Morristown-Beard School history

The newly-built school opened on September 30, 1897, with 42 boys.

The school opened in September 1898 with 23 students and eight staff members.

Two buildings were built, Recitation House and the Cottage, and others were added as the school grew with the addition of a boarding department in 1900.

The school opened with 13 boys and girls in the kindergarten, and through the last years of the 19th century gradually added a grade per year until 1903 when the school had its first graduating class.

The curriculum was enhanced by Theater and Fine Arts, taught by the other Beard sisters, and then by the addition of Physical Education in 1905.

The club's April 1909 meeting brought visits from Harvard President Charles Eliot, New Jersey Governor John Fort, and New Jersey Chancellor Mahlon Pitney (later a U.S Supreme Court justice). Eleven years later, the Morristown School ran a $500,000 fundraising campaign to establish an endowment.

In 1913, a group of 40 of Morristown School's students helped the Morristown Fire Department extinguish a forest fire that had spread over three miles on Horse Hill; the students used portable chemical extinguishers to fight the flames.

The Crane Library was built in 1922, the funds for which were provided by the Crane family whose son was a sophomore at the school.

In 1936, the school curriculum was enhanced through the creation of a second track to the former Classical (college-prep) program.

In 1940, Headmaster George Tilghman entered the Army, while other faculty joined and a number of students returned home.

On November 30, 1953, a large fire swept through Beard School's campus in the middle of the night.

The campaign hosted a Hawaiian-themed benefit dance on October 22, 1954 to raise some of the funds.

The entire school community came together in the Emergency Building Fund and through numerous fund raising activities the new building at 560 Berkeley Ave. was constructed and occupied early in 1955.

The current Furrer Math Center was built in 1961 for classroom space, maintenance and faculty apartments.

Wilkie Hall was completed in 1969 to contain an auditorium and classrooms.

By 1970, declining enrollment, cultural changes and financial difficulties brought increased pressure on The Morristown School to close its boarding department and to admit girls.

The all-boys Morristown School merged with the all-girls Beard School in 1971.

The first class of the school graduated in June 1972.

Through the leadership of Headmaster Philip Anderson, who came to MBS in 1974, and Trustee Polly Campbell, MBS became one school with traditions and histories made relevant to the times.

In 1979, the building became the Math Center with the upper level still used as apartments and later that area became the Learning Center.

In 1983, the concerted effort to upgrade the buildings on campus began in earnest.

In 1986, it was greatly expanded with the addition of locker room spaces, a large gym and a swimming pool.

The old dining hall on the first floor of South Wing was remodeled in 1990 to house the Development and Alumni Offices, as well as the bookstore and classrooms.

A look back at the first 100 years of history of The Beard School, The Morristown School, and Morristown Beard School written in 1991 by Pamela R. Bloom, then Chair of the Reading Department.

By 2000, the time had come to reimagine the main buildings on campus, Grant and Beard Halls.

A boardwalk was built connecting the trailers, which led to a truly memorable Homecoming On The Boardwalk in 2001.