The Dwight-Englewood School (D-E) is an independent coeducationalcollege-preparatoryday school, located in Englewood in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school teaches students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in three functionally separate schools. The Lower School, formerly known as the Bede School, serves students in pre-kindergarten through 5th grade in Drapkin Hall. The Middle School, which used to be in Umpleby Hall, is now in the new middle school building which was finished in 2019, serves students in 6th through 8th grade. The Upper School serves grades 9 through 12, and it houses its administration in the Leggett building and the Campus Center. Other buildings are the Hajjar STEM Center, Swartley Arts Center, the Imperatore Library and the Modell Sports Complex.
As of the 2019–20 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,040 students (plus 28 in PreK) and 125.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.3:1. The school's student body was 49.4% (514) White, 24.4% (254) Asian, 11.5% (120) Black, 9.0% (94) American Indian/ Alaska Native, 5.1% (53) Hispanic and 0.5% (5) Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander.[4]
In 1889, the Dwight School for Girls was founded as a college preparatory school by Euphemia S. Creighton and Ellen W. Farrar. The name is chosen to honor then-president of Yale University, the Rev. Timothy Dwight V, whose educational philosophy they admired. The Englewood School for Boys was established in 1928 as a college preparatory school. In 1973, the two schools formed a nonprofit corporation known as Dwight-Englewood School. In 1993, Dwight-Englewood School and The Bede School merged to add students in Pre-K through sixth grade.[11]
Campus
The school's campus consists of 15 buildings totaling 318,000 square feet (29,500 m2). The campus covers 45 acres (18 ha).[5] The principal educational facilities are:
Leggett Hall -
21 Upper-School Classrooms -
Middle School Drama & Latin Classes -
Headmaster's Office -
Upper School Principal and Deans Offices -
Hulst House -
Wireless Internet Access
Campus Center -
Hajjar Auditorium -
Shenck Auditiorium -
9 General Classrooms -
Student Coop and Bookstore -
Cafeteria -
Student Lounges -
Bells Classroom -
Choir Room -
Arts Display Spaces -
Wireless Internet Access
Hajjar STEM Center -
Wireless Internet Access-
8 Science Labs with Fume Hoods, Chemical Working Surfaces, etc. - 7 classrooms -
Math and Science Department Offices-
Massoud Steps Meeting Area-
Robotics Lab
Imperatore Library -
35,000+ Volumes -
Computer Workspaces -
Student Lounge -
4 Language Classrooms -
Taub Technology Center -
Wireless Internet Access
Swartley Art Center -
Photography Studio -
Ceramics -
Art History -
2 Studio Arts Classrooms -
Music Practice -
Art Gallery -
Printmaking Facilities -
Wireless Internet Access
Khubani Performing Arts Center -
Theatre -
Music Instruction Rooms -
1 Sound and Lighting Booth -
1 Projection Booth
Lower School Building
15 Classrooms -
Cafeteria -
Gymnasium -
Library -
Computer Room -
Wireless Internet Access
Umpleby Hall -
28 Middle-School Classrooms -
2 Science Labs -
Wireless Internet Access
Graham House -
Admissions Office -
Alumni Office -
Business Office -
Development Office
Middle School Building
A 10,910 square feet (1,014 m2) Middle School facility was built, replacing the Library Circle area of the campus and the now-demolished Generoso Pope Science Hall.[12]
There are also plans for a 14,284 square feet (1,327.0 m2) multi-story auditorium to be built on campus to replace what is currently Umpleby Hall.[12]
Organization
Internally, the school has Principals for the lower, middle, and upper schools, as well as deans of students. The overall executive position which oversees all three schools is that of the Head of School. Within the schools, there are departments for Math, English, History, Science, Language, Physical Education, Technology, Human Development, and Arts. Each department has a department chair. Additionally, each grade in the middle and upper schools has a class dean who helps the students in their grade and manages certain grade-specific activities. Some class deans also teach various subjects at school aside from their role as class dean.
Athletics
The Dwight-Englewood Bulldogs[6] participate in the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference, which comprises small-enrollment schools in Bergen, Hudson County, Morris County and Passaic County counties, and was created following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[13][14][15] Prior to the realignment that took effect in the fall of 2010, Dwight-Englewood was a member of the Bergen County Scholastic League.[16] With 388 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Non-Public A for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 381 to 1,454 students in that grade range (equivalent to Group I for public schools).[17] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Non-Public Group III for football for 2018–2020.[18] The school has many athletics programs, including boys' lacrosse, girls' lacrosse, boys' baseball, girls' softball, boys' football, coed golf, girls' field hockey, boys' basketball, girls' basketball, girls' volleyball, boys' tennis, girls' tennis, coed spring and winter track, coed cross country and coed ultimate frisbee.
The boys tennis team won the Non-Public B state championship in 1991 (defeating Moorestown Friends School in the final match of the tournament), 2008 (vs. Sacred Heart High School), 2010 (vs. Moorestown Friends), and won the Non-Public A state title in 2000 (vs. Christian Brothers Academy), 2002 (vs. St. Augustine Preparatory School).[19] The boys' tennis team won the 2002 Non-Public B state championship and was the runner-up to Holmdel High School in the Tournament of Champions, falling by the score of 3-2 in the finals.[20] In spring 2008, the boys' tennis team finished with a record of 21-1 and won the Bergen County Groups 1-2, North Jersey Group B Sectional, and Non-Public B state championship with a 5-0 win over Sacred Heart.[21] The team's only loss was in the Tournament of Champions semi-finals to ultimate runner-up Westfield High School by the score of 3-2.[22] In 2010 the boys' team won the North Jersey Group B sectional, knocking off tournament favorite Newark Academy 3-2, and won the Group B title once again, against Moorestown Friends 4-1,[23] before falling in the Tournament of Champions semifinal to Westfield, 31⁄2-11⁄2, t finish the season with a record of 26-4.[24]
The ice hockey team won the McInnis Cup in 1994.[25]
The wrestling team won the Non-Public Group B state championship in 1999.[26]
The girls tennis team won the Non-Public A state championship in 2001 (vs. Red Bank Catholic High School).[27] The girls' varsity tennis team won the Bergen County Small Schools title in 2010, finishing the season with a record of 18-1 and earning Courtney Baiardi Stasi recognition by The Star-Ledger as its Coach of the Year for the season.[28]
Robotics teams
The Dwight-Englewood Upper School robotics teams compete in FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), an international robotics competition for students in grades 7-12. The Dwight-Englewood varsity robotics team, Critical Mass (FTC 207), was founded in 2005. D-E's Junior Varsity and Freshman teams (FTC 13048 Absolute Zero and FTC 13663 Quantum Smashers, respectively) were founded in 2017.
The Varsity team has competed at state, regional, and international levels. In the 2014-2015 FTC season, Critical Mass competed at the East Super-Regional Championship Tournament, and in the 2016–17 season, the team won the Vermont FTC Championship and placed 13th in the Edison division at the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship. In 2017–18 season, the team won the New Jersey FTC Championship[29] and went on to place 18th in the Edison division at the world championship.[30]
The Fifth-Grade opera
In fifth grade, students compose and write an original opera. They form an opera company and go through all the steps necessary to stage a full production—script writing, libretto, costumes and makeup, set design, lighting, and publicity. This project is part of the Metropolitan Opera's program, "Creating Original Opera." 2022 will be the 33rd year of opera production at the Lower School, as the 2020 Opera was unable to be completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Student government
The Dwight-Englewood Student Government is divided into many initiatives. There are three groups of initiatives, which include a Curriculum, Facilities, and Life/Spirit Group. Within each group, there are multiple initiatives. Each initiative focuses on a certain issue such as workload or the Coop. There is also a President and a Vice-President, along with a Head for each Group and Initiative. There is also the position of Class Coordinator within each grade.
Before, the Student Government was divided into four Committees, Life, Spirit, Facilities, and Curriculum. The Student Life committee focused on things such as social events, and student privileges. The Spirit Committee concurrently worked with the life committee on social events, and they also hosted Spirit Week, Coffeehouse, and the MAGIC field day. The Facilities Committee addressed needs that include mending infrastructure around campus, and Maintenance Appreciation Day.
Controversies
2021 allegations
In May 2021, the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) sent a letter to the school criticizing their lessons on gender identity and race. FAIR said that lessons at the school taught students that teach young children that people are in danger because of whiteness, that racism is exclusively associated with whiteness, and say without qualification that white people have more opportunities than "non-white" people. FAIR also criticized lessons on gender identity and pronouns, claiming that they were age-inappropriate and that asking students to share their pronouns or use other schoolmate's pronouns may violate their religious rights.[31]
In June, FAIR started a campaign to support Dana Stangel-Plowe, who resigned from the Dwight-Englewood School due to what she called "essentialist, racialist thinking". In her resignation letter, which was published by FAIR, she stated "this year, administrators continue to assert D-E's policy that we are hiring 'for diversity,' D-E has become a workplace that is hostile toward educators based solely on their immutable traits."[32][33]
Head of School's 2022 resignation
On May 2, 2022, a little over a month before the end of the school year, the Dwight-Englewood community was informed that Head of School Dr. Rodney De Jarnett had resigned "effectively immediately."[34] In an email to parents and students, Board President Robert E. Miller stated, "Dr. De Jarnett's resignation follows conduct inconsistent with Dwight-Englewood School's values and standards of behavior."
Bruce C. McKenna (born 1962, class of 1980), television and movie screenwriter[58]
Elfrida von Nardroff (1925–2021), game show contestant who in 1958 won $220,500 (equivalent to $2.3 million in 2023) on the fixed game show Twenty-One, more money than any other contestant on the show[59]
Robert Whitman (1935–2024), visual and performance artist best known for his pieces of the early 1960s combining visual and sound images, actors, film, slides, and evocative props[67]
Cyma Zarghami (born 1962, class of 1980), president of Nickelodeon and MTV Networks' Kids & Family Group[68]
^Overview, Dwight-Englewood School. Accessed January 9, 2023. "What makes Dwight-Englewood so singular is that we are a community where everyone teaches, everyone learns, and all subscribe to the school motto, per ardua ad veritatem (through hard work, we arrive at the truth)."
^ abVisiting Campus, Dwight-Englewood School. Accessed November 3, 2017. "At the Dwight-Englewood School, we recognize that a campus and its buildings and grounds are a significant factor in shaping the overall experience of our students. Our 45-acre campus features learning spaces that reflect the collaborative model of our community."
^Mattura, Greg. "Small-school NJIC may debut its own league championship", The Record, January 9, 2017. Accessed August 30, 2020. "The small-school North Jersey Interscholastic Conference may debut its own boys basketball tournament this season, one season after introducing its girls hoops championship. The NJIC is comprised of schools from Bergen, Passaic and Hudson counties and the event offered to the 36 boys teams would serve as an alternative to likely competing against larger programs in a county tournament."
^Whittaker, Celeste E. "C.H. East just misses", Courier-Post, May 23, 2008. Accessed June 21, 2011. "Sacred Heart's bid to win a Non-Public B championship ended at the hands of Dwight-Englewood, which got the easy 5-0 victory in the title match."
^Staff. "Westfield 3, Dwight-Englewood 2", The Star-Ledger, May 29, 2008. Accessed June 21, 2011. "Justin Snyder and Graeme Stahl gutted out a 6-3, 7-5 victory at first doubles to clinch a 3-2 victory for top-seeded Westfield, No. 1 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, over fourth-seeded and No. 5 Dwight-Englewood yesterday at Mercer County Park in West Windsor."
^"NJ Boys Tennis: Dwight-Englewood wins Non-Public B title", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, May 27, 2010, updated August 26, 2019. Accessed March 9, 2021. "Riding the momentum of its biggest victory of the season, Dwight-Englewood powered past Moorestown Friends, 4-1, in the final of the NJSIAA/Star-Ledger Non-Public B final at Mercer County Park in West Windsor yesterday. Dwight-Englewood topped perennial power Newark Academy of Livingston, 3-2, in the final of the North Jersey, Non-Public B final on Tuesday. Newark Academy was considered a contender for the Tournament of Champions crown."
^Schutta, Gregory. "D-E's journey comes up a little short", The Record, June 3, 2010. Accessed March 9, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "It's a long drive from Mercer County Park to Dwight-Englewood. But for the Bulldog tennis team Wednesday, the ride was probably not long enough. For the second time in three years, the Bulldogs came within a hair of reaching the State Tournament of Champions tennis final only to see their hopes dashed at the last moment by Westfield, 31⁄2-11⁄2, in the semifinal."
^Guthrie, Charles. "NJ Girls' Tennis: North Jersey season review, 2010", The Star-Ledger, December 17, 2010. Accessed September 2, 2011. "Coach of the year: Dwight-Englewood's head coach, Courtney Baiardi Stasi, has gone 33-2 in her two years at the helm. This year, Dwight-Englewood finished 18-1 and won the Bergen County Small Schools championship."
^"Elections 2008: Englewood Cliffs, Northern Valley Suburbanite, October 29, 2008. Accessed January 26, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Robert Agresta, Republican: Twenty-five year old Robert Agresta has lived in Englewood Cliffs his entire life. After graduating from Dwight Englewood in 2001 and Fordham University in 2005, Agresta attended the National Automobile Dealers Association Dealer Academy for a one-year executive management program."
^ abcdef"Jenny's Dish.", The Star-Ledger, October 26, 2004. "Actually, Lesley Gore wasn't planning to cry at all when she returned to her old high school, Dwight-Englewood in Englewood, on Friday night. Gore and her composer brother, Michael (he wrote "Fame," the Irene Cara hit) were inducted into Dwight-Englewood's Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. She's not the only Dwight-Englewood alum to hit it big. Other graduates include former Secretary of State George Schultz, Brooke Shields and Mira Sorvino."
^BiographyArchived January 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Peter Balakian. Accessed December 26, 2012. "Balakian was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, and grew up there and in Tenafly, NJ. He attended Tenafly public schools and graduated from Englewood School for Boys (now Dwight-Englewood School) before earning his B.A. from Bucknell University, an M.A. from New York University, and a Ph.D. from Brown University in American Civilization."
^Staff. "High Demand: Leonia's Anthony Bourdain requested to write for HBO's Treme", (201) magazine, March 5, 2011. Accessed September 2, 2011. "Star of Travel channel's No Reservations has been asked to write the culinary scenes for David Simon's HBO series Treme. Former Leonia resident and Dwight-Englewood alum, Anthony Bourdain, was happy to abide."
^Eskenzai, Gerald. "Sidelines: Not A Bad Idea; Still on the Air After 19 Years", The New York Times, March 18, 1991. Accessed September 2, 2011. "Dick Button was wistful the other day when the Sullivan Award was announced.... 'I was the worst athlete at the Englewood School in New Jersey,' he recalled. 'If I was up at bat in a baseball game, the outfielders would sit down.'"
^Mattura, Greg. "Former Bergen County basketball standout leads Wichita State into NCAA Tournament", The Record, March 17, 2021. Accessed January 26, 2022. "Tyson Etienne exploded out of his chair with such energy that he probably could have dunked from a seated position.... 'I'm just happy that we got in the tournament,' Etienne, a former standout at Dwight-Englewood, said Wednesday afternoon via Zoom."
^Allison HirschlagArchived January 31, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Guiding Light. Accessed September 30, 2007. "Upon graduating the prestigious Dwight-Englewood School, New Jersey native Allison Hirschlag landed the role of Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light."
^Sampson, Peter J. "Bergrin helped run call-girl ring, woman testifies at trial", The Record, February 7, 2013. Accessed January 3, 2015. "Bergrin was one of the lawyers retained by her boyfriend, Jason Itzler, a self-proclaimed 'king of all pimps' who wanted to turn his upscale brothel into a national enterprise, she said. Itzler grew up in Cliffside Park and attended the Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood and Tenafly High School."
^ abRohan, Virginia. "Two Jersey guys get it 'Together'", The Record, October 4, 2007. Accessed January 3, 2015. "Comedy writers Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser met at the Dwight-Englewood School, where a prank, fittingly enough, led them to realize they were kindred creative spirits."
^"The Interview: Lawrence Kudlow", from The American Spectator, March 2001. Accessed June 14, 2018. "I remember that in this little prep school that I went to, the Dwight Englewood School in New Jersey, we had to say the Lord's Prayer in homeroom."
^Hertog, Susan. "Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Her Life", p. 73. Random House, 2000. ISBN0385720076. Accessed January 26, 2022. "Out of Englewood and in the mainstream of city life, Anne saw her world begin to expand. Like Elisabeth, she had attended the Dwight School in Englewood, and, although it was a fine academy, dedicated to the individual needs of girls, it was a conservative school in a suburban enclave."
^White, Liz. "He's With the Program: Bruce McKenna, Englewood native"Archived November 19, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, (201) magazine, January 2008. Accessed June 29, 2011. "The standard he sets for himself in Hollywood took root in Englewood. A Dwight-Englewood alum, class of 1980, McKenna left a lasting impression on faculty there."
^Staff. "Elfrida ‘Vonnie’ von Nardroff", The Suffolk Times, November 15, 2021. Accessed August 3, 2022. "Elfrida was born July 3, 1925, in Northampton, Mass. She attended the Dwight School in Englewood, N.J., and graduated from Duke University in 1947, earning an A.B. degree, and from Columbia University Graduate School, 1959 to 1963, earning an A.B.D. degree in sociology."
^Singer, Natasha. "15 Pounds: Part of Freshman Meal Plan?", The New York Times, August 31, 2006. Accessed May 30, 2011. "And that is where Daphne Oz, a junior at Princeton from Cliffside Park, N.J., comes in.... And at the Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, N.J., she wrote a high school research paper on teenage nutrition and lobbied for healthier cafeteria food, she said."
^Ervolino, Bill. "Tenafly's Mira Sorvino says she was a Weinstein victim", The Record, October 10, 2017. Accessed June 14, 2018. "Sorvino, who was raised in Tenafly and took part in theater productions at the Dwight-Englewood School when she was a youngster, told a local news outlet in Los Angeles that Weinstein lured her into his hotel room in 1995 when they were in Canada promoting the Woody Allen film Mighty Aphrodite, the film which earned Sorvino her best supporting actress award."
^Lyon, Christopher. Oral history interview with Robert Whitman, 2019 Oct. 21 and Nov. 4, Smithsonian Archives of American Art. Accessed January 21, 2014. "CHRISTOPHER LYON: Where in New Jersey? ROBERT WHITMAN: A place called Englewood, so. CHRISTOPHER LYON: And you went to school somewhere in that area? ROBERT WHITMAN: Yeah, I went to a public school for a couple of years and then to a place called Englewood School for Boys."
^Commencement 2012 Speaker, University of Vermont. Accessed September 10, 2012. "Born in Iran and raised in New Jersey, Zarghami attended Dwight Englewood preparatory school in Englewood, NJ and came to UVM in 1980 to study education."
^Balakian, Peter. Black Dog of Fate: A Memoir, p. 135. Basic Books, 2009. ISBN0-465-01019-9. Accessed May 30, 2011. "One day a few years later, when I was teaching high school English at Dwight-Englewood School, I picked up a copy of The Anaïs Nin Reader off the desk of one of my colleagues and began reading."
^Jones, Christopher. "Interview: Peter Balakian"Archived July 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, The Cortland Review, Issue 22, February 2003. Accessed December 27, 2012. "TCR: Let me ask you about two of your contemporaries. You dedicate this volume to the poets Bruce Smith and Jack Wheatcroft? PB: In a world as small and intense as poetry, one's comrades are dearer than ever.... Bruce Smith and I met in 1974 at Dwight Englewood School in Englewood, New Jersey, where we were both teaching English and coaching football."