Baldwin School - History

History

In 1888, Miss Florence Baldwin founded "Miss Baldwin's School for Girls, Preparatory for Bryn Mawr College" in her mother's house at the corner of Montgomery and Morris Avenues in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Although the establishment of the school was viewed by many to be a "preposterous extravagance", and any education for girls was considered unnecessary and potentially dangerous in the late 19th century, the first class was composed of thirteen girls.

The second Bryn Mawr Hotel was built in 1890-1891. In 1896, The Baldwin School leased the second Bryn Mawr Hotel during the winter months then year round in 1912. The building was designed by architects Frank Furness and Allen Evans, and in 1922 the school purchased the building and the surrounding 25 acres (100,000 m2) for $240,000. It is a five-story, "L" shaped stone and brick building in a Renaissance Revival / Châteauesque style. It features a large semi-circular section at the main entrance topped by a conical roof and finial. It has a steeply pitched red roof with a variety of dormers, chimneys, towers, finials, and skylights.

Today the school has added many additions but still manages to maintain the elegance and grandeur of the original building. The original building is known as "The Residence" and is home to the dining hall, art studio, apartments for faculty and staff (formerly the dormitories of the boarding students), music classes and an Early Childhood Center, with renovations completed in 1998, specifically for the Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes. A two-story science building opened in 1961 and was enlarged in 1995 to accommodate the increasing number of students. The Upper and Middle Schools inhabit the three-story Schoolhouse, which was built in 1926 and renovated in 1997. Grades 1-5 are housed in a separate building.

The school formally opened a new athletic center on November 8, 2008. The new building has a six-lane swimming pool, gymnasium, three-lane jogging track, 4 squash courts, state-of-the-art fitness center, multipurpose meeting/activity space, and more. It is accompanied by a five new tennis courts, a new practice field, and complements other athletic facilities which pre-date World War II.