60th Anniversary | The History of
Whitby School
Whitby School is proud to celebrate 60 years of pioneering education and thought leadership. Read on to learn more about the history of our school.
Scroll
Whitby school founded in 1958
Whitby School opens on Cliffdale Road in a stable of the Terrien family with an enrollment of 17 (3-to-7-year-olds) and Nancy Rambusch as Headmistress
1958-1960 Highlights
1961
Whitby Moves to Lake Avenue
Founders Hall is completed in January and Whitby School moves to its current location on Lake Avenue.
Whitby featured in Time
Whitby in Saturday Evening Post
1963-1964
Whitby Grows
Groundbreaking ceremony is held for addition to Whitby. The addition included three Lower School classrooms, art and manual trading room, and a multipurpose room for music and domestic arts, storage room and changing room, and seminar room for conferences.
1964-1968
- Competitive sports are added to the physical education program.
- New ballfield and classroom added.
- First Whitby graduates enter military service.
- Students plant 1,500 tree seedlings on campus.
- First annual giving program is launched.
1969
Development Committee announces plans for new facilities (Arts and Sciences building and gymnasium), alterations and remodeling of existing facilities.
1971
Whitby starts using the video recorder. A film production course enters the curriculum.
1972
1974
Parents Association hosts Whitby School Childrens Film Festival
School holds Whitby Summer Monday Program which invites students from Harlem to enjoy different activities in the "country" of Greenwich.
1975
Stepping Stones Program Begins
Nancy McCormick Rambusch returns to Whitby to speak with the school's 14th graduating class.
Whitby's Montessori Training program is placed on the curriculum of the Graduate School of Education at Manhattanville College.
Whitby dad and MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver attends the Annual Giving Drive.
1978
Whitby Celebrates 20th Anniversary
Year Highlights
1979
Whitby girls basketball team plays first season.
Grounds-breaking for the Head's House takes place
Stepping Stones begins afternoon session
1988
Whitby celebrates its 30th birthday
1989
Whitby hosts book exchange program with nine schools throughout Greenwich and Port Chester after receiving a $90,000 grant from the Dewitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund.
One of the program's beneficiaries? A nine-year-old Philip Lohmeyer, now an Upper School Design Teacher at Whitby.
1995-1996
Whitby begins the Nightwalk and the Spring Chicken Hatching — two new Primary traditions that are continued to this day.
1997-1998
Primary begins third year graduation and passing the light of knowledge ceremony.
Whitby celebrates the opening of Renaissance Hall
2004
Chorus earns first place at music festival
Student remembered during memorial ceremony
2006-2007
Whitby adds Mandarin to curriculum
Renovations on Caedmon building begin
2007-2008
Construction is completed on the Performing Arts Center in the Caedmon building.
2008-2009
Whitby celebrates its 50th Anniversary with a Founder's Day Celebration.
Whitby receives authorization to offer the IB PYP and MYP. Whitby becomes the only school to be triple accredited by American Montessori Society (accredited with non-traditional Montessori age groupings), International Baccalaureate Organization and Connecticut Association of Independent Schools.
2013-2014
Whitby opens 4-classroom addition that includes a new state-of-the-art Science Lab and Design Technology Lab.
2015
Whitby opens new Athletics Center, doubling the size of the original Athletics Center.
2016
Whitby acquires 5.3 acres of land, adding an additional 16,000 square feet of building space for the future.
2017
Whitby begins festivities for its 60th Anniversary with a school-wide logo contest. Scoring guidelines were created by 8th Grade Design Classes. Seventh grader Lauren won first place, and her logo will be used on all 60th anniversary promotional items.
