King and Low-Heywood Thomas School

King Low Heywood Thomas School

Established	1865
School type	Private, Day
Religious affiliation	None
Head	Thomas B. Main
Location	Stamford, Connecticut
Enrollment	650 (K-12)
Campus	Suburban
Colors	Maroon and Blue
Mascot	Viking
Homepage	[http://www.klht.org klht.org]

The King & Low-Heywood Thomas School is a private, co-educational day school for grades K-12 in Stamford, Connecticut. It is commonly referred to as KLHT by students and faculty. Starting in the fall of 2008, it will be known solely as "King" school.

Formation and history

The King & Low-Heywood Thomas School of today is actually the convergence of three distinct independent schools that, from the beginning, shared similar educational missions.

The oldest of the schools, Low-Heywood, was founded by Mrs. C.E. Richardson in 1865 and was located in downtown Stamford. In 1883, Miss Louisa Low purchased Mrs. Richardson’s School (for girls). Her niece, Miss Edith Heywood was her assistant.

In 1875, Hiram King, a Dartmouth College graduate, was asked by several local families to form a private boys school. King’s Day School was also located in downtown Stamford and had several homes before settling on Colonial Road in 1933. Twenty-five years later, the school building burned to the ground and was relocated to a replacement building. Five years later, the King School moved to the Simon Estate, the summer home of singer/songwriter Carly Simon and her family.

In the meantime, the Low-Heywood School was forced to move from its downtown location to Shippan Point to make way for the main Post Office building. The school was successful but in 1944, the heirs of Miss Louisa Lowell and Miss Edith Heywood sold the property on which the school was located. Within a month of the sale, the school relocated to Judge Lockwood’s estate on Courtland Avenue and in 1969, finally settled into the Walker estate adjacent to the King School on Newfield Avenue.

While all this was going on in Stamford, a few miles away in Rowayton, Mabel Thomas created a school on her parent’s summer estate. Opening in 1922, the Thomas School was intended to be both a day and boarding school. According to a story in the Norwalk Hour, the school would offer “lessons in the morning and after a wholesome hot dinner, there will be games and sports in the afternoons, both indoor and outdoor, under the supervision of a physical director.”

In 1974, the neighboring Low-Heywood and King schools began coordinating their educational and extracurricular programs in the Upper Schools. In 1975, the Thomas School merged with the Low-Heywood School at the latter’s Newfield Avenue campus. Both the King School and Low-Heywood-Thomas School maintained individual identities until 1988, when the King & Low-Heywood Thomas School was formed as a coeducational school. The Lower School and Middle School were located on the former King (South) Campus while the Upper School took over the former Low-Heywood Thomas (North) Campus.

Jean Harris, who was convicted of the 1980 murder of her ex-lover, Herman Tarnower, author of the best-selling book The Scarsdale Diet, was the last headmistress of the Thomas School before it merged with the Low-Heywood School. She left the Thomas School upon the merger to become headmistress of The Madeira School in McLean, Virginia.

Academics

The King & Low-Heywood Thomas School is composed of three sub-schools: the Lower School (pre-K through 5th grade), the Middle School (6th grade through 8th grade), and the Upper School (9th grade through 12th grade).

The Lower School curriculum is composed of four broad categories of general education: Language Arts (colloquially referred to as "English"), Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Each is designed to cover a broad spectrum of topics, and establish enough knowledge so that students can participate in more advanced learning.

The Middle School curriculum begins to focus on more in-depth examination of the basic topics established at the Lower School; a foreign language requirement is also added. The topics are generally referred to as English (corresponding to the Language Arts category), History (corresponding to the Social Studies category), Mathematics, Modern Language (foreign languages) and Science. Students must choose between Spanish or French for the Modern Language requirement.

The Upper School focuses on complete specialization. The English Department is excellent and more closely resembles literary studies. The Science Department provide a basis in biology, chemistry and physics, with AP level courses available. Courses in specialized topics such as forensics and meteorology are also available. Computer sciences are covered under a separate department, allowing for better coverage of topics such as robotics and programming. Mathematics covers basic algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, and statistics. The Modern Languages department focuses on Spanish and French, from the introductory to the AP Level. Finally, the Upper School offers classes in the visual and performing arts, including drama, painting and music.

Library Resources

The school is one of only ten secondary schools in Connecticut which have become subscribers to the online journal repository JSTOR [http://www.jstor.org/about/participants_ss.html] .

Athletics

King & Low-Heywood Thomas School is a part of the Fairchester Athletic Association, consisting of independent schools in Fairfield County, CT, and Westchester County, NY, and of the Western New England Preparatory School Association. [ [http://www.klht.org/podium/default.aspx?t=2396 King & Low-Heywood Thomas School ~ Athletics ] ] Notable past KLHT athletes include Jesse Simms, grandson of former baseball player Jackie Robinson, and Billy-Dee Greenwood, a USA Today and Parade Magazine first team All-American football player. [UNC Player Profiles, available at http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/unc/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/playerprofiles.pdf]

Fall *Boys Football *Boys and Girls Soccer *Boys and Girls Cross Country *Girls Volleyball *Girls Cheerleading *Girls Field hockey *Mens Junior Varsity Soccer

Winter *Boys and Girls Basketball *Girls Cheerleading *Coed Hockey *Boys Squash *Coed Swimming

pring *Boys and Girls Tennis *Boys and Girls Golf *Boys and Girls Lacrosse *Girls Softball *Boys Baseball *Boys and Girls Cross Country

ee also

*Education in Stamford, Connecticut

References