The Woodward School is an independent day school for girls in grades 6 through 12. Founded in 1869 and opened in 1894, the school is located in Quincy, Massachusetts, near Quincy Center, and is the only nonsectarian, independent school in the city.

History

The Woodward School was founded by Dr. Ebenezer Woodward and his wife, Mary Ann Wroe Greenleaf. Dr. Woodward was a prominent Quincy physician and a cousin of President John Adams. When Dr. Woodward died in 1869, his will established a trust fund to create and maintain a girls' school equivalent to the boys-only Adams Academy. Mary Greenleaf Woodward, who died in 1870, bequeathed further assets to the fund. The Town of Quincy, which became a city in 1888, was named trustee of "The Woodward Fund and Property," and was given 25 years to build the school. The school building was designed by E. G. Thayer in the Queen Anne style, with clapboard siding and a slate roof. It was built by Stephen Loxon and completed in 1894, just short of the 25-year deadline. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Woodward Institute on November 13, 1989, reference number 89001954.

Affiliated organizations