ^ https://www.classmates.com/siteui/yearbooks/4182768202?page=48 [bare URL]
- ^ "Private Lives". LIFE. Vol. 3, no. 18. November 1, 1937. p. 114.
- ^ "Carolin Stark Is Dead; Tennis Star in 1930's". New York Times. March 31, 1987.
- ^ Keylon, Steven. "The California Landscapes of Katherine Bashford". Eden: Journal of the California Garden and Landscape History Society, vol. 16, no. 4 (Fall 2013).
- ^ "Katherine Emilie Bashford". The Cultural Landscape Foundation website. Accessed Oct. 22, 2015.
- ^ a b O'Connor, Pauline (February 12, 2006). "Starlet Behaving ... Nicely?". New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ Colacello, Bob (July 20, 2016). "Remembering Betsy Bloomingdale, Who Reigned Over Los Angeles Society and Influenced a First Lady". Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
- ^ "A well-drawn career" (PDF). The Ultra Violet. 36 (6). Marlborough School. May 5, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 3, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ "Home". jaws.org.
- ^ Robertson, Nan (1992). The Girls in the Balcony: Women, Men, and the New York Times. Random House. ISBN 9780394584522.
- ^ Yamato, Jen (August 14, 2012). "Hunger Games Hits DVD/Blu: Jacqueline Emerson Talks Foxface, Her Future, And Devo 2.0". Daily Truffle. Archived from the original on May 1, 2018.
- ^ "Alumnae Profile: Sabaah Folayan '09 Directs Documentary Film, "Whose Streets?"". Marlborough School. February 13, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.[permanent dead link]
- ^ 2006 CIF State Cross Country Championships Athletic.net. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
- ^ Myrna Oliver, Philanthropist 'Dolly' Green; Heiress Owned Thoroughbreds, The Los Angeles Times, September 05, 1990
- ^ Marc Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2005, pp. 17-18 [1]
- ^ "Society News The Chatterer". Los Angeles Herald. No. 205. April 24, 1910.
THE CHATTER LOS ANGELES society as well as the musical world has more than usual Interest in the wonderful success, of Miss Leila Holterhoff, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey Holterhoff of West Adams street
- ^ "Environmental Design Archives: Hooker". University of California Berkeley. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ Meredith May, Caroline Howard Hume, S.F. philanthropist, dies, San Francisco Gate, October 30, 2008
- ^ Mutti-Mewse, Austin (September 3, 2006). "Lois January". The Guardian. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
- ^ Colacello, Bob (2004). Ronnie and Nancy: Their Path to the White House--1911 to 1980. Grand Central Publishing. p. 62.
- ^ a b Pyun, Jeanie. "Insider's Guide to L.A. Private Schools". The Hollywood Reporter. No. 17 August 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ Levinson, Jessica (August 12, 1998). "Marlborough". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ Haithman, Diane (October 19, 2003). "The Reluctant Savior". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- ^ Diamond, SJ (April 16, 1993). "Theirs Was a Model Pairing : Peggy Moffitt drew from dance, acting and mime to show the clothes of Rudi Gernreich, the designer of the '60s. Their careers were inextricable. Now, she's back in his creations-- of course". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ Monahan, Terry (March 29, 2006). "Daughter of hoops legend plays with memory of late RB student". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ Rivers, Melissa (2016). The Book of Joan: Tales of Mirth, Mischief, and Manipulation. p. 90.
- ^ Oswaks, Molly (March 18, 2015). "Why a Spielberg and a Goldwyn Passed Over Their Dads' Hollywood for Snapchat". New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ "Magic, mystery and Yale in Bardugo's new book, TV series : Larchmont Chronicle". Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ^ Madeline (November 13, 2010). "Deu discusses past with Arcade Fire". The Ultra Violet. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
- ^ Spalding, Deborah (May 16, 1948). "Last Grads Will Note 10th Year Since School Closed". The Los Angeles Times. p. 55. Retrieved September 13, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "'Super-coach' led USC tennis team". Los Angeles Times. March 3, 2008.
- ^ "Marlborough in Entertainment". The Ultraviolet.