QUICK FACTS

 

Mission

The Pingry School’s mission is to foster in students a lifelong commitment to intellectual exploration, individual growth, and social responsibility by inspiring and supporting them to strive for academic and personal excellence within an ethical framework that places the highest value on honor and respect for others. 

 

Vision

Our vision is to prepare students to be global citizens and leaders of the 21st century. By setting and holding the highest expectations, we seek to graduate young men and women who consistently demonstrate honor and character in all aspects of their lives, who as teammates and leaders navigate easily and effectively in our diverse world, who continuously challenge themselves intellectually and morally, and who are committed to ensuring that those who follow them, both at Pingry and in the world, will themselves have unprecedented opportunities.

 

History

Dr. John Francis Pingry founded The Pingry School in Elizabeth, N.J. in 1861 to provide students with a classical education, and he emphasized strong moral development and a commitment to service. Three decades later, the school relocated to a larger campus in Elizabeth, and, in 1953, it moved again to Hillside. Two milestones occurred during the 1970s: Pingry merged with the Short Hills Country Day School in 1974, and the first female students graduated in 1976. Then, in 1983, at the suggestion of a Trustee, Pingry’s Middle and Upper Schools moved to the current location in Martinsville, near the intersection of two major highways, to position itself for New Jersey’s future population growth.

 

Honor Code

A fundamental component of the school’s ethos, the Honor Code represents the embodiment of Dr. Pingry’s original principles of honorable behavior and serves as the moral guidepost for every member of the Pingry community.

 

Faculty

The Pingry School has more than 200 full- and part-time faculty members. More than half of the faculty hold master’s degrees, and 13 faculty members hold doctorates. Average tenure is 13 years, and the attrition rate is lower than the national average for private schools. 

 

Students

Pingry offers 19 Advanced Placement (AP) and 10 Honors courses. The student body represents 106 communities across New Jersey and Pennsylvania and reflects a variety of economic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. Pingry enrolls approximately 1,060 students in Kindergarten through Grade 12, with average class sizes of 16 (Kindergarten through Grade 5) and 14 (Grades 6 through 12). The genders are balanced (51 percent male, 49 percent female), and 37 percent of the student body are students of color.

The Pingry School complies with all applicable laws regarding discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions, financial aid, and other school programs. 

 

Campuses

Pingry is situated on two spacious campuses in central New Jersey that are easily accessible from major highways. The Short Hills Campus houses the Lower School (Kindergarten-Grade 5), while the 200-acre Martinsville Campus is home to the Middle and Upper Schools (Grades 6-12). Of special note, Grade 6 moved from Short Hills to Martinsville in 2007 when Pingry opened the 29,000 square-foot Carol and Park B. Smith ’50 Middle School for Grades 6-8.

Facilities include state-of-the-art classrooms, science laboratories, computer labs, and multimedia libraries.  The Hostetter Arts Center, which opened in 2003, houses the 234-seat Macrae Theater; studios for dance, pottery, drawing, and painting classes; rehearsal space for drama and music; and two art galleries. The 732-seat Hauser Auditorium is used for assemblies and other special events, including Commencement. The 60-seat Attic Theater is also used for dramatic performances. Eighty percent of Upper School students participate in Pingry’s arts programs, encompassing fine arts, drama, and music.  Any student may also audition for the annual fall play and winter musical.

 

Physical Education and Athletics

The athletics program emphasizes sportsmanship and offers every student the opportunity to play on a team. Approximately 86 percent of Upper School students participate in a variety of sports on 57 varsity and junior varsity boys and girls teams.

The Pingry School has an all-weather synthetic turf field; several sport-specific fields for football, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, baseball, and softball; a 400-meter all-weather track; 12 tennis courts; and a cross-country course that laps the 200-acre campus.  Indoor facilities include two basketball gymnasiums; a six-lane 25-meter pool; a wrestling room; a fencing room; and a state-of-the-art strength and fitness center staffed by two athletic trainers.

 

College Admissions Record

Year after year, Pingry students are admitted to the nation’s finest colleges and universities, with the highest current enrollment at the following schools, based on the Classes of 2006-2009: Georgetown University (23), University of Pennsylvania (18), Cornell University (17), Princeton University (15), Yale University (14), Harvard University (13), Boston College (13), Hamilton College (13), Vanderbilt University (12), New York University (11), Lehigh University (11), and Middlebury College (10).

In the Class of 2009, 35 students were named National Merit Commended Scholars, and nine students were recognized as National Merit Scholarship Finalists.

 

Admission

Each year, students are admitted to Kindergarten (32 openings for an overall class size of 32 students), Grade 3 (16 openings in an overall class size of 48 students), Grade 5 (16 openings in an overall class size of 64 students), Grade 6 (25-30 openings in an overall class size of 90 students), and Grade 9 (40-45 openings in an overall class size of 135 students).

Openings in Grades 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, and 11 are possible only through attrition.

On average, the Pingry Admission Offices receive 3-4 applications for each opening.

 

Financial Aid Policy

An important element of Pingry’s long-term strategic goals is the commitment to building a sufficient financial aid endowment to ensure that every student who is admitted to Pingry can afford to enroll, and that each student who attends Pingry can, regardless of family resources, participate in the full breadth of the Pingry experience. Over $3.1 million are awarded annually to families with students in Kindergarten through Grade 12. Financial aid is funded by endowment income restricted for such purposes, along with other designated and unrestricted giving. The Pingry School does not offer academic, artistic, or athletic scholarships.

 

Endowments

Since the school's founding, alumni, parents, and friends have contributed to more than 93 endowed funds. The Pingry endowment is a long-term savings and investment account that provides for the school’s perpetual financial independence; the market value of Pingry’s endowment fund was approximately $53.5 million as of June 30, 2009.

Pingry adheres to a conservative formula of spending only three percent of the endowment’s liquid assets annually. The remaining assets are reinvested and the principal is never touched.

 

The Pingry Fund

All members of the Pingry community, including members of the Senior Class, are invited to participate in The Pingry Fund each year to supplement the school’s budgets for operations and financial aid. This year, The Pingry Fund’s goal is $2.3 million.