The Westminster School is a private, coeducational college-preparatory, boarding and day school located in Simsbury, Connecticut, United States, accepting around 20% of applicants. The total student population is approximately 400, and includes pupils from 25 US states and 30 countries. It is also a member of the Founders League, an athletic league comprising ten college preparatory boarding schools in Connecticut and one in New York.

History

Westminster School was founded in 1888 as a boys' school by William Lee Cushing, a graduate of Yale University. 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. Significant building projects undertaken include: 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 Associate and Assistant Headmaster. Philip stepped down at the end of the 2020–21 academic year. Elaine B. White was appointed the ninth Head of School in 2021. Prior to her arrival at Westminster, Elaine was Associate Head of School at The Governor's Academy.

Faculty and staff

Headmasters

Student activities

Athletics

Theater

Each year the theater program stages three productions in the Werner Centennial Theater: one dramatic production spanning the varied genre of Western theater, a musical production, and the student-directed performances, which offer advanced students the opportunity to direct. Each of these productions offers many opportunities for student involvement and leadership, both on stage and backstage. Situated at the northeastern corner of the campus's central quadrangle, Centennial Center was upgraded in 1988 into a 30,000 square-foot building including a two-story lobby, a 400-seat, multi-use Shakespearean-style theater, music and dance studios and rehearsal room, dressing rooms, a scene shop/laboratory and other production support spaces. Particular to the “courtyard” theater form, all 400 seats are within 40 feet of the front of the stage, and there is built-in flexibility for both audience size and style of production.

Notable alumni