Kent School
Kent School is a private, co-educational college preparatory school in Kent, Connecticut, United States. Frederick Herbert Sill, Order of the Holy Cross, established the school in 1906. It is still affiliated with the Episcopal Church of the United States. Athletics. Kent offers 22 interscholastic sports with 50 interscholastic teams from the 3rds, Junior Varsity, and Varsity levels. More than three-quarters of the student body participate in interscholastic. Kent is a member of the Founders League, a competitive athletic league composed of NEPSAC schools. Its mascot is the Lion although it once was the Fighting Episcopalian. Despite  Hotchkiss School's location in the same county, Kent's rival is The Loomis Chaffee School and the two schools have a day dedicated to competing against each other, historically called Loomis Day. Crew. The Kent School Boat Club was begun at Kent in 1922 with the encouragement of Father Sill. Father Sill was the coxswain of the Columbia crew which won the first ever Poughkeepsie Regatta and was very familiar with the sport. Kent returned to compete for the Thames Challenge Cup in 1933 with the support of President Franklin D. Roosevelt who sent a letter to Father Sill  offering "[his] good wishes for a successful trip" and commenting on how "the presence of a crew of American school boys will be helpful in strengthening the ties between good sportsmen of the two countries." That year, Kent won the Thames Challenge Cup, just six years after crew began at the school. The Times in Britain wrote, "Kent School were almost certainly the best crew that ever rowed in the Thames Cup." Kent continued to succeed in the sport, competing at Henley 32 times and winning 5 times, most recently in 1972. The school was featured twice in "Life" magazine , once in May, 1937 and again in June, 1948. Stuart Auchincloss '48 was featured on the cover of the latter publication. Kent Boys Crew has also had success at home, winning the New England Championship Regatta 25 times since 1947. Girls began rowing at Kent in 1973. They won Henley in 2002 and two National Championships in 1986 and 1987. They have also won the New England Championship Regatta seven different times, including four of the first five times it competed for it. In 2006, Kent Boys Crew won the New England championship and became the first American crew to  challenge for the recently established Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley. In 2010, Kent Boys Crew won the New England points trophy and placed 1st at Youth Nationals. The team traveled to Henley and were runners up for the Princess Elizabeth Cup, losing to Eton College. Football. Football at Kent competes in the Housatonic Valley League. In the past 17 years, the team has earned seven league championships and two New England Championships. Interscholastic sports offered. Fall Winter Spring Controversies. The TV animated series "Family Guy", about a dysfunctional Rhode Island family named Griffin, premiered in January 1999 and was  created by Seth MacFarlane, a 1991 graduate of Kent School. In mid-1999 the school's headmaster, Richardson W. Schell, wrote to a number of companies urging them against advertising with the TV show, which he described as "obnoxious". MacFarlane's parents, who worked at the school, resigned in protest. In 2017, "The New York Times" reported on a lawsuit alleging that Kent School failed to report alleged sexual misconduct by a faculty member toward a 15-year-old student in 1987 and 1988. The report came on the heels of "The Boston Globe"'s "Spotlight" team revealing decades of alleged  sexual abuse at numerous New England prep schools and alleged retaliation for student complaints. The reporters noted faculty alleged as abusers being relocated to different schools, including Kent.