The Pingry School is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory country day school in New Jersey, with a Lower School (K–5) campus in the Short Hills neighborhood of Millburn, a Middle (6–8) and Upper (High) School (9–12) campus in the Basking Ridge section of Bernards Township, and a campus for experiential learning in Pottersville. The school was founded in 1861 by John F. Pingry. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
Student body The school currently enrolls 1,129 students; 288 at Short Hills and 841 at Basking Ridge; 270 in the Middle School and 571 in the Upper School. Students come from 100 area communities in twelve counties and over 90 municipalities in New Jersey.Admission, Pingry School. Accessed April 1, 2021.
As of the 2017–18 school year, the middle and upper schools had an enrollment of 841 students and 118 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 7.1:1. The school's student body was 48.5% (408) White, 22.0% (185) two or more races, 18.1% (152) Asian, 9.0% (76) Black and 2.1% (18) Hispanic.School data for The Pingry School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed September 1, 2020.
In 2022, the SAT and ACT scores for the middle 50% of students were 1290-1540 and 30-34, respectively.Pingry School Profile, Pingry School.
The school claims an acceptance rate across all of its grades of 12%.At a Glance, Pingry School. Accessed May 16, 2024. "1300 applications received, with a 12% acceptance rate."
Awards and recognition Niche ranks Pingry 1st on its list of 2023 Best Private K-12 Schools in New Jersey and 2nd on its list of Best College Prep Private High Schools in New Jersey. Over the years, Pingry has been frequently ranked by Niche in the top 3 in New Jersey and in the top 1% nationally.Niche Pingry School, Niche. Accessed April 19, 2023.
History Pingry School was founded by John Francis Pingry, a Presbyterian minister, in 1861 to provide both scholastic training and moral education for boys.van Tassel, Priscilla. "Private Schools Wrestling With Diversity and Identities", The New York Times, October 13, 1991. Accessed March 1, 2024. "The most recent entries on the valedictorian plaque at the Pingry School in Martinsville would probably surprise John Francis Pingry, a Presbyterian minister who founded the school in 1861 for the sons of wealthy Elizabeth business leaders." The outbreak of the American Civil War that year caused enrollment to dry up at the Pingry Select School for Boys, an academy Pingry had founded in 1854 in Roseville. After learning that the only professional educator in Elizabeth, New Jersey, had decided to enlist in the Union Army, Pingry moved to Elizabeth in 1861 where he founded the Pingry School. Although Pingry gave talks on Proverbs and used the Bible for instructional purposes, the school has never been affiliated with any church or denomination.
The school moved from the Elizabeth schoolhouse to the Parker Road campus in 1893. After Pingry's death in 1893,Elizabeth Through The Ages, The Historical Society; Elizabeth, New Jersey. Accessed January 8, 2025. several headmasters with relatively short tenures held his position.
C. Mitchell Froelicher was headmaster from 1917 to 1920. He was succeeded by Charles Bertram Newton who focused on the Country Day School philosophy and served until 1936.via Associated Press. "Charles B. Newton", The Press of Atlantic City, June 11, 1936. Accessed March 1, 2024., via Newspapers.com. "Charles Bertram Newton, 64, headmaster of Pingry School since 1920, died at his home today. Illness had forced him to withdraw from active school duty last September. He was recognized as one of the founders of the country Day School movement in this country and was associated with secondary schools since his graduation from Princeton in 1893." From 1936 to 1961, E. Laurence Springer was headmaster, and his tenure was the longest in Pingry's history."Pingry Head Will Retire", Courier News, January 27, 1960. Accessed March 1, 2024, via Newspapers.com. "Dr. E. Laurence Springer, headmaster of the Pingry School for the last 25 years, will retire in June, 1961, according to Chester F. Smith, president of the school s board of trustees." He oversaw the 1953 move from Elizabeth to Hillside, New Jersey, and a new facility constructed at a cost of $1.6 million (equivalent to $ million in )."New Pingry School In Jersey Dedicated", The New York Times, February 15, 1953. Accessed March 1, 2024. "Set behind a grove of trees, the new $1,600,000 home of Pingry School, an early American-style brick structure in North Avenue here, was dedicated today. The exercises capped the transfer of the institution, one of the oldest country day schools for boys in New Jersey, from its former quarters in near-by Elizabeth."
Early in the 1970s, Pingry began the transition to a coeducational school. The first female students, who graduated in 1976, were succeeded by other young women who today represent half the student body. Pingry grew with its 1974 merger with the Short Hills Country Day School to become a school with grades from kindergarten through grade 12."Pingry Merger Doesn't Alter Township Plan", Bernardsville News, February 28, 1974. Accessed January 8, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Long-range plans of Pingry School to construct a now campus in Bernards Township remain unaffected by the school's recent merger with short Hills Country Day School, the board of trustees has announced. After deciding to become coeducational, Pingry trustees merged Feb. 1 with Short Hills to form a single coeducational school. Short Hills Country Day School will continue to operate under its present name until July 1. The new school will be known as The Pingry School. It will educate all grades from pre-kindergarten through 12. The school will start immediately to consider qualified girls as well as boy candidates for the 1974–75 school year." In this period of about twenty years, David C. Wilson and H. Wescott Cunningham each served as headmaster.
In 1983, the school moved to Martinsville, a rural area in the Watchung and Somerset Hills. The campuses are approximately 25 minutes apart, and both are located near the New York metropolitan area, which continues to provide many outside resources to supplement the classroom.History of The Pingry School. Accessed October 12, 2006. The old campus in Hillside is now used as a campus of Kean University. In 2013, the Martinsville location was renamed to "Basking Ridge" in an effort to make it easier to locate the campus using automated mapping tools.History, Pingry School. Accessed July 9, 2013. "In 2013, the Martinsville Campus made another move...of sorts. We exchanged our former Martinsville P.O. Box mailing address for a numbered street address in Basking Ridge. This change finally made our campus location compatible with satellite navigation services, online mapping sites, and overnight mail delivery requirements."
In 1987, John Hanly became headmaster. He served until 2000. Today, the Hanly Lecture on Ethics and Morality holds his name. John Neiswender became headmaster after Hanly, and served until 2005.Yang, Wesley. "Pingry chooses new headmaster", Courier News, January 6, 2000. Accessed January 2, 2025. ""An educator from California has been named headmaster of The Pingry School in Bernards. Jihn L.Nieswander, 51, will replace John Hanly on July 1, the school's board of trustees announced." Nathaniel Conard was headmaster from July 2005 to mid-2019. In late 2018, the school announced that Matt Levinson, of University Prep in Seattle, would be Head of School after Conard retired in mid-2019."New Head of School announced at The Pingry School in Basking Ridge", The Bernardsville News, December 5, 2018. Accessed January 2, 2025. "Matt Levinson of the state of Washington has been named the new Head of School at The Pingry School, beginning on July 1, 2019. He replaces Headmaster Nat Conrad, who will complete his tenure at the end of the 2018–2019 school year." Since Pingry's day, there have been 16 headmasters.
In April 2020, the school received an unspecified amount in federally backed small business loans as part of the Paycheck Protection Program. The school received scrutiny over this loan, which was meant to protect small and private businesses. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tweeted that the schools should return the money, but Levinson stated they were keeping it, despite having an $80-million-plus endowment, due to the "significant challenges to our ability to serve our community" caused by the pandemic.
In February 2021, Purnell School announced that it would cease operations upon the completion of the 2020–2021 academic year.Makin, Cheryl. "Pingry plans to open campus at former Purnell School in Bedminster", Courier News, June 21, 2021. Accessed July 26, 2022. "The Pingry School, an independent, co-educational, K-12 day school with campuses in Basking Ridge and Short Hills, announced Thursday that it is in the final stages of acquiring the campus of Purnell School in the Pottersville section of the township.... The acquisition comes after Purnell School's February announcement that it will cease operations after 57 years upon the completion of the 2020–2021 academic year.... The 82-acre Pottersville campus — a 20-minute drive from Pingry's Basking Ridge campus and a 40-minute drive from its Short Hills campus — includes 22 buildings." Later that year, Pingry School paid $5 million for the campus in Pottersville in Somerset County, which will be used as an extension of its existing campuses."Pingry completes Purnell purchase in Bedminster for $5M", The Bernardsville News, October 26, 2021. Accessed July 26, 2022. "The purchase of the 82-acre former Purnell School campus in Pottersville by the Pingry School has been completed for $5 million. million. The sale price was included in records filed on Sept. 20 in the Somerset County Clerk's Office as recorded by NJ Property Records, a property database company."
In June 2022, alumnus, head of college counseling and cross-country coach, Timothy Lear assumed the role of headmaster.
Athletics The Pingry School Big BluePingry School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. competes in the Skyland Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Essex, Morris, and Somerset counties in west central New Jersey, and operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. Pingry is also a member of the New Jersey Independent School Athletic Association. Prior to the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had previously participated in the Colonial Hills Conference which included public and private high schools covering Essex County, Morris County and Somerset County in west Central Jersey.Home Page, Colonial Hills Conference, backed up by the Internet Archive, as of November 19, 2010. Accessed December 15, 2014. With 435 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).NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Non-Public Group B (equivalent to Group I/II for public schools) for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 140 to 686 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.