Rhodes Preparatory School

Rhodes Preparatory School was a private school located at 11 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York City, USA. There was a lower school with students in seventh and eighth grades and an upper school for students from grades nine through twelve. (For a brief period in its history, there were also fifth and sixth grade classes.) There was also an evening school for adults.

Rhodes was a college preparatory school. With small classes, many of them under twenty students, and an excellent faculty, Rhodes offered an educational experience many former students still remember vividly. It was for many students a sort of "last chance" after leaving other schools. Rhodes offered them an opportunity for academic redemption. To that end, students prepared hard for New York State Regents Exams, SATs and their ultimate entrance into the college of their choice. Many graduates went on to Ivy League or Seven Sisters schools and to other prestigious institutions around the country and the world. The now-defunct school is often referred to more commonly as “Rhodes School” or simply “Rhodes.”

Signs in the classrooms read, “Every class is an English class.”

When the Beatles first came to America in February, 1964, the group stayed at the Warwick New York Hotel, just a few doors down at 65 West 54th Street. The Warwick hosted many school functions in its ballroom. Several Rhodes Proms, and commencement ceremonies, were held at another New York Hotel, the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Plaque Outside 11 West 54 Street Building

“These two buildings, which share a fine Georgian façade, were designed in 1896 by McKim Mead and White for the James Goodwin family, who occupied the residence from 1898 to 1944. The ownership of the building changed hands in 1945, and it became the Rhodes School until 1979. The United States Trust Company of New York purchased the building in 1980. It has been faithfully restored and now serves the Trust Company as a private banking office.”

Timeline

*1912—Rhodes located at 125th Street
*1938—Relocates to 1041 41st Street (6th Avenue)
*1945—David Merrall, J. Leslie White, and Morty Goodman purchase Rhodes, and relocate it to 11 West 54th Street (5th - 6th Aves)
*1959—Dr. Robert Lowrance Ph.D. becomes headmaster, and William Kien becomes Director of Admissions
*1974—David Merrall dies. Seymour Merrall, his son, takes ownership
*1979—West 54th Street building sold to US Trust Company. Rhodes relocates to Holy Trinity Roman Catholic School on West 83 Street
*1980—Seymour Merrall sells Rhodes to Donald Nickerson, a La Jolla (Ca.) Country Day School headmaster
*1981—11 West 54th Street building designated a New York City landmark
*August, 1985—Dr. Robert Lowrance dies
*1992—Relocates to the Anglo-American School at 291 Central Park West (89th Sts) which then becomes part of the Dwight School
*July 21, 2001—First Rhodes reunion held at TGI Friday’s in Rockefeller Center
*July 26, 2003—Second Rhodes reunion held at The Park Avenue Country Club (27th St. and Park Ave.)

Former students

*The late Ron Brown (former U.S. Commerce Secretary)
*James Caan (U.S. actor, "The Godfather")
*Robert DeNiro (U.S. actor, "Meet the Parents")
*Stephen Adly Guirgis (actor)
*The late Rick Jason (U.S. actor, TV’s "Combat!")
*Alice Barrett-Mitchell (actress, TV’s "Another World")
*Denise Nickerson (actress, TV’s "Dark Shadows")
*Jane Olivor (singer)
*Marc Rich (financier)
* [Ana Ortiz] (actor, TV’s "Ugly Betty")

Book on Rhodes Preparatory School

* [http://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=27278 Rhodes Preparatory High School" by former student Carol Kochta (2005)]

Trivia

*The 54th Street building is also known as the James J. Goodwin Residence
*Former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller had an office directly behind the school on West 55th Street during his term of governor of New York from 1959 to 1973
*The West 54th Street building is at both 9 and 11 West 54th St.

External links

* [http://www.wizzdom.net/History.htm Rhodes School history]
* [http://www.wizzdom.net/arhodes.htm Rhodes alumni newsletter]
* [http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID088.htm U.S. Trust Company building]
* [http://ngc1514.com Rhodes School Memories]
* [http://www.mindspring.com/~rhodes83/RhodesAlumni.htm Rhodes Preparatory School Alumni]