History
Our Foundational Journey
In 1886 Miss Mary Pickard Winsor started a six-month school in Boston, beginning with eight girls in a private home on Beacon Hill. The school grew quickly and began sending graduates to college in 1895.
Unlike many girls' schools of the era, Winsor persevered. Today, Winsor remains a school with high aspirations and a clear sense of purpose, now living and evolving in a new century. It is a complex and active community, shaped by its history, inspiring faculty and talented students.
Timeline
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1886
Mary Pickard Winsor opens a six-month school for eight girls at 334 Boylston Street in Boston’s Back Bay, the first of six locations in various townhouses in the neighborhood. Ahead of her time, Miss Winsor wanted to prepare women to be self-supporting and hoped they would be competent, responsible, and generous-minded. By 1900 the student body grows to 99 girls.
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1907
A group of parents and other supporters of girls’ education forms the Winsor Corporation and purchases land on the Fenway. The incorporators hire Boston architect, R. Clipston Sturgis, to build 'the most perfect schoolhouse,' and they ask Miss Winsor to head the school. President Eliot of Harvard, an original incorporator and grandfather of two Winsor girls, suggests the motto: 'A sound mind in a sound body.'
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1910
Miss Winsor’s School relocates from the Back Bay to the new building in the Longwood area and opens with 225 students. It includes a library, science laboratories, art studios, a gymnasium, and swimming pool. The 1910 graduating class presents the Lamp and the banner to go to the new school building.