View source for Wooster School

{{Short description|Prep school in Danbury, Connecticut, US}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox school
|name           = Wooster School
|logo           = 
|seal_image     = Wooster Logo 240x240.jpg
|image          = 
|address        = 91 Miry Brook Rd
|city           = [[Danbury, Connecticut|Danbury]]
|state          = Connecticut <!-- Do not link per [[WP:SEAOFBLUE]] -->
|zipcode        = 06810
|country        = United States <!-- Do not link per [[MOS:OL]] -->
|coordinates    = {{Coord|41.3663|-73.4994|format=dms|display=it}}
|type           = [[Private School|Private]], coeducation
|religion       = [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal]]
|established    = {{start date and age|1926|p=1}}
|ceeb           = 070130
|founder        = Aaron C. Coburn<ref name="Coburn"/>
|head_of_school = Matt Byrnes
|faculty        = 61
|enrollment     = 336 (as of 2021)
|ratio          = 5:1
|athletics      = Interscholastic sports teams [[Housatonic Valley Athletic League]]
|mascot         = The General
|team_name      = Generals
|campus_type    = Suburban
|campus_size    = {{convert|125|acres}}
|tuition        = $47,440 (2024)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.woosterschool.org/admission/affording|title=Variable Tuition - Wooster School|website=www.woosterschool.org}}</ref>
|colors         = White, maroon, black <br /> {{color box|white|border=silver}}{{color box|maroon|border=silver}}{{color box|black|border=silver}}
|homepage       = {{URL|https://www.woosterschool.org/}}
}}
'''Wooster School''' is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory school (grades 5 through 12) in [[Danbury, Connecticut]]. It is a member of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools.

==Overview==
The Wooster School motto is ''Ex Quoque Potestate, Cuique Pro Necessitate'', roughly, "[[From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs|From each according to ability, to each according to need]]". Founded in 1926 as a boys' school of 10 students by Episcopal priest Dr. Aaron Coburn,<ref name="Coburn">{{cite magazine| author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Aaron Cutler Coburn, Priest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QHLkAAAAMAAJ&q=wooster+school%2C+danbury&pg=RA1-PA79
|magazine=The Living Church|volume=25|date=December 20, 1942|page=17|access-date=April 2, 2017}}</ref> it is named for General [[David Wooster]], who fought at the [[Battle of Ridgefield]] with the [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]]s in the [[American Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.danburyhistorical.org/Wooster.html|title=American Revolution - Expedition of Wooster - Turning-point of war | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060125022531/http://www.danburyhistorical.org/Wooster.html | archive-date=2006-01-25}}</ref> The school continues the legacy of the jobs program, in which the entire student body engages in a daily period dedicated to cleaning and physically maintaining the campus.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Polk |first=Nancy |date=March 17, 1991 |title=Private Schools Struggle to Survive |pages=CN:12 |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/17/nyregion/private-schools-struggle-to-survive.html}}</ref>

Girls were first admitted to the school in the fall of 1970. In 1990, Wooster School transitioned from being a [[boarding school]], as it had been since its inception, to being a [[day school]].<ref name=":0" /> 
[[File:Wooster School, Danbury, Connecticut.jpg|140px|thumb|left|The Wooster School Barn at the campus entrance]]

===21st-century changes===
Since 2000, one of the [[National Association of Episcopal Schools]]' top two [[educator]] awards is named for former Wooster School head John D. Verdery.<ref>Daphne Mack, ''Episcopal educators gathered in Hollywood for biennial conference: Peter Cheney roasted and three educators honored'', ''Episcopal News Service,'' November 28, 2006, found at [http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79949_ENG_HTM.htm Episcopal Church, USA, Official web site]. Retrieved October 22, 2007.</ref><ref>National Association of Episcopal Schools, Awards, found at [http://www.episcopalschools.org/about-naes/awards NAES official web site]. Retrieved May 9, 2018.</ref>

From 2001 to 2004, Wooster School made some improvements to its physical plant, notably the addition of a new gymnasium and a distinct Middle School building.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tskp.com/news/news-wooster.html|title=TSKP Architecture Firm web site}}</ref><ref>[http://www.tshf.org/News/pressRelease.aspx?story=1528&section=101&year=2006 The Stamford Hospital Web site]. Retrieved October 22, 2007.</ref>

== Tuition ==
Wooster offers a program of variable tuition to families unable to pay full tuition. Full tuition for the 2023-2024 academic year was as follows:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Variable Tuition - Wooster School |url=https://www.woosterschool.org/admission/affording |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=www.woosterschool.org |language=en-US}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|Grade 5
|$33,210
|-
|Grade 6
|$37,160
|-
|Grade 7
|$38,670
|-
|Grade 8
|$40,260
|-
|Grades 9 - 12
|$43,920
|-
|The Pathways Program
|$51,920
|-
|The Bridge Program
|$62,130
|}

==Notable alumni==
*[[Tracy Chapman]]&mdash;folk singer and guitarist<ref>Darling, Cary. [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=OC&p_theme=oc&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF3E1C797EF8A2&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "Doing it her way: Tracy Chapman goes against the grain with her reflective songs"], ''[[The Orange County Register]]'', May 25, 1990. Accessed October 19, 2007. "She was a student at Wooster High School in Danbury, Conn., with a budding taste for folk music and a flair for songwriting who corralled her courage and hit the pavement."</ref><ref>[http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/biography.htm About Tracy Chapmen, official biography web site]. Accessed October 22, 2007.</ref>
*[[Andrew Stevovich]]&mdash;painter<ref>{{cite book|author=Diehl, Carol |others=[[Anita Shreve]], [[John Sacret Young]], Valerie Ann Leeds |year=2007 |title=Andrew Stevovich: Essential Elements |page=184 |location=Lenox, MA |publisher=Hard Press Editions |isbn=978-1-889097-70-1}}</ref>
*[[Cyrus Mehri]]&mdash;trial attorney<ref>[http://www.findjustice.com/News/Article/?ARTICLE_ID=103 FindJustice.com web site]. Retrieved October 22, 2007. "His parents' educational aspirations led Mr. Mehri to the Wooster School. 'My years there had a formative influence on me,' he says. 'There probably isn't another prep school that has such a genuine commitment to diversity. Wooster really led the way in that respect. They had already integrated by the 1950s and the idea of diversity was embedded in the culture.'</ref>
*[[Zachary Cole Smith]]&mdash;singer<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stereogum.com/1693522/how-does-it-feel-diivs-zachary-cole-smith-rolls-on/franchises/cover-story/|title = How Does It Feel: DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith Rolls on|date = 28 July 2014}}</ref>
*[[Neil Rudenstine]]&mdash;president of [[Harvard University]]<ref>Catherine E. Shoichet, [http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=104537 ''Rudenstine's Book Hits Shelves''], June 05, 2001, ''[[Harvard Crimson]]''. Accessed October 22, 2007. "In a 1998 speech given at the Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Mass., Rudenstine spoke of the root of his passion for reading—a meeting with a high school adviser during his first term as a scholarship student at the Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut. “I don’t remember trying to articulate for myself, at the time, what this entire experience actually meant to me,” he says."</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.woosterschool.org/}}

{{New England Preparatory School Athletic Council|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Private high schools in Connecticut]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Danbury, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Schools in Fairfield County, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1926]]
[[Category:Private middle schools in Connecticut]]
[[Category:Private elementary schools in Connecticut]]
[[Category:1926 establishments in Connecticut]]
[[Category:Episcopal schools in the United States]]