Rumsey Hall School in Washington, Connecticut, is a coed boarding and country day school for boys and girls in kindergarten through grade nine. Situated in the foothills of northwestern Connecticut's Berkshire Mountains, Washington (population 4,000) is 43 miles west of Hartford, Connecticut and 80 miles northeast of New York City. The 147 acre campus is surrounded by beautiful wooded hills and the scenic Bantam River.

Founded in 1900 by Mrs. Lillias Rumsey Sanford in Seneca Falls, New York, the school moved to larger quarters in Cornwall, Connecticut in 1907 and to the present campus in 1949. Thomas W. Farmen, the school's fifth Headmaster, was appointed in 1985.

Rumsey Hall prepares its students for the discipline required in secondary schools and beyond, through small classes, a tightly-knit dormitory life, a wide range of sports, extracurricular programs and sound academics.

Rumsey Hall believes that effort is as important as academic achievement. Effort as a criterion for success opens a new world to the student because the student can use his or her environment to the best advantage. The student determines whether he or she will earn approval, rewards and privileges. Effort does not start and end with the student. It is a shared responsibility between the student and each faculty member. Just as the faculty expects maximum effort from each student, they promise in return to give each student their very best effort. The result is an environment where everyone can share in the pleasure of success.

The progress of each student is discussed and an Effort List is prepared at Monday faculty meetings. Being on the Effort List signifies that a student has come prepared to class each day of the previous week. The Effort List is announced to the entire school Tuesday morning.

Students who are on the Effort List in all classes earn privileges such as studying in their dormitories, playing tennis or fishing during free time. The faculty and administration believe that these weekly rewards for effort gradually build a respect for self-discipline and personal responsibility. Achievement should follow as this emphasis on effort becomes an integral part of the student?s everyday life.

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Education is a journey, rarely a destination. Most great explorers started their journeys by leaving the comfort and familiarity of home in search of a new world.

Having been enriched by their own cultures and confident in themselves, they took chances that ultimately changed the world. We at Rumsey are here to support, encourage, and inspire those who wish to experience new challenges and adventures of their own.

The Rumsey Hall School provides opportunities rich in tradition and focused on preparation for the future. Lessons learned here extend beyond the classroom and into the residential halls, onto the playing fields, and throughout the Rumsey and local communities. Students, teachers, administrators, and coaches grow through shared experiences and common goals. We want you to share your culture, experiences, and impressions with us. Rumsey is truly a community of learners. We hope you find our web site exciting. It should answer many questions and stimulate even more. All of us in the Admissions Office look forward to assisting you on your journey toward successful endeavors.

Sincerely,

Matt Hoeniger
Director of Admission

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The History

The Formative Years
On October 1st, 1900, Mrs. Lillias Rumsey Sanford of Seneca Falls, New York founded the second private nondenominational pre-preparatory school in the United States. It was called "The Terrace: Mrs. Sanford's School for Boys" and was located in a huge mansion which Lillias Sanford's father had built. This was to be a "home-school" for boys under thirteen years old. Its purpose was to prepare them for the new private secondary schools, many of which had been founded during the preceding fifteen years.

The catalog for 1900-1901 begins with these words: "Great care will be taken to make the home life bright and happy, to cultivate in the young boys high ideals, and to control them by judicious means without harsh measures."

The Cornwall Years
In 1906, Mrs. Sanford took two actions, which would profoundly influence the course of Rumsey Hall School for the next fifty years. First, she moved the school (now called Rumsey Hall) from Seneca Falls to Cornwall, CT. It would remain there until 1949. Second, she hired Louis Henry Schutte as her second Headmaster, replacing Walter Wildman. Mr. Schutte became Rumsey's longest standing tenured Headmaster, serving from 1906 to 1941.

The unique working relationship of Mrs. Sanford and Mr. Schutte became the cornerstone of Rumsey Hall School in Cornwall, the embodiment of two passionate educators who shared the same vision. Many traditions still survive today: a prize for Declamation has been a Rumsey standard since the earliest days and Track and Field Day has been a yearly event since 1912. Mrs. Sanford died in 1940. Her daughter-in-law, Helen Greves Sanford, then took over as Director, until 1941. Headmaster Schutte declined an option to purchase the school, and in 1941 it passed into the hands of John Forby Schereschewsky, popularly known as "Mr. Sherry". Mr. Sherry and his wife, Betty, came to Rumsey Hall from Suffield Academy, where he had been Headmaster.

No sooner had the Sherrys purchased the school than World War II broke out. The country was in turmoil, and in 1943, Mr. Sherry left Rumsey Hall to join the Navy for two years. He served his tour of duty with the amphibious forces and commanded a landing craft during the Normandy invasion. During this time, Mr. David Griffin Barr, a devoted faculty member since 1914, was appointed Headmaster of Rumsey Hall. Together with Mrs. Sherry, he led Rumsey Hall as an interim director until Mr. Sherry returned as Director. Mr. Barr remained Headmaster until 1956.

In the late 40's Mr. Sherry and Mr. Barr found themselves faced with a momentous decision. In Washington, CT lay the vacant campus of the former Romford School for Boys, a casualty of wartime hardship. A Washington consortium formed by several prominent citizens of the area was seeking a new occupant for the campus, and they approached Mr. Sherry to see if he might consider it as a home for Rumsey Hall.

This vacant campus held several attractions. In Cornwall, limited campus space had always been an issue, preventing any further expansion of the school. Moreover, Rumsey Hall did not own the buildings it occupied and had to lease them from the town of Cornwall.

The Early Washington Years
When the Washington consortium offered to underwrite the cost of moving the school from Cornwall to Washington, Mr. Sherry and the Board of Trustees accepted the offer. Rumsey Hall's Class of 1949 was the last class to be educated in Cornwall as the school headed for its third and final location.

Co-education was introduced with the 1949-1950 academic year, with Rumsey Hall becoming one of the first schools of its kind to discontinue an all-male enrollment. New building projects continued through the 1950's and 1960's as the enrollment of the school steadily increased.

In 1965 Mr. Sherry's son, John Forby Schereschewsky, Jr. '47, became Headmaster. A Harvard graduate like his father, Mr. Sherry, Jr. eagerly embraced the Rumsey lifestyle as a teacher, coach and administrator. For four years, Mr. Sherry, Sr. and Mr. Sherry, Jr. led Rumsey Hall as Director and Headmaster, respectively, bringing Rumsey Hall to unprecedented heights of enrollment and reputation.

This collaboration ended in 1969, when Mr. Sherry, Sr. died and Mr. Sherry, Jr. succeeded his father as Director. Louis George Magnoli, a teacher and administrator at Rumsey since 1957, was appointed Headmaster. Mr. Sherry, Jr. and Mr. Magnoli held firm to their beliefs in the value of a traditional education during the turbulent early 1970's. By 1977, this belief combined with sound leadership earned both of them widespread respect and admiration, as well as resurgence in applications for admission. The untimely death of Mr. Sherry, Jr. during a hunting accident in 1977 left Mr. Magnoli at the helm alone, a position he filled admirably.

Mr. Magnoli was well loved as a teacher, coach and Headmaster. A natural athlete himself, he coached varsity football for twenty-one years and varsity baseball for twenty-eight years. He oversaw the construction and renovation of many buildings on campus, and, with an eye to the future, inaugurated a mandatory course in basic computer literacy. He also instituted the advisor program wherein each student was assigned a faculty member as his or her permanent advisor. From 1957 to his retirement in 1985, Mr. Magnoli played an integral part in every aspect of life at Rumsey Hall.

Rumsey Hall Today

Mr. Magnoli's successor, Thomas Wadt Farmen, has managed to preserve the traditions of Rumsey Hall, while responding to the challenges of educating children in today's world. Mr. Farmen came to Rumsey Hall in 1974 as a science teacher. He occupied many positions of responsibility before becoming Headmaster, including Head of the Science Department, Director of Athletics and Director of Secondary School Placement. Under his administration, Rumsey Hall has continued its traditions, providing a challenging program in a supportive, family-like atmosphere.

In 1997, the J. Seward Johnson, Sr. Fine Arts Center, the Garassino Family Classroom Building, which houses grades K-2, a nd the Satyavati Science Center were completed. In 1999, the School purchased 47 acres of adjacent property and a gift of 14 adjacent acres was given in honor of Rumsey?s Centennial. These two gifts almost doubled the size of the campus and brought on the creation of the current campus master plan.

Throughout the 1999-2000 school year, Rumsey Hall celebrated its Centennial. Festivities included the first annual student and faculty bike ride from the old Cornwall campus to the current Washington campus; several special symposiums on the history and culture of the School with guest speakers including alumni, former faculty and neighbors; and a Centennial Celebration in June 2000 that included a black-tie gala.

Since 2000, through generous annual giving donations, the School has completed 6 additional faculty homes, the Dane Dicke Family Math and Science Building, Cutler Cottage, and has constructed the Scott Evans Seibert ?92 Memorial Field, renovated the existing football field (now Roy Field), the Pavek Field, and has renovated numerous classrooms and dormitories. Annual gifts also allow the School to improve student programs and fairly compensate faculty.

Rumsey Hall currently enrolls 312 students from kindergarten through grade nine. The Upper School (Forms IV-VII) includes students from 12 countries, 21 states, and 26 local communities.

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Rumsey Hall Quick Facts:

Faculty
There are 51 full and part time faculty members (21 men, 26 women).

Enrollment
The school population is made up of 302 students from 20 states, 9 countries and 29 local communities. The Lower school (grades K through 5) enrolled 78 students and the Upper School (grades 6 through 9) enrolled 224 students.

Fees
The tuition for boarding students in 2008-2009 is $39,000. Day student tuition is $18,500 for grades three through nine; $15,050 for grades one and two; $14,670 for kindergarten (full day). There is a $4,350 tuition for the Language Skills Program and a $6,520 tuition for the English as a Second Language Program. For the year 2007-2008, $600,000 in financial aid was awarded to 73 families.

Physical Plant
The plant includes 29 buildings on 147 acres and is valued at $20.2 million.

Endowment
$4,500,000

Annual Giving
$2.14 million (2007 Annual Fund)

Alumni
3,236

Rumsey Hall School strives to recruit and retain people who embrace the mission of the school. The teachers and staff at Rumsey Hall School are a team of dedicated, uniquely talented and well-rounded professionals who embrace a whole child approach to education. The strong teacher-student relationships that develop are the core of the family atmosphere that is so prevalent on our campus.

Rumsey Hall School is approximately 2 hours from New York City, 1 hour from Hartford, Connecticut, and 2 1/2 hours from Boston.

From Boston, MA/Hartford, CT:
1-84 West to Exit 17 (Middlebury/ Woodbury). Route 64 West for 8 miles. Take a right onto Route 6 East in Woodbury, CT. After 1.5 miles at Canfield Corner Pharmacy (junction of Routes 6 and 47) turn left onto Route 47 North. Go straight on Route 47 North for 4.5 miles and turn right on Nettleton Hollow Road. Go straight on Nettleton Hollow Road for approximately 5 miles to a stop sign. Proceed straight after the stop sign (the road is now called Romford Road) for 2 miles, across a single lane bridge, to the next stop sign which is in the middle of the Rumsey campus. Turn left at the stop sign and park in the lower parking lot.

From New York/Danbury, CT:
I-684 North to 84 East. Take Exit 7 (Route 7 North, Brookfield/New Milford). Turn right at the end of the Route 7 expressway onto Route 202 East. Follow 202 East through Brookfield and New Milford. Approx. 8-9 miles out of New Milford, turn right onto Route 47 South. Go 2.5 miles. Turn left onto Route 109 East. Go 1 mile. Turn left onto Sabbaday Lane and follow to the end. Turn left; go across a single lane bridge to the stop sign which is in the middle of the Rumsey campus. Turn left at the sign and park in the lower parking lot.

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Rumsey Hall's Welcome from the Headmaster:

Thank you for showing an interest in Rumsey Hall School. I hope this brief explanation of our institutional and educational values will help you understand what kind of students we have and how the members of our outstanding faculty and staff approach their work.

Rumsey Hall was founded in 1900 by Lillias Rumsey Sanford. The coeducational boarding and country day school which evolved from our founder's dream retains distinct characteristics from its early years. Mrs. Sanford's efforts to create a home away from home for her young boarders became part of Rumsey's heritage. There is a strong sense of stability and family in our community today.

There is a wonderful balance in our school providing the support, nurture and care that children need while presenting appropriate academic challenge and rigor. Our basic curriculum is designed to teach children to read, write and calculate proficiently, in preparation for the profound challenges that await them in secondary school and college. We lay the educational foundations for building sturdy structures. We embrace the idea of "honor through effort." Effort, more than grades, is the criterion for success.

Complementing our academic program is a broad and exciting spectrum of mandatory athletic endeavors and extracurricular options. We believe firmly that academic and non-academic activities presented in a sensibly structured setting are partners in a child?s development. The resulting well-roundedness is a characteristic shared by our graduates, and it is a common trait in our diverse faculty.

Our faculty supplements the traditional structure of our school with the understanding that children learn differently. Teachers are encouraged to be innovative and flexible. They enthusiastically accept their responsibility as role models. The strong teacher-student relationships which develop are the core of the family atmosphere that is so prevalent on our campus. Our students feel comfortable because they know what is expected of them and that help is always available. Their success is not measured merely by a report card. The self-esteem and self-confidence of individual students are our most important goals. I am sure you will sense this if you visit our campus.

Virtually all of our families have ambitious plans for their children's education. Our graduates continually earn admission to the most competitive secondary schools in the country. Yet most families will agree that this tangible product of the Rumsey experience is secondary to the lifelong attitudes, values and habits formed.

I invite you to visit our campus to meet our teachers, students and staff and experience the special family atmosphere known as the "Rumsey Spirit." This enduring spirit has inspired students since 1900.

We look forward to sharing it with you.

Thomas W. Farmen