Cranbrook Schools

The Quad in the Cranbrook Campus

In 1915, George and Ellen Booth opened a portion of their property to the general public with the construction of a small Greek Theatre. In 1918, the Booths built the Meeting House, which became the Bloomfield Hills School, opening for local children in 1922 (grades 1–12).

Subsequently, the Booths decided to build a middle school and a college preparatory school. Cranbrook School for Boys, which began operations in 1927, was designed by world-renowned Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. Completed in 1928, it was Saarinen's first executed architectural work in the United States.[6] The name "Cranbrook" was chosen since Cranbrook, England was the birthplace of George Booth's father. Kingswood School Cranbrook (for girls), also designed by Saarinen, opened in 1931. Cranbrook and Kingswood enrolled students from grades 7–12. The Bloomfield Hills School became an elementary school and was renamed Brookside School Cranbrook in 1930.

Unlike the Cranbrook School for Boys, which has several buildings, the Kingswood School has only one building, which includes supporting facilities. It houses dormitories, a dining hall, an auditorium, classrooms, lounge/common areas, a bowling alley, and a ballroom. The education at Kingswood School Cranbrook was initially primarily viewed as a "finishing school". Today, Students take classes in English, History, Religion, and Art at Kingswood. The art classes available are Foundations in Design, Sculpture, Drawing, Weaving, Ceramics, Fashion Design, Painting, and Photography.

For the Booths and Saarinen, the conception and design of the Cranbrook and Kingswood schools were greatly influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement, which began in 19th-century England.[7]

In 1923, Booth founded an Episcopal church to serve the nascent Cranbrook community, as well as surrounding communities. He chose the firm of Goodhue Associates to design the church. Groundbreaking took place in 1925, and Christ Church Cranbrook was consecrated on September 29, 1928.[8] Originally Cranbrook and Kingswood schools were affiliated with the Episcopal Church, but they have since secularized. However, special occasions are still celebrated at Christ Church Cranbrook.

Cranbrook School, Kingswood School, and Brookside School operated separately until 1970, when it was decided to govern them together. This was followed by the creation of the Cranbrook Educational Community. In 1985, Cranbrook and Kingswood schools were merged to create a co-educational upper school institution.

The middle school did not become co-educational; it was divided into gender-specific campuses in 1984. The Community acquired Vaughan School to house the boys' middle school. The basement of Kingswood was at one point the girls' middle school. A new Middle School building opened in 2010. For boys and girls of grades 6–8, all classes are separate. The exceptions are those for the performing arts (Symphonic Band, Orchestra, and Choir). English, religion, and history classes are taught separately to boys and girls through the 10th grade.

Architecture critic Paul Goldberger of The New York Times called the Cranbrook campus "one of the greatest campuses ever created anywhere".[9][10]

Christ Church Cranbrook (1925–1928), by architect Bertram Goodhue

In 1985, Cranbrook School and Kingswood School were merged to create a coeducational upper school, the Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School. While the majority of the classes are coeducational, Conceptual Physics and 9th and 10th grade English and History classes are taught separately to gender for educational purposes. Classes are taught on both the original Cranbrook and Kingswood campuses.

Frequently, the school is referred to as "CK" by its students, faculty, and alumni. Cranbrook Kingswood now lays claim to 70 athletic teams; both men and women's teams earned state championship titles in hockey, tennis, lacrosse, golf and swimming. As of 2011, there were 795 students, approximately 1/3 of which are boarding students who live in single-sex residence halls. Cranbrook Kingswood accepts slightly fewer than half of all applicants, placing it in the most selective 25% of preparatory schools in the United States.[11]

Several programs offered at Cranbrook have won awards and recognition. The student newspaper The Crane-Clarion has been recognized by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the National Scholastic Press Association.[12] In 2009, the Upper School's student literary arts magazine, Gallimaufry, received a Gold Crown award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.[13] The robotics and forensics team have also won several state and national awards. Their Model United Nations team has also been placed in the top 75 in North America as of Spring 2012.[14]

Total enrollment at Cranbrook during 2007–08 was 1626, with 780 enrolled in the upper school, 333 in the middle schools, and 513 at the lower school Brookside. (Brookside's numbers include children enrolled in pre-kindergarten, junior kindergarten, and kindergarten at the Vlasic Early Childhood Center, which opened in 1996.)[15] Approximately 11% of Cranbrook Kingswood's students are international students. Traditionally, Cranbrook School also has an exchange program with Cranbrook School, Kent, a boarding school in Cranbrook, Kent, England in honor of George Booth's heritage.

Cranbrook has many notable alumni, including designer Florence Knoll, former U.S. Senator Alan K. Simpson, Heisman Trophy winner Pete Dawkins, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, Utah Senator and 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife Ann Romney (née Davies), Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, columnist Michael Kinsley, Sun Microsystems founder Scott McNealy, co-founder of Pandora Radio Tim Westergren, former professional soccer player Alexi Lalas, actress and Tony award winner Renée Elise Goldsberry and actress Selma Blair.

Notable faculty include George Laskowski, whose science fiction fanzine Lan's Lantern won a Hugo Award for Best Fanzine.

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  Cranbrook Campus impression (3)
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  Dining Hall
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  Natatorium
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  Hallway to Keppel Gymnasium
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  Kingswood School Building
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  Eponymously engraved archway
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  Dining Hall

• Cranbrook Educational Community
• Architecture of metropolitan Detroit

• Elizabeth C. Clark, Beside a Lake
• Bruce N. Coulter, Forty Years On
• Kathryn Bishop Eckert, The Campus Guide: Cranbrook
• Ben M. Snyder III, Once More With Joy