School History

Calhoun's First 100 Years

On the occasion of Calhoun's Centennial Celebration during the 1996-1997 school year, a commemorative book was published tracing the school's transformation from The Jacobi School, a small brother-sister school in a brownstone, through its years as an all-girls high school, and finally, to its current status as a co-educational, progressive school for students from pre-school through twelfth grade.

Calhoun's history, as recounted in The Centennial Commemorative Book and reprinted here, ends during the 1996-97 school year. Fortunately, that same year marked the debut of Calhoun's first introduction onto the Internet with its own website. So while you enjoy this journey through the past, we hope to continue adding chapters in the school's history on this site—celebrating the milestones and the achievements of our students, and sharing the intellectual and creative excitement of a unique educational experience.

"It is a constant miracle that a school, like a living organism, maintains its identity through change. Students and teachers come, stay for a time and move on. Administrators and staff leave the imprint of their personalities. Parents and alumnae/i become involved and some continue their concern for years, as Trustees. Curriculum changes to meet differing needs. Activities, interests and school events fluctuate with the individuals who comprise the school. But the essence of the school, its inner spirit, lives and grows with the changing times."

--Elizabeth Parmelee, Co-Headmistress, 1946–69,
Beatrice S. Cosmey, Co-Headmistress, 1948–69,
Wilhelmina Kraber, Lower School Director, 1958–73,
in an annual report to the Board, 1967–68/1968–69