# Nightingale-Bamford School

The Nightingale-Bamford School is an independent all-female university-preparatory school founded in 1920 by Frances Nicolau Nightingale and Maya Stevens Bamford. Located in Manhattan on the Upper East Side, Nightingale-Bamford is a member of the New York Interschool consortium.

## Overview

Nightingale's Lower School includes grades K-4. Middle School includes grades 5–8, while Upper School includes grades 9–12. As of 2021, Nightingale enrolls 686 students, the student-faculty ratio is 6:1, and the average class size is 12 students. Nightingale is ranked among the best all-girls private schools in the United States, and, like many private schools in Manhattan, is ranked as one of the most expensive. Only very few selected students are allowed to enroll each year as the tuition is very high and there is limited space.

## History

Frances Nicolau Nightingale and Maya Stevens Bamford founded the school in 1920. NBS was originally named Miss Nightingale's School, officially becoming "The Nightingale-Bamford School" in 1929. Since 1920, NBS has graduated nearly 3,000 alumnae. As of 2008, the School endowment was $74.9 million.

## Faculty

Paul Burke has been head of school since July 2012. He succeeded Dorothy Hutcheson, who was head of Nightingale for the prior 20 years.

## Technovation Challenge

In April 2013, a team of five upper school students won first place at Technovation Challenge, the world's largest tech competition for girls. The $10,000 prize was used to develop and market their winning app.

## Admissions and financial aid

Nightingale-Bamford's admissions process has received media attention for its strict, high-stakes nature.
As of the 2020–2021 school year, 20% of the student body received financial assistance with $5.9 million in grants being awarded.

## Diversity

Over 30% of the student body of Nightingale-Bamford are students of color. The school has a program called Cultural Awareness for Everyone, or informally CAFE. CAFE touches on the basis of not only race, but also class, religion, sexual orientation, gender, and age. Nightingale recruits from an inner-city program called Prep for Prep. Prep for Prep is a leadership development program that offers promising students of color access to a private school education based in New York City.

## Partner schools

Nightingale-Bamford has no official partner or brother school. However, the school has activities with St. David's and Allen-Stevenson (both boys schools) and is a member of Interschool, which organizes programs and activities for eight New York City independent schools: Trinity, Dalton, Collegiate, Brearley, Chapin, Spence, Nightingale-Bamford, and Browning.

## Notable alumnae

* Millicent Fenwick, 1928 – politician
* Amina Gautier, – author
* Isabel Gillies, 1988 – author, actress
* Lisa Grunwald, 1977 – novelist
* Mandy Grunwald, 1975 – political consultant and media advisor
* Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss, 1993 – Fashion designer
* Sophie von Haselberg – actress, daughter of Bette Midler
* Renne Jarrett – actress
* Sakina Jaffrey - actress
* Alexa Ray Joel – model, daughter of Billy Joel and Christy Brinkley
* Sally Kirkland-oscar nominated and Golden Globe winning actress
* Signe Nielsen, New York Public Spaces landscape architect
* Olivia Palermo, 2004 – Socialite and fashion influencer
* Adelaide Brevoort Close Riggs, philanthropist
* Michèle Rosier, 1948 – French fashion journalist
* Beatriz Stix-Brunell – ballet dancer
* Sarah Thompson, 1997 – actress
* Tschabalala Self, 1990 – artist
* Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, 1921 – socialite
* Cecily von Ziegesar, 1988 – author of Gossip Girl series
* Dana (Pam) Wilkey – television personality
Sonia Akpata

## In pop culture

* Nightingale-Bamford received mention in the Woody Allen film Everyone Says I Love You.
* In the Gossip Girl book series by NBS alumna Cecily von Ziegesar '88, the character's elite all-girls school, Constance Billard School for Girls, is based on Nightingale-Bamford and the lives of the girls who attend the school. "[Constance Billard] is completely based on Nightingale," von Ziegesar told ABC News. "But I exaggerated to make it more entertaining."
* Nightingale-Bamford is mentioned in the book How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff.