Columbus School for Girls history

The first school graduation in 1899 was the culmination of the founders’ dreams.

In 1901, the headmistresses signed a lease for a Georgian mansion that had belonged to George Parsons, a well-known attorney in Columbus.

Miss Alice Gladden, a graduate of The Ohio State University, and Miss Grace Latimer Jones, a graduate of Bryn Mawr, succeeded Miss Scott and Miss Kelley in 1904.

In 1906, Bryden Hall was the scene of the first Christmas party hosted by Miss Gladden and Miss Jones for the Upper School students, faculty members, and many returning alumnae.

There had been class colors from the first, but 1911 saw the initial use of alternative red and gold classes, from which the Red and Gold Teams arose later.

Individual class colors were combined with red or gold, and at commencement in June 1912, the flags were used for the first time.

In 1923, CSG purchased an 85-acre farm on North Yearling Road because of the need for playing fields.

So in 1924, building upon the success of this idea, a system was begun that placed alternate classes in Red or Gold camps.

After Miss Gladden's death in 1926, Miss Jones, who had become Mrs.

Soon thereafter, the middy blouse and pleated skirt became a winter uniform through 1931.

In the fall of 1932, the tunic was introduced.

Her concept of complete education (language, math, arts, and sciences) became the foundation of the dynamic philosophy that Doctor Samuel Shellabarger inherited in 1938.

The course emphasizes events after 1945, including the organization of the communist state under Mao Zedong, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the development of modern Chinese society under Deng Xiaoping, and contemporary politics under Xi Jinping.

In 1948 navy blue blazers were introduced, with the school crest on the breast pocket.

A new wing, Marvin Hall, was added to the school in 1962, and the Kibler home, at 66 South Columbia Avenue, was purchased as the residence for the Head of School.

In 1969, ground was broken for a large addition on the Bexley site.

Since the 1970's the Unicorn no longer appears on the Crest, but is still used to represent CSG Athletics.

Each fall since 1972, the school has held a Scholarship Walk to support The CSG Scholars Fund, which provides financial assistance for approximately 20 percent of the student body.

After the major renovations and new construction in 1994, the seniors began to use again the Senior Stairs as access to their new commons area in the upstairs of the mansion.

After Doctor Hayot's retirement from CSG in 2003, Diane B. Cooper, Ed.D., former Head of School at Saint Edward's School in Vero Beach, Florida, accepted the position as head of the eighth administration of Columbus School for Girls.