Thornton-Donovan School

T-D is Westchester's only "Little Red Schoolhouse." Founded in 1901, T-D celebrated its centennial in the 2000-2001 school year. The school has approximately 170 academically talented students who come from homes from around the corner as well as from around the world. As an independent co-ed K-12 school, T-D specializes in international education, is AdvancED accredited and has been recognized for its support of students with high academic potential by Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth.

As an independent co-ed K-12 school, T-D specializes in international education with dozens of “Sister Schools” around the world. Students can go to school in Busan, South Korea; Sligo, Ireland; Venice, Italy; Sciacca, Sicily; Buenos Aires, Argentina; LaRochelle, France; Guatemala City, Guatemala, Nizhny, Novogrod; Tirana, Albania; and Hiroshima, Japan. During the course of the school year, T-D and T-D families often host visiting students from these destinations.

The international program is enhanced through language study in classes with only 2-12 pupils. French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Greek and Russian are taught daily. Japanese is also taught in the spring. Many students go to the highest levels of proficiency in their languages of choice. Level V customarily prepares T-D’s polyglots for the AP exam.

For 2017-’18 the school family focused on the Balkans and Albania was the main focus. The 2018-’19 country of choice is Mongolia and come March, 2019 the entire school family may make its home there. T-D’s Magic Realism travel study adventure begins on March 2, 2019.

With each and every yearly theme, new courses are introduced to broaden our thinking about it, and students from grades 6-12 are invited to select a few. All of T-D’s thematic courses are taught for only one year. They are integrated within T-D’s regular curriculum which can best be described as classical and Western.

We offer a dynamic, hands-on progressive education for academically talented students in grades K-12. Established in 1901, we are one of the oldest private schools in Westchester County, New York. You will be surprised by our affordability; we have worked hard to keep our tuition at a rate which is reflective of the current economic situation, and is roughly half the rate of other Westchester private schools.

The Thornton-Donovan education is customized to students’ interests and talents. Our learners progress in subject areas based on their ability and curiosity, not their grade level. Small class size, usually 8-14 students, makes this approach to learning possible. Encouraging children to develop into the persons they will become, unhindered in exploration of their passions, is the key to a T-D education.

Across all grades, perspectives are challenged daily through culturally themed courses focusing on a different area of the world each year. Each spring, our classrooms literally come alive with our annual journey to the country of focus. Imagine having the opportunity to experience first-hand the sights, sounds and smells about which you learned during the year! Recent adventures have brought us to South Africa and Ireland. This year we are studying and voyaging to Venice.

Thornton-Donovan’s international focus prepares our students to graduate aware of who they are, and with a massive head-start on recognizing their role within our global community. At Thornton-Donovan we realize that education is not purely academic. The whole child is developed by emphasizing values such as honesty, integrity, personal responsibility and good citizenship. Each T-D student knows that he or she is an international ambassador with conduct expected that honors that responsibility. Although we are independent and non-denominational, there is a spiritual element – paying homage to all beliefs – which permeates the campus and all of our activities. Our atmosphere is intimate, calm and natural. You’ll notice straight away how different we feel compared with other schools.

Our students come to us from many towns in Westchester County, as far north as Fairfield County, CT, and some have even commuted from Manhattan. Our international scholars have hailed from China, Korea, Australia, France, Guatemala, Spain, Austria and more.

Our students learn about a piece of history or a part of the world during the school year, then at the end of the year, they go! The entire Middle and Upper schools literally take education on the road. This is not an isolated, stand-alone experience; the courses of study and the themes selected each year are designed to pick up important threads of the prior years’ study experiences. For example, the interconnectedness of Brazil, Portugal and South Africa (studied in 2008-2010) was celebrated through careful course planning. This weaving of themes offers our young minds a sophisticated way to see and think about the world.

Our school offers an intimate and exciting academic community with thematic education at its core. This exceptional environment attracts an international group of dynamic and enthusiastic teachers. In short, at T-D faculty and students consider themselves world citizens, and each year distinguish themselves as ambassadors for our school and nation.