Fay School

Fay School is an independent, coeducational day and boarding school, located on a 66-acre (270,000 m2) campus some 25 miles (40 km) from Boston in Southborough, Massachusetts, and known as the oldest junior boarding school in the United States. It has 462 students enrolled from Pre-Kindergarten through grade 9; the boarding program (grades 7–9) enrolls 115 students from throughout the United States and more than 20 foreign countries this year. Fay recently opened its Primary School (Pre-K to Grade Two) and moved its 6th grade into the Lower School program (now 3rd to 6th) in the 2012-13 school year.

Timeline of The Fay School

Early 1860s – Eliza Burnett Fay and her sister, Harriet Burnett, establish a day school.

1866 – Fay School officially founded. Opens with two boarders and five day students, who attend classes in the Unitarian Parsonage (now Todd House, across the street from the present campus). The boarders live in the Greenwood House, which later forms the nucleus of the Old Main Building.

1877 – The School moves to larger quarters above the Center Store/Post Office next to the Greenwood House.

1885 – A wing, comprising a 32-bed dormitory, a study hall, and classrooms is built onto the Greenwood House. Waldo Fay, Eliza’s son, marries Mary Elizabeth Winchester.

1889 – First gymnasium constructed (now called the Upjohn Building, named for Richard V. Upjohn, faculty member emeritus, and used as a multi-purpose space).

1893 – School building enlarged to include music room, recitation rooms, and additional dormitory space. First tennis courts constructed.

1896 – Eliza Burnett Fay dies. Waldo B. Fay, class of 1871, becomes headmaster.

1897 – Senior Field purchased.

1908 – Dormitories and large Schoolroom added, as well as a library. School comprises 77 students and seven masters.

1910 – Edward W. Fay, Waldo’s son and class of 1898, starts teaching at the school.

1914 – Additional property purchased on Main Street. The School now owns three house lots on Main Street, as well as sizeable land holdings from Route 30 to the reservoir.

1917 – Fay House purchased by Waldo Fay as a family residence.

1918 – Edward W. Fay '98 succeeds his father as Headmaster.

1920 – Fifth form (grade seven) added. Ice skating rink/swimming pool constructed.

1922 – Fay School is incorporated and first Board of Trustees appointed. Waldo Fay transfers ownership of the School to the Board. Adjacent properties of Winchester Tavern, Center Store, and Goodnow House purchased.

1926 – Dining Room Building constructed on site of Winchester Tavern. Dining Room given by mothers of boys who attended the School between 1896 and 1918, and named for Mrs. Waldo Fay.

1927 – School comprises 93 boarders and three day students.

1938 – First issue of Alumni Bulletin published.

1940 – Waldo Fay dies. By forgiving the mortgages and loans owed by Fay School, he effectively gives his family's entire interest in the School to the Board of Trustees.

1942 – Harrison L. Reinke becomes Fay's fourth headmaster. School newspaper, The Pioneer, founded.

1945 – Brackett House given to the School by Henry U. Harris '13.

1956 – Dedication of Henry U. Harris Building, which provided classrooms for the Lower School and an additional gymnasium. Webster House purchased.

1958 – Observatory and telescope donated.

1959 – First science program implemented.

1962 – Waters House purchased.

1963 – Edward W. Fay dies, leaving Fay House to the School. East House purchased.

1966 – Fay community contributes over $1 million to the School's Centennial Fund. Henry U. Harris ’13 retires as Chairman of the Board. School purchases South House, North House, and three acres adjacent to the reservoir.

1969 – A. Brooks Harlow, Jr. '49 succeeds Harrison L. Reinke as Headmaster. Ninth grade added.

1970 – Dedication of Harrison L. Reinke Building.

1972 – Previously open to boys only, Fay admits twelve day student girls.

1974 – Trap House, donated in memory of Philip D. Holden, '23, dedicated.

1976 – Old Gym moved to the site behind Fay House.

1977 – Fay School becomes fully coeducational. Groundbreaking for the Steward Dormitory.

1978 – American Language Academy opens branch at Fay School for the tutoring of foreign students. Campbell Steward Dormitory dedicated. Enrollment stands at 278.

1979 – Parkerville Field purchased.

1984 – One and a quarter million dollars raised by Fay community for a new main building, the Root Academic Center, which was dedicated the same year.

1986 – Old Main Building razed. Values course implemented.

1987 – Dedication of Picardi Art Center and Boylan Stair Tower.

1988 – Fay's in-house International Student Program (ISP) replaces the American Language Academy for the purpose of ESL instruction. Stephen V.A. Samborski succeeds A. Brooks Harlow, Jr. '49 as Headmaster.

1990 – Stephen C. White becomes Fay's seventh Headmaster. First issue of Fay Magazine published.

1991/92 – Fay School receives Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Department of Education.

1993 – The new Harlow Gymnasium is dedicated.

1994 – MacAusland family names playing field in memory of Donald MacAusland, '31.

1995 – Dedication of the Harris Events Center and Mars Room. New music center opens.

1997 – Fay's first gymnasium (1889) is dedicated to Richard V. Upjohn, faculty emeritus, and called the Upjohn Building. The kitchen is dedicated to Lewis Maida, the school's chef from 1957–1997.

1998 – The house at 10 Middle Road is purchased.

1999 – John and Adrienne Mars challenge the Fay community with a $5,000,000 gift to endowment.

2001 – New wing of the Root Academic Center opens, adding the Learning Center and science and mathematics classrooms.

2003 – Dedication of the Adrienne B. and John F. Mars '49 Wing of the Root Academic Center. Fay purchases the house at 6 Middle Road. Enrollment stands at 382.

2005 – Jay and Ting fields are dedicated.

2006 – Fay purchases the Ceramicole estate, now known as West Campus, including the Kidder Mansion. The entire academic campus is now 26 acres.

2007 – The house at 74 Main Street is purchased on land formerly owned by Fay.

2008 – Fay breaks ground for Phase One of construction on the ten-year Campus Master Plan. Two new Village Dormitories, a new entrance, new maintenance facility, and a waste water treatment facility are constructed. Robert J. Gustavson, Jr. succeeds Stephen C. White as Head of School. To expand its playing fields, Fay acquires the former Marlborough Equestrian Center, located in Southborough and Marlborough and originally opened in 1898 as the Marlborough Trotting Park. The Fay School campus is now 56 acres. Fay announces that it will add the Pre-K and kindergarten grades and begins construction of a new Primary School. The new building, incorporating Goodnow House, will house pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and grades one and two.

2009 – Fay opens the Village Dormitories in the spring. The Fay School Athletic Campus opens for fall soccer.

2010 – Fay earns the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification at the Gold level for the Village Dormitories, as recognition of green design and performance standards. The ground level of the Steward Dormitory is renovated to be the new Wellness Center; a clock tower is added to the building to allow the addition of an elevator. In September, Fay welcomes its first classes of Pre-K and kindergarten students to campus.

-From www.fayschool.org