# Storm King School

The Storm King School (SKS) is an independent coeducational boarding and day school in the U.S. state of New York. Established in 1867, it is one of New York's oldest boarding schools. It is a college preparatory school for students in grades 8 to post-graduate, with an enrollment of 185 and 37 faculty living on or near campus through the year.
The Storm King School ranks as the 36th best boarding school in North America. Its recent graduates matriculated into some of the top universities in the United States, including Harvard University, The University of Chicago, Yale University, Georgetown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, MIT, Notre Dame University, NYU Stern School of Business, Tufts University, Wellesley College, University of Virginia and the US Military Academy at West Point.
The Storm King School's students have been nominated to serve as pages at the United States Senate, won prestigious scholarships with the United States Senate Youth Program, appeared in the top 20 of the American Idol competition, and received athletic scholarships to NCAA programs throughout the nation.
The school enrolls students from 27 countries. Seventy-five percent of students are boarding, and 25% are day students. Fifty-three percent are male and 47% female.
The school is accredited by the New York Association of Independent Schools, and is a member of the New York State Association of Independent Schools, the National Association of Independent Schools, the College Board, and other education organizations.
A 15-member board of trustees governs the school.

## Location

The Storm King School is in Orange County, about an hour's drive north of New York City. It sits approximately 900 feet above the west bank of the Hudson River, on a spur of Storm King Mountain, with views of the Shawangunk Mountains and distant Catskills. It adjoins Black Rock Forest Nature Preserve to the south.
The school lies in the Hudson Valley between West Point and Newburgh. The nearby Storm King Art Center is an outdoor sculpture museum with work by world-class sculptors and artists.

## History

The Storm King School began in 1867 as the Cornwall Heights School. Louis P. Ledoux, a graduate of Amherst College and Union Theological Seminary, and a pastor of the Cornwall Presbyterian Church, founded the school after requests that he establish "a Christian school in the home of a Christian gentleman." Ledoux purchased Wood Farm on the northern slope of Storm King Mountain, where he prepared young men for New England colleges until 1872, when he sold his interest in the school to Oren S. Cobb.
Cobb was headmaster for 15 years until 1889, when the school was sold to Carlos H. Stone. During Stone's 29-year leadership, the school saw much growth, including increased enrollment and an enlarged physical plant. In 1914, the school was incorporated under New York State law and renamed the Stone School.
In 1923, during the tenure of headmaster Alvan P. Duerr, the school's name was changed to Storm King School. In 1928, the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York chartered SKS as a tax-exempt educational institution.
From 1932 to 1951, throughout the austere years of the Depression and World War II, SKS was led by headmaster Anson Barker and benefited from the patronage and participation of several prominent families who lived on the mountain, including the Abbotts, Ledouxs, Matthiesens, Partridges, Smidts and Stillmans.
Margaret Clark, the school's first female teacher (primarily in art), retired in 1938 after over 40 years at SKS. Her design of the school's crest, initially created for the student publication The Echo, was later adopted as the school's official emblem.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the school saw considerable growth thanks in part to Stephen P. Duggan, an attorney and long-time member and chairman of the Board of Trustees who owned property adjacent to the school. He oversaw the rebuilding of SKS's then 44-acre campus, including construction of The Ogden Library (1958), Dyer Hall (1958), Highmount Dormitory (1958), Dempsey Dormitory (1959), Stillman Science Building (1960–61) and a new gymnasium (1963).
In 1967 the school celebrated its 100th anniversary. It was the culmination of a nearly decade-long modernization project championed by chairman Duggan and successive SKS headmasters Burke Boyce (1952–1956), Warren Leonard (1956–1966) and Frank Brogan (1966–1974). During centenary celebrations, ambassador-at-large Averell W. Harriman dedicated the new Walter Orr Student Commons.
In April 1968, the campus's 100-year-old Main Building, known as "Old Main", was demolished to make way for a new dormitory. Residents of Old Main moved into the new McConnell Hall in the spring of 1968.
The school became coeducational in September 1970.
In 1981, Rients and Suzanne Van der Woude of Cornwall gave the school 70 acres of land on Storm King Mountain, just west of the campus. Van der Woude said the land was given in order "to preserve it forever and so that children can learn about nature and ecology, and respect for life and earth." The gift expanded SKS's campus to 125 acres.
The Van der Woude property was part of a historic 17-year dispute between New York utility Consolidated Edison and the Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference, a group of concerned residents and citizens. In 1963, Con Ed planned a massive hydroelectric plant on Storm King Mountain which would have required cutting through the mountain and flooding the Black Rock Forest to create a reservoir. Due largely to opposition from the Preservation Conference, Con Ed's plan was abandoned and the suit settled in 1982.
In 1990, during the tenure of headmaster John H. Suitor, a roll-off shed observatory was built on campus to house a late-19th century refractor telescope, a gift from board member Robert Cobb, that was originally owned by Erard Mathiessan. It was eventually sold to finance the purchase of the school's current Parks Newtonian telescope. The observatory was designed and built by former SKS astronomy teacher and science writer Bob Berman.

## Signature programs

The Capstone Project is a voluntary, independent research project beginning in the spring of the junior year and completed in the fall of the senior year. It synthesizes learning from previously completed courses while focusing on the school's bedrock Skills and Knowledge for Success (S.K.S.). These 21st-century skills include strategic reading, writing, research, problem solving, technological proficiency, collaboration, and oral presentation skills. Students are guided through the process by a course instructor as well as experts, who are faculty or community mentors, with project-specific knowledge.
Domestic & International Travel complements the School's academic curriculum and community service program.
The Storm King Cup is awarded to a SKS student each year, during commencement, "to encourage high ideals, manly sport, tenacity of purpose, earnest behavior, fair play, and true chivalry."

## Co-curricular activities

In addition to traditional academic courses and ESL, the Storm King School offers theater and visual arts, music, dance, sports, and various clubs and community service programs.

## Arts

The Storm King School's arts program includes Studio Art, Ceramics, Photography, Filmmaking, Fashion Design, Acting, Stagecraft, music, voice, and dance. Facilities include the 230-seat Walter Reade Jr. Theatre, the Allison Vladimir Art Center.

## Athletics

The Storm King School has a full athletic curriculum and competes in the New England Prep School Athletic League and competes in 18 different sports and activities. Storm King fields 26 teams at the varsity, junior varsity, and club level and is a member of The Hudson Valley Athletic League (HVAL) and The New England Private School Athletic Council (NEPSAC). Storm King is a member of the Positive Coaching Alliance.
* Fall sports: boys' and girls' soccer, boys' and girls' cross country, girls' volleyball
* Winter sports: boys' and girls' basketball, bowling, E-sports, boys' wrestling, fencing
* Spring sports: boys' and girls' lacrosse, boys' baseball, boys' and girls' tennis, mountain biking, Ultimate
* Club sports: yoga, rock climbing, bowling, fitness

## Residential life

About 70 percent of the school's students live on campus. A commuter rail station is a short drive away, and the Metro North train connects to Grand Central Terminal in less than one hour.
In 2019, the Storm King School enrolled students from 25 countries.

## Black Rock Forest Consortium

The school is a member of the Black Rock Forest Consortium, which administers the Black Rock Forest, a 3,830-acre wilderness adjacent to the campus, which the school also utilizes for its science, environmental and recreational programs. The Head of School is a vice president and a member of the Executive Committee of the Consortium, which includes the American Museum of Natural History, Barnard College, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Browning School, City College of New York, Columbia University, Convent of the Sacred Heart, the Dalton School, Friends Seminary, New York Academy of Sciences, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Newburgh School District, and Teacher's College of Columbia University.

## Notable alumni

* Cara Castronuova (1998), boxer, two-time Golden Gloves winner, trainer on the NBC's The Biggest Loser
* Frederick Fox, designer
* Mac Gayden (1958), country music star, best known as writer of the song "Everlasting Love"
* Jack Hemingway (1941), writer, conservationist, son of Ernest Hemingway
* Sammy Mejia (2003), professional basketball player, 2nd-round draft pick by the Detroit Pistons
* David Parks (1969), photographer, film director, publicist and author
* Wally Pfister (1979), Academy Award-winning cinematographer and director
* Tom Price (1951), Olympic rower who competed for the U.S. at the 1952 Olympics
* Walter Reade Jr. (1935), president of the Walter Reade Organization, movie theater owner/operators and film distributors; namesake of the school's theater
* Gary Springer (1972), actor and publicist
* Balazs Szabo (1963), Hungarian-born artist and author
* Robert Toricelli (1970), former U.S. congressman and senator from New Jersey
* Whiting Willauer (1923), former U.S. ambassador to Honduras and founder of Civil Air Transport
* Steven Zirnkilton (1976), voice-over actor, known for providing the opening narration of all U.S. shows in the Law & Order franchise

## Notable faculty

* Burke Boyce (Headmaster 1952–1956), Olympic fencer, competed for the U.S. at the 1924 Olympics; an integral part of developing the school's fencing program, which continues to this day