Choate Rosemary Hall , informally shortened to Choate ( / tʃ oʊ t / ), is a private , co-educational , college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut , United States. Founded in 1890, it took its present name and began a co-educational system with the 1978 merger of The Choate School for boys and Rosemary Hall for girls. It is part of the Eight Schools Association and the Ten Schools Admission Organization .
60-612: Choate Rosemary Hall was formed in 1978 through the merger of two sister schools founded by Mary and William Choate in the 1890s. The Choates spent their summers in Mary's hometown of Wallingford, Connecticut. Mary, an alumna of Miss Porter's School , was the great-granddaughter of Caleb Atwater (1741–1832), a Connecticut merchant who supplied the American forces during the Revolutionary War. William Gardner Choate (1830–1921)
120-479: A Bachelor of Arts degree. Kennedy participated in football , rugby , and crew and served on the student council. He then spent a year studying under the tutelage of Harold Laski at the London School of Economics before enrolling at Harvard Law School . He had dated Athalia Ponsell , who was murdered in 1974, and there were rumors of an engagement between them up until Joseph's untimely death. From
180-728: A Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1854. He was in private practice in Danvers , Massachusetts from 1855 to 1857, then in Salem until 1865, and then in New York City from 1865 to 1878. On March 14, 1878, Choate was nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Judge Samuel Blatchford . Choate
240-512: A USAAF photo-reconnaissance F-8 Mosquito to film the mission were pilot Lieutenant Robert A. Tunnel and combat cameraman Lieutenant David J. McCarthy, who filmed the event from the perspex nose of the aircraft. As planned, Kennedy and Willy remained aboard as the BQ-8 completed its first remote-controlled turn at 2,000 ft (610 m) near the North Sea coast. Kennedy and Willy removed
300-451: A cricket match with Mrs. Hazen's School of Pelham Manor, N.Y., that has been described by some as "the first interscholastic girls sporting event in American history." In 1935, Gertrude Stein gave a series of talks across the country that included a visit to Choate on January 12 and 13. In the audience was stenographer, Dudley Fitts , a critic, translator, and longtime teacher of Greek and Latin at Choate. Stein's public speaking style
360-519: A $ 6 million arts center (nearly $ 50 million in 2024 dollars), which opened in 1972. Seymour St. John's final major achievement was bringing Rosemary Hall back to Wallingford in 1971. To accommodate Rosemary Hall's 230 students, Choate spent an additional $ 3 million to build what was essentially "a new campus" in Wallingford. The two schools appointed a common president in 1973 and formally merged in 1978. In 1931, John F. Kennedy entered Choate as
420-503: A BQ-8 "robot" aircraft (a converted B-24 Liberator) for the Navy's first Aphrodite mission. Initially, two Lockheed Ventura mother planes and a Boeing B-17 navigation plane took off from RAF Fersfield , Norfolk, England at 1800 on Saturday, August 12, 1944. Then the BQ-8 aircraft, loaded with 21,170 lb (9,600 kg) of Torpex explosive, took off to be used against the suspected V-2 development site at Mimoyecques . Following them in
480-643: A boys school, in 1896, both in Wallingford, Connecticut (now combined as Choate Rosemary Hall ). His wife Mary was the niece of Senator Edgar Atwater and Sarah S. Yale, member of the family of Senator Charles Atwater and the Yale family of Yale University . Sarah's cousin was Senator Charles Dwight Yale and her uncle was merchant William Yale . William Gardner Choate died on November 14, 1920, in Wallingford. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. (July 25, 1915 – August 12, 1944)
540-655: A crew of two would take off and fly to 2,000 feet (610 m) altitude before they activated the remote control system, armed the detonators, and parachuted from the aircraft. After trials, the first mission took place on August 4, 1944, against targets including the Fortress of Mimoyecques , an underground military complex under construction in northern France. There was little success. The U.S. Navy also participated in Operation Aphrodite, with its portion referred to as Operation Anvil. Kennedy had been appointed
600-938: A detailed public account of the operation and Kennedy's death released in 1945. Kennedy and Willy were both posthumously awarded the Navy Cross , the Air Medal , and the Purple Heart Medal . The names of both men are listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial , a cemetery and chapel near the village of Madingley , Cambridgeshire, that commemorates Americans who died in World War II. A commemorative headstone cenotaph for Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.
660-492: A feeling he will distinguish himself in literature." Incidents from Albee's time at Choate are reworked for his plays. The May 1946 Commencement issue of The Lit contained Albee's first published play, Schism . Another play written at Choate, Each In His Own Way , went unpublished and forgotten until 1996, when a classmate preparing for their 50th reunion found it in a scrapbook. William Gardner Choate William Gardner Choate (August 30, 1830 – November 14, 1920)
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#1732773378883720-587: A lecture hall, and common spaces. Choate's Fed Challenge team was the 2009 national champion and has won the New England District Championship in 12 of the past 13 years. In the 2012 American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) 12-A, Choate's team finished first in the nation, with the highest combined score of all 2631 participating schools. In 2012, Choate became the first among its peer preparatory schools to require that all faculty and students own an iPad. The fall term that year saw
780-429: A lieutenant on July 1. After the U.S. Army Air Corps operation missions were drawn up on July 23, lieutenants Wilford John Willy and Kennedy were designated as the Navy's first Anvil flight crew. Willy, who was the executive officer of Special Air Unit 1, had also volunteered for the mission and pulled rank over Ensign James Simpson, who was Kennedy's regular co-pilot. On August 12, Kennedy and his co-pilot Willy flew
840-520: A majority of seniors voted against the invitation and certain students threatened to walk out. The New York Times reported that the school's student body "ha[s] been known to trend decidedly blue." In October 2016, following one alumna's public disclosure of sexual abuse in the Boston Globe , Choate retained Covington & Burling LLP to conduct an investigation and write a report on historical occurrences of sexual misconduct. In April 2017,
900-635: A majority stake in the school and established its independence from the Choate family. Following the merger with Choate, the Greenwich campus was transferred to Daycroft School , which closed in 1991. In 1896, William and Mary Choate established a boys' school in Wallingford. They hired Mark Pitman (1830–1905), the principal of Woolsey School in New Haven, Connecticut, as its first headmaster. The school began with six boys, with an average age of 10. There
960-442: A number of theories, discounted the possibility of the crew making a mistake. It suspected jamming or a stray signal could have armed and detonated the explosives. An electronics officer, Earl Olsen, who believed the wiring harness had a design defect, had warned Kennedy of that possibility the day before the mission but was ignored. Later reports that Kennedy's final mission was kept top secret until many years later are negated by
1020-432: A third form (9th grade) student, following his older brother Joe Jr. , who was a star athlete at the school. Jack Kennedy—sickly, underweight, and nicknamed Rat Face by his schoolfellows—spent his first two years at Choate in his brother's shadow, and compensated for it with rebellious behavior that attracted a coterie. He named his group The Muckers Club, which had thirteen members—Kennedy and twelve disciples. Among these
1080-465: A unique place in Stein's corpus as a social text that carries the marks of its particular occasion ... direct address to her audience (around sixty boys, as well as faculty and some former students)." Stein's two-day stay at Choate was her first self-acknowledged exposure to a private school. In her 1937, Everybody's Autobiography , Stein wrote, "It was the first time I had ever seen such a school. When I
1140-485: A very young age, Kennedy was groomed by his father and predicted to be the first Roman Catholic U.S. president. When he was born, Kennedy's maternal grandfather John F. Fitzgerald , the mayor of Boston , told reporters: "This child is the future president of the nation." Kennedy was a Massachusetts delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1940. He planned to run for a seat in
1200-1430: Is a member of the Founders League , and competes against schools in the New England and the Mid-Atlantic regions. The athletic directors of Choate and the other members of the Eight Schools Association compose the Eight Schools Athletic Council, which organizes sports events and tournaments among ESA schools. Choate offers teams at the varsity, JV, and thirds (freshman) levels. There are 32 different sports and 81 teams in interscholastic competition. Intramural programs include aerobics, dance, senior weight training, yoga, winter running, rock climbing, fitness and conditioning, and senior volleyball. Since 1922, Choate's athletic rivalry has been Deerfield Academy . From 2007 to 2016, Choate won New England championships in football, boys and girls ice hockey, girls' soccer, boys' golf, boys' crew, and in girls' swimming, volleyball, and water polo. In that same period, Choate won Founders League championships in boys' and girls' squash, in boys' cross country, golf, softball, and tennis, and in girls' volleyball. In 1893, Rosemary Hall were host to
1260-529: Is located on a 268-acre site in the northeast quadrant of the campus. It has been described as "the first teaching, research and residential environmental center in U.S. secondary education." In February 2015, the school opened the Lanphier Center for Mathematics and Computer Science, a 35,000-square foot campus hub for information technology, applied mathematics, and robotics. The center, designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli , contains laboratories, classrooms,
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#17327733788831320-441: Is making full report TO US Naval Operations. A more detailed report will be forwarded to you when interrogation is completed According to USAAF records, the trailing Mosquito "was flying 300 feet above and about 300 yards to the rear of the robot. Engineer photographer on this ship was injured, and the ship was damaged slightly by the explosion." The Mosquito, which made an immediate emergency landing at RAF Halesworth , belonged to
1380-558: The 325th Reconnaissance Wing , a unit under the command of the son of President Franklin Roosevelt , then Colonel Elliott Roosevelt , who years later claimed to have been aboard that trailing aircraft, and his version of the event has gained wide currency. However, Air Force records cannot substantiate it. Instead, an after-action account by the 8th Combat Camera Unit (CCU) noted: ...the Baby just exploded in mid-air as we neared it and I
1440-569: The U.S. House of Representatives when the war ended. Kennedy had expressed approval of Adolf Hitler before World War II began. When his father sent him to visit Nazi Germany in 1934, Joseph Jr. wrote back and praised the Nazi sterilization policy as "a great thing" that "will do away with many of the disgusting specimens of men." Kennedy Jr. explained, "Hitler is building a spirit in his men that could be envied in any country." Kennedy left before his final year at Harvard Law School to enlist in
1500-488: The U.S. Naval Reserve on June 24, 1941. He entered flight training to be a naval aviator , received his wings, and was commissioned an ensign on May 5, 1942. Kennedy was assigned to Patrol Squadron 203 and then Bombing Squadron 110 . In September 1943, he was sent to Britain and became a member of Bomber Squadron 110, Special Air Unit ONE, in 1944. Kennedy piloted land-based Consolidated B-24 Liberator patrol bombers on anti-submarine details during two tours of duty in
1560-427: The "domestic arts," the school's first headmistress Caroline Ruutz-Rees (1865–1954) adopted the mission of a contemporary boys' school, emphasizing academics and athletics. In 1936, Time reported that Rosemary Hall girls "work[ed] so hard [in the classroom] that when they get to Smith or Vassar it is often with a sigh of relief." In 1900, Ruutz-Rees moved Rosemary Hall to Greenwich, Connecticut . She acquired
1620-401: The 55th and 79th Fighter Squadrons). VIII FC, Field Order 509 stated "20 GP (P-51's, 4 A/C) will proceed to Fersfield and land coordinating with operations where to provide close escort support to one B-34 special Operation." Lieutenant John E. Klink noted in his mission summary report: "Took off to excort BXXX, 1 B24, 1 B17, 2 B34s, and 3 photo Recons (2 Mosq. -1 P38). When specially loaded B24
1680-663: The Great Wall at Ju Yong Guan , and in ensemble with the Concert Band of Beijing Children's Palace . Choate orchestras have also performed at Lincoln Center in New York, Carnegie Hall , and the Guggenheim Museum . The school's student-operated radio station, WWEB , was FCC-licensed and founded in 1969. The Senior Project Program provides on- or off-campus internships in academic research, visual art, and
1740-660: The House to the U.S. Senate and then to the presidency. Kennedy was born on July 25, 1915, at a summer rental cottage on Nantasket Beach in Hull, Massachusetts . He first attended the Dexter School in Brookline, Massachusetts , with his brother John . In 1933, Kennedy graduated from Choate , a preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut . He then entered Harvard College , from which he graduated in 1938 with
1800-625: The White House in December 2009 and the school's symphony orchestra toured Europe in 2010 and 2011, giving concerts in ten countries. The festival and chamber choruses performed at St. Patrick's Day mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome in 2011. Choate orchestras and choral groups toured East Asia in 2000, 2005, 2007, and 2014. The June 2014 tour comprised concerts in Seoul, Hong Kong, and Macau, at
1860-611: The beginning of full integration of the tablet's capabilities into the syllabus. Choate's director of academic technology discussed Choate's iPad program in an August 2012 article in US News . During the 2023–24 school year, Choate reported that it enrolled 861 students, employed 120.4 full-time equivalent teaching staff, and had a student-teacher ratio of 7.0. In the 2023–24 school year, Choate charged boarding students $ 67,380 and day students $ 51,880, plus other mandatory and optional fees. Choate offers need-based financial aid . 34% of
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1920-414: The board of trustees agreed to trim the size of the student body to 821. Choate's acceptance rate declined from 60% in 1991 to 23% in 2016. Choate also embarked on a series of large-scale fundraising campaigns, raising over $ 100 million from 1995 to 2000; $ 220 million from 2006 to 2011; and $ 334 million from 2023 to 2024. In 2008, Karl Rove was invited to deliver the commencement address but withdrew after
1980-704: The construction of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Memorial Hall at Boston College , which is now a part of Campion Hall and home to the college's Lynch School of Education . The foundation was led by his youngest brother, U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy until his death in August 2009. In 1957, the Lieutenant Joseph Patrick Kennedy Junior Memorial Skating Rink was opened in Hyannis, Massachusetts , with funds from
2040-682: The curriculum, which has requirements in community service and in contemporary global studies. All disciplines except English have honors courses. The Choate signature programs include the Advanced Robotics Program, Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies, Arts Concentration, Capstone, Environmental Immersion Program, JFK Program in Government and Public Service, Science Research Program, and the Global Education Program. The Choate chamber orchestra performed at
2100-588: The enemy while serving as Commander of a Navy Liberator Patrol Plane in Bombing Squadron ONE HUNDRED TEN (VB-110), Special Air Unit ONE (Europe), during a special air mission directed at Mimoyecques, France, on August 12, 1944. Well knowing the extreme dangers involved and totally unconcerned for his own safety, Lieutenant Kennedy unhesitatingly volunteered to conduct an exceptionally hazardous and special operational mission. Intrepid and daring in his tactics and with unwavering confidence in
2160-479: The ground. According to one report, 59 buildings were damaged in a nearby coastal town. Attempted first Aphrodite attack Twelve August with robot taking off from Fersfield at One Eight Zero Five Hours. Robot exploded in the air at approximately two thousand feet eight miles southeast of Halesworth at One Eight Two Zero hours. Wilford J. Willy Sr Grade Lieutenant and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr Grade Lieutenant, both USNR, were killed. Commander Smith, in command of this unit,
2220-716: The highlights of its service are the blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and the afloat recovery teams for Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 , both 1965 crewed spaceflights in NASA 's Gemini program . It was decommissioned in 1973 and is now a floating museum in Battleship Cove , Fall River , Massachusetts . In 1947, the Kennedys established the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation and funded
2280-715: The modern-day Choate campus, including Hill House, West Wing, the Gymnasium, Memorial House, the Chapel, the Library, the Winter Exercise Building, and Archbold Infirmary, which was the nation's largest school infirmary. In the decade following the First World War , Choate sent 412 of its 618 graduates to Yale, Princeton, and Harvard, according to a 1928 edition of the school newspaper. George St. John
2340-695: The performing arts. Other specialized programs include American Studies, creative writing, economics, FBLA, mathematics, philosophy, psychology, religion, debate, and the Fed Challenge. The 2011–12 academic year saw the introduction of an Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies Program (AMES). Choate's Office of Global Studies supports study-abroad and other international initiatives. One-third of Choate students participate in programs in China, France, Japan, Spain, and Jordan. The Kohler Environmental Center, designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects , opened in 2012 and
2400-537: The police; accordingly, the Connecticut Department of Children and Families accused Choate of violating its mandatory reporter obligations. Following publication of the report, two former headmasters resigned from the Choate board of trustees. Choate's curriculum includes elective and interdisciplinary courses, from astronomy and architecture to printmaking and post-modernism to digital video and development economics. There are more than 300 courses in
2460-616: The safety pin, arming the explosive package, and Kennedy radioed the agreed code Spade Flush , his last known words. Two minutes later, and well before the planned crew bailout near RAF Manston in Kent, the explosives detonated prematurely, destroying the Liberator and killing Kennedy and Willy instantly. Wreckage landed near the village of Blythburgh in Suffolk, England, causing widespread damage and small fires, but there were no injuries on
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2520-411: The school published Covington's investigation report, which acknowledged repeated instances of sexual misconduct against dozens of students from the 1960s through the 2010s (most of the incidents reportedly took place in the 1980s); the report implicated at least 12 former faculty and staff members. The school admitted that although it had been aware of some misconduct, it had not reported any misconduct to
2580-453: The school was hit hard by financial difficulties in the 1970s. It responded by adding even more students, growing from 843 students in 1973 to 926 in 1978 and 1,021 by 1994. The school's finances eventually stabilized. In 1989, Choate opened a second I. M. Pei building, the science center. Starting in the 1990s, Choate adopted a policy of shrinking the student body, growing its financial resources, and being more selective in admissions. In 1994,
2640-793: The student body are on financial aid. 53% of Choate's 271 financial aid families make under $ 150,000 a year, and the school states that the average aid grant is 80% of tuition. The school commits to meet 100% of an admitted student's demonstrated financial need. Choate no longer publicizes the exact size of its financial endowment . However, in its Internal Revenue Service filings for the 2021–22 school year, Choate reported total assets of $ 781.5 million, net assets of $ 689.8 million, investment holdings of $ 485.6 million, and cash holdings of $ 41.7 million. Choate also reported $ 76.1 million in program service expenses and $ 13.8 million in grants (primarily student financial aid ). Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim chaplains serve Choate's campus ministry. Choate
2700-510: The time, Choate was losing money and had only 51 students. With support from shareholders, St. John bought out the Choate family and incorporated the school as a for-profit corporation; the school reorganized as a non-profit in 1938. St. John believed that expanding enrollment would improve the school's financial resources and allow him to offer more amenities to his students. Enrollment jumped from 51 students in 1908 to 230 in 1918, 452 in 1928, and roughly 600 by 1947. George St. John built most of
2760-598: The vital importance of his task, he willingly risked his life in the supreme measure of service, and, by his great personal valor and fortitude in carrying out a perilous undertaking, sustained and enhanced the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service. In 1946, the Navy named a destroyer after Kennedy, the USS ; Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. aboard which his younger brother, the future U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy , briefly served. Among
2820-624: The winter of 1943–1944. Kennedy was appointed a lieutenant on July 1, 1944. He had completed 25 combat missions and was eligible to return home. Kennedy instead volunteered for an Operation Aphrodite mission . Operation Aphrodite was the use of Army Air Corps Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Navy Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator bombers that were converted into flying bombs and deliberately crashed into their targets under radio control from an accompanying bomber. They were to be used for precision attacks on well-protected targets. These "drone" aircraft could not take off safely on their own and so
2880-618: Was Kennedy's lifelong friend Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings , who kept an apartment in the White House during JFK's presidency. Kennedy graduated from Choate in 1935. In senior class polling for the yearbook (of which he was business manager), he was voted 'Most Likely to Succeed'. It has been suggested that the oft-remembered quote from Kennedy's inauguration may have originated from a common refrain from Choate headmaster, George St. John's chapel talks: "The youth who loves his alma mater will always ask not 'What can she do for me?' but 'What can I do for her?'" Following Seymour St. John's retirement,
2940-644: Was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York . He also cofounded the Choate Rosemary Hall college, a private boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut . Choate was born in Salem , Massachusetts , the son of George and Margaret Manning (Hodges) Choate. His brothers were physician George Cheyne Shattuck Choate and diplomat and lawyer Joseph Hodges Choate . Choate received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Harvard University in 1852 and
3000-535: Was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy . He was a member of the Kennedy family and the eldest of the nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy . During World War II , Kennedy was killed in action while serving as a land-based patrol bomber pilot, and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross . Kennedy's father had aspirations for him to become president of the United States . Kennedy
3060-520: Was a delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention and planned to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives after his military service as the first stepping stone on the path to the presidency. Kennedy's death while participating in Operation Aphrodite in 1944 caused his father to transfer his aspirations to his next-oldest son, John F. Kennedy , who followed the path first planned for his older brother by advancing from
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#17327733788833120-693: Was a federal judge with the Southern District of New York from 1878 to 1881, before resigning to enter private practice. He was a national authority on railroad, bankruptcy, and corporation law. His brother Joseph Hodges Choate , another noted lawyer, served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom . In 1890, Mary Atwater Choate founded Rosemary Hall at the Atwater House on Rosemary Farm in Wallingford. Although Mary Choate initially envisioned that Rosemary Hall would train girls in
3180-405: Was at approx. 2000 ft. NE of Ipswich it exploded and crashed near small lake. No one got out of the plane. Rest of ships OK in spite of terrific concussion from explosion. All returned to base." [ sic ] Drone operations were paused for a month while equipment was re-evaluated and modified, and there would be no further Navy missions. The Navy's informal board of review, discussing
3240-502: Was brought up in East Oakland[,] we all went to public school ... The boys from twelve to sixteen listened[,] really listened[,] to everything I had to say ... I had been much struck by the Choate school literary magazine which did have extraordinary good writing in it." In 1944, future playwright, Edward Albee transferred from Valley Forge Military Academy to Choate. Admissions director Frank Wheeler remarked presciently, "I have
3300-547: Was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 25, 1878, and received his commission the same day. Choate served on the court for only three years, resigning on June 1, 1881. Following his resignation from the federal bench, Choate resumed private practice in New York City from 1881 to 1920. With his wife, Mary Atwater Choate, he founded the girls school, Rosemary Hall, in 1890, and the Choate School,
3360-542: Was extemporary, and Fitts made a stenographic transcript. After an exchange of letters, Stein authorized Fitts to oversee publication of her talk in The Choate Literary Magazine . Stein's essay appeared in the February 1935 issue of The Lit with the title "How Writing Is Written." It has many times since been anthologized and given academic treatment, with the Choate text unaltered. It "occupies
3420-487: Was knocked halfway back to the cockpit. A few pieces of the Baby came through the plexiglass nose and I got hit in the head and caught a lot of fragments in my right arm. I crawled back to the cockpit and lowered the wheels so that Bob could make a quick emergency landing,... The 8th CCU film of the event has not been found. The 20th Fighter Group out of RAF Kings Cliffe , Northamptonshire had provided an escort of four North American P-51 Mustang fighters (two each from
3480-524: Was later erected at Arlington National Cemetery . A further memorial to him stands inside the fortress of Mimoyecques , France. Kennedy's military decorations and awards include the following: Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.'s Navy Cross citation reads: The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Joseph Patrick Kennedy, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in operations against
3540-649: Was no formal relationship at the time with Rosemary Hall, but there were coeducational audiences for plays and recitals and Mary Choate hosted dances at the Homestead. From 1908 to 1973, control over the Choate School passed from the Choate family to the St. John family. Under the St. Johns, Choate became one of the largest boarding schools in New England. In 1908, George St. John (h. 1908–47), an Episcopal priest who had previously taught at Hackley School , The Hill School , and Adirondack-Florida School , became headmaster. At
3600-490: Was succeeded in 1947 by his son Seymour '31 (h. 1947–73). Under Seymour St. John, Choate admitted its first black student in 1959, increased the share of international students to 15% of the student body, lifted the Sunday chapel attendance requirement, and temporarily abolished A-F grades. An ambitious builder, Seymour St. John invested heavily in improving accommodations for students and faculty. He also hired I. M. Pei to build
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