Westminster School (Connecticut)

Gund House, on the campus of Westminster School, is a student and faculty residence.

Westminster School was founded in 1888 as a boys' school by William Lee Cushing, a graduate of Yale University.[3] Girls were first admitted to the school in 1971. Like many boarding schools, Westminster faced difficult times in the 1970s as it competed for a shrinking pool of boarding students. When Donald Werner retired in 1993, after serving as Headmaster for 21 years, he was succeeded by Graham Cole. During the Cole years, enrollment for the school grew from 340 to 385 students, with 88 faculty.[4]

Significant building projects undertaken include:

• Edge House. Designed by Westminster alumnus Graham Gund and built in 1996, Edge House houses 33 students and three faculty families.[5]

• Kohn Squash Pavilion. Completed in the Spring of 2000, The Squash Pavilion contains eight squash courts around a stepped viewing area with natural light from skylights above. The team rooms, locker rooms, and other support spaces are located on a second floor mezzanine overlooking the viewing area and squash courts below.[6]
• Sherwin Health & Athletic Center. Completed in 2003, the Sherwin Health & Athletic Center, the Hibbard Aquatic Center and the Health & Counseling Center is a multipurpose building. The Aquatic Center contains an eight lane competition pool with support facilities and a viewing area on the mezzanine floor.[7]
• Armour Academic Center. This 85,000-square-foot Center houses the Humanities, Math and Science departments, library, and administration. Building features include a centrally located atrium, two-story library, classrooms and laboratories, 120-seat lecture hall, planetarium, faculty and administrative offices, and a variety of lounge spaces.[8][9]

With Cole's retirement in 2010, Westminster appointed William V.N. Philip as its eighth Headmaster. Philip ascended to the top job after a 26-year career at Westminster as a teacher, coach, dormitory parent, college counselor, and most recently Associate and Assistant Headmaster.[10]

Dormitories and Student Life[19]

Seventy percent of the student body at Westminster School lives on campus in one of the seven dormitories, supervised by Westminster faculty.

Academic and Arts Facilities

Other on-campus facilities[20]

• Andrews Memorial Chapel (built 1962)

Notable alumni include:

• William Acquavella, art dealer, head of Acquavella Galleries[21]
• Lake Bell '97, actress
• Eric Boguniecki, NHL hockey player
• Ethan Brooks '91, NFL football player
• Joy Bryant '92, actress
• William S. Beinecke, ‘32, Namesake of Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library[22][23][24][25]
• Tommy Cross '08, Boston Bruins 2nd round draft pick and currently with the Columbus Blue Jackets
• David Doubilet '65, National Geographic photographer
• Jack Du Brul, writer
• Patrick Ellis, radio personality[26]
• Andrew Firestone '94, The Bachelor TV series[27]
• Peter Fonda, actor
• Bryan Nash Gill, '80, artist[28]
• Graham Gund '59, architect[29][30]
• Bertil Hille
• Alec Musser, actor
• Ben Smith '06, NHL Hockey player[31]
• John V. Tunney '52, former United States Senator and Representative from the state of California[32][33]
• Wellesley Wild '90, writer and executive producer of Family Guy

• Rinker Buck. Enrollment Shift Could Burden Farmington Valley Towns: From Private to Public Schools. Hartford Courant, 25 Mar 2009.
• The True Life: Westminster School 1989-2013 by Charles E. Griffith III
• Westminster School Viewbook: A Guide to Westminster School
• Westminster School Ski History Westminster School
• Investigation Finds Sexual Misconduct By Former Westminster School Headmaster

• Westminster School