Gill St. Bernard's School


Gill St. Bernard's School is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational, college preparatory day school located in the Gladstone section of Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey, United States, serving students in primary through twelfth grade. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1979;
Gill St. Bernard's School is a member of and accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools and the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools. In 2014, Gill St. Bernard's was ranked the number four private high school in New Jersey by national ranking service Niche.
As of the 2015–16 school year, the school had an enrollment of 657 students and 86.5 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 7.6:1. The school's student body was 74.4% White, 12.5% Asian, 4.6% Hispanic, 3.0% Black and 5.5% two or more races. Class sizes average fourteen to seventeen students, depending on the grade and subject. The school has 96 faculty and administrators. 90% of Upper School faculty have advanced degrees, 41% of Middle School and 40% of Lower School. One hundred percent of the graduates attend a four-year college or university.

Campus

The campus has three divisions: the lower school, middle school, and upper school. The upper school contains the Chapin Science Complex, the Hockenbury Building, and Founders Hall as well as the newly built Matthews Theater

History

Gill St. Bernard's is the result of the merger of two Somerset Hills institutions: St. Bernard's School for boys in Gladstone and The Gill School for girls.
St. Bernard's School was founded in 1900 by the Rev. Thomas A. Conover. In the early days, academic classes alternated with work in the carpentry shop, print shop or on the farm. Regular attendance at religious services was required.
Rev. Robert L. Clayton Jr., Headmaster in the 1940s, brought a broader vision of operation to the school with an emphasis on scholarship, along with physical well-being, discipline, personal industry and a full college preparatory program was instituted.
The Gill School was established by Miss Elizabeth Gill in 1934 as the Wychwood School. Her educational philosophy was based on the value of the individual and she sought through small classes and direct teacher-student relationships to establish a "rich school experience" for the pupils. The physical development of the individual was not neglected, as at least two hours each day was spent outdoors. In 1940 Miss Gill's School moved to Stronghold, the former Dryden estate on Bernardsville mountain. In 1956, boarding at St. Bernard's School was discontinued.
In 1972 St. Bernard's School merged with Miss Gill's School to become Gill St. Bernard's School. At this time the religious affiliation of St. Bernard's was discontinued. The new school hosted grades K–8 on the old Gill campus in Bernardsville and grades 9–12 on the St. Bernard's campus in Gladstone. The two divisions consolidated in 1997 on the Gladstone campus. Sid Rowell became Headmaster in 2001.
Today, there are three divisions—Lower, Middle and Upper—located on which span the Somerset-Morris County line between the Boro of Peapack-Gladstone and Chester Township.
The school acquired Hi-Hills Day Camp in 2002, which had previously operated on the campus since the late 1960s. A new athletic center opened in fall 2004 that includes three full-sized basketball courts, administrative offices, and Brueckner Hall. The Hockenbury Academic Center, a 33,000-square-foot academic building, opened in March 2009 and includes Upper School classrooms, student center, conference room and a school store. An addition to Founders Hall was completed in 2012 that included additional dining space and art studios. A new turf field was constructed in the summer of 2013. The school also features five playing fields, a track, seven, tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool, and a low ropes course.

Extracurricular activities

The Gill St. Bernard's Knights compete in the Skyland Conference and is a member of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Athletic facilities include a field house, athletic center, seven all-weather tennis courts, outdoor track, two full size basketball courts, sport court, lacrosse wall, as well as soccer and ball fields. Programs include fencing, basketball, cross country, volleyball, baseball, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track and field, swimming and tennis.
Gill St. Bernard's offers 24 different opportunities for interscholastic sports, including 12 competitive athletic programs for boys and 13 for girls in the Upper School. Over the last three years, every varsity team has qualified for the NJSIAA post-season, and many advanced to sectional semifinals and finals. GSB teams have won 35 conference championships since the beginning of the 2006–2007 school year. Since 2007, five GSB varsity teams have been ranked in the "Top 20" in New Jersey, a state with over 450 public and non-public schools. The girls' basketball, boys' tennis, boys' soccer, boys' basketball, and girls' tennis teams have won Non Public B North Sectional Championships. The girls' basketball team won the Somerset County championship in the 2008–2009, 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 school years, and was the smallest school in Somerset County to ever win a county championship in a team sport. Several coaches have been named Coach of the Year by various media outlets. The school received the ninth annual ShopRite Cup in the Non-Public B Division in 2012 as the most outstanding school. In 2013, Gill St. Bernard's School was runner-up.
The school offers additional extracurricular activities for Middle and Upper School students in the areas of the arts, community service, student government, and academics. The Upper School performing arts program won the Paper Mill Playhouse Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical in 2008 and 2012 for The Secret Garden and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, respectively, in addition to multiple Outstanding Achievement and Rising Star nominations and awards.

Notable alumni