Shipley School

Hannah Shipley, Elizabeth Shipley, and Katharine Shipley, all sisters, founded The Shipley School in 1888 as a preparatory school for Bryn Mawr College, a women's college, which was located directly across the street. The Shipley sisters were strong-willed, educated Quaker women and created the school with the goal of passing on these values to similarly minded young women. The school opened in the Fall of 1894 with six students and nine faculty members.[1]

By the 1940s, Shipley had expanded the student body to 341 students. At this time, about half of all Upper School students were boarders hailing from all over the country and from Europe, Asia, Russia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Shipley discontinued its boarding department and began to admit male students. The last boarders graduated in 1982, and by 1984 the school was fully coeducational with equal numbers of girls and boys.[2] Starting in the 1990s, and increasingly since then, Shipley has augmented their traditional teaching methods and facilities with growing technological expertise and equipment.

Shipley's curriculum emphasizes interdisciplinary, project-based education. It is designed specifically to give students the tools to succeed in college and in life in the 21st century.[3]

Notable Shipley graduates include:

• Gavin Becker, American singer, songwriter and actor[4]
• Jessica Knoll, author[5]
• Vinton Liddell Pickens, American county planner and artist[6]
• Marshmello, American electronic music producer/DJ[7]
• Robb Armstrong, author of Jump Start comic strip[8]
• Victoria Legrand of the dream pop duo Beach House.[9]