Marlborough School (Los Angeles, California)

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Marlborough School
Established	1889
School type	Private
Religious affiliation	none
Head of School	Barbara Wagner
Location	Los Angeles, CA, USA
Campus	4 acres in Hancock Park
Enrollment	525 Girls
Faculty	67
Average class size	13 students
Student:teacher ratio	9:1
Athletics	10 Interscholastic Sports
Mascot	Mustang
Homepage	www.marlboroughschool.org

1 Background
2 History
3 Mission Statement
4 Academics
5 Science Program
6 Athletics
7 Arts
8 Tuition
9 Notable Alumni
10 External links
11 Notes

[edit] Background

Marlborough School is a private, all-girls, college-preparatory secondary school for grades 7-12 located at 250 South Rossmore Avenue in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Marlborough was founded in 1889 by Mary Caswell and is the oldest independent girls' school is Southern California.^[1] Marlborough is considered one of the foremost college-preporatory schools in Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]} Marlborough has a $33.7 million endowment which is the largest endowment per student among independent schools in Southern California.^[2]

Marlbrough's colors are purple and white and the mascot is the mustang. Girls who attend Marlborough are also known as Violets, the original Marlborough mascot.

[edit] History

In the late 1880s, Mary S. Caswell left her home in Maine to establish what would become one of the finest girls’ schools in the country. First settling in Pasadena and then moving to Los Angeles, Mrs. Caswell was determined to bring what she knew best from her 20 years of experience at Eastern schools to a new city on the west coast.

The School moved from Pasadena to the Marlborough Hotel on the corner of Twenty-Third and Scarff Streets in Los Angeles, and the new site also became the School’s new name. In 1916, as Los Angeles grew in size and population, Mrs. Caswell moved her school to the (then) far western edges of the city at Third Street and Rossmore Avenue where it remains today.

Marlborough quickly became a tradition in academic excellence as its reputation for educating young women grew steadily among Southern California families. A forward-thinking educator, Mrs. Caswell offered her students an extensive curriculum that included English, arithmetic, history, literature, and art history. Soon Greek and Latin, rhetoric, philosophy, sciences, geography, and Bible history were added to the girls’ class work, along with calisthenics.

Even as early as 1896, Mrs. Caswell was telling her students, “The day when it was interesting for a woman to be helpless is far in the past,” and repeatedly emphasized what is still the essence of a Marlborough education: resourcefulness and self-reliance, honor and integrity. She urged her students not to wait for opportunity, but to go out and seek it, to create a plan and find a purpose.

In the 1960s, Marlborough School became a non-profit organization, governed by a Board of Trustees that began to plan for the School’s long-term future. During this time, a fledgling endowment was formed and the campus was completely rebuilt to meet the needs of the growing student body.

Since then, the School’s leadership has followed Mrs. Caswell’s example of forward thinking. The School’s student body now reflects the diversity of Los Angeles. The endowment has grown to $30 million, and alumnae and parents have established many named-funds. Students today use the Salvatori Library, the Seeley G. Mudd Computer Center, the Caryll Mudd Sprague Performing Arts Center, Blake Hall, Mitchell Hall, the Evelyn and Lee Combs Athletic Center, the Disney Art Gallery, and many other classrooms, facilities, gardens and even books bearing names of the revered teachers, School heads, and alumnae who shaped the School’s history and its future. [1]

[edit] Mission Statement

Marlborough School, founded in 1889, is an independent, urban day school serving a diverse group of young women. The School is committed to delivering a superior college preparatory education in an environment imbued with high ethical values. Marlborough believes that, for women, academic excellence, leadership skills and confidence flourish best in a school exclusively devoted to their education. The Marlborough community enables each student to develop her fullest potential so that she may contribute in a global society.

[edit] Academics

Marlborough School is considered the best all girls school in all of California and has been ranked in the top 100 schools in the United States of America. Marlborough is well known for having extremely small class room sizes and having low student teacher ratios in order to give each student the attention and help she needs from any faculty member. In addition, Marlborough is well known for being a highly selective school as in 2006, over 1,000 girls applies for the 100 available seats for incoming class of 2012.

Furthermore, Marlborough is very well known for its high college admittance rates as almost 100% of the students graduate in order to attend college. Over 90% of the students have been accepted into UC schools, and over 20% have been accepted into IVY Leagues. In addition, over 50% of the students have been accepted into schools that are considered highly selective meaning the universities accept only less than 30% of their applicants.

[edit] Science Program

Marlborough has received national recogniton for the strength of its science program. In 2005, Marlborough's honors research program was featured in an article in the New York Times, "When Popular Science is Called Women's Work".^[3] Marlborough's Honors Research program allows students to take part in hands-on research projects with their mentors at institutions such as Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, USC, CalTech, and UCLA.

[edit] Athletics

Marlborough competes as the Mustangs.

Marlborough fields nine sports programs in the CIF Southern Section (CIF-SS): basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. A similar number participate in the Junior High Delphic League and Junior High Pacific Basin League. In addition an equestrian team competes in the Interscholastic Equestrian League (IEL). Over 60% of Marlborough girls compete in athletics. ^[4]

Marlborough’s athletic facilities include: the Combs Gymnasium, a fitness center, Caldwell Swimming Pool, 3 multipurpose courts, and a playing field.

Marlborough has a well established athletic program that has won many championships in recent years. The school has won 54 Varsity League Titles, 13 CIF-SS Titles, 2 CIF State Titles and 1 National Championship. Most recently the Cross Country Team (2006) and the Basketball Team (2007) won State Championships, and Track & Field (2006), Tennis (2006), Cross Country (2006) and Basketball (2007) won CIF Southern Section Championships. Marlborough was awarded 2nd Place in the CIF-SS Commissioners Cup for the best All-round sports program for girls. The Mustangs finished the 2005-2006 school year with 6 out of 8 League Championships, 7 out of 8 teams ranked in the CIF-SS Top-10 Poll, and 2 CIF-SS Championships. In the 2006-2007 school year Marlborough has won 3 out of 5 League Championships, 3 CIF-SS Championships and 2 State Championships.

Two prominent members of the Marlborough's class of 2007 have been featured in the Los Angeles Times for their strong athletic abilities in cross-country and basketball in addition to their high GPAs and SAT scores. These two girls have been accepted to Stanford University and Harvard University respectively. The online Los Angeles Times website links features these girls in the following links [2] and [3].

Many notable athletic alumnae can be found in the Marlborough Athletic Hall of Fame.[4]

[edit] Arts

At the heart of Marlborough's Fine Arts program is the goal that students develop both an understanding of the creative process and a life-long appreciation of the arts. Drama offerings range from open audition productions (an all-School and a Middle School performance) to student-directed work produced by the Drama Ensemble. The Winter Choral concert showcases the work of music classes, the Chamber Choir, and the Faculty Chorus. Instrumental Ensemble groups perform in a spring recital. Professional and student choreography is featured in the annual "Evening of Dance." Art exhibitions change monthly in the Disney Gallery and feature the work of both student and guest artists. Each year the Gallery hosts the Annual Invitational Show which includes art work from Los Angeles area schools. In addition to these larger venues, student work can be seen and enjoyed at lunchtime concerts, the "Evening of Scenes," and School assemblies. Several clubs offer opportunities to participate in the arts outside of the classroom experience as well.

Students have the opportunity to participate in arts activities, as a performer or observer, on a weekly basis.

[edit] Tuition

Marlborough is the most expensive private secondary school in the nation; tuition for 2006-2007 school year is $25,250. Marlborough has a $1.7 million financial aid budget with 14% of enrolled students receiving financial assistance.