Rhodes Preparatory School

Rhodes Preparatory School was a private school located at 11 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York City, United States. It included a lower school with students in seventh and eighth grades and an upper school for students from grades nine through twelve. For a brief period in its history, it also had fifth and sixth grade classes. There was also an evening school for adults.

11 West 54th St., former Rhodes school

Rhodes was a college preparatory school. It attracted students from all over the world. Many graduates went on to Ivy League or Seven Sisters schools, and to other prestigious institutions around the country and the world. The now-defunct school is often referred to as "Rhodes School" or simply "Rhodes.”

Signs in the classrooms read, "Every class is an English class.”

The Warwick New York Hotel, located just a few doors down at 65 West 54th Street, hosted many school functions in its ballroom. Several Rhodes proms and commencement ceremonies were held at another New York Hotel, the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Rhodes was the model for the school in the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the school of last resort for ne'er-do-wells who were kicked out of other private schools; e.g. Rick Jason (actor: Combat), who had been kicked out of nine other preparatory schools for outlandish behavior.

Plaque outside 11 West 54 Street building

“These two buildings, which share a fine Georgian façade, were designed in 1896 by McKim, Mead & White for the James Goodwin family, who occupied the residence from 1898 to 1944. The ownership of the building changed hands in 1945, and it became the Rhodes School until 1979. The United States Trust Company of New York purchased the building in 1980. It has been faithfully restored and now serves the Trust Company as a private banking office.”

Timeline
  • 1912 – Rhodes located at 125th Street
  • 1938 – Relocates to 1041 41st Street (6th Avenue)
  • 1945 – David Merrall, J. Leslie White, and David Goodman purchase Rhodes, and relocate it to 11 West 54th Street (5th – 6th Aves)
  • 1959 – Dr. Robert Lowrance PhD becomes headmaster, and William Kien becomes Director of Admissions
  • 1974 – David Merrall dies; Seymour Merrall, his son, takes ownership
  • 1979 – West 54th Street building sold to US Trust Company. Rhodes relocates to Holy Trinity Roman Catholic School on West 83 Street
  • 1980 – Seymour Merrall sells Rhodes to Donald Nickerson, a La Jolla (Ca.) Country Day School headmaster
  • 1981 – 11 West 54th Street building designated a New York City landmark
  • August 1985 – Dr. Robert Lowrance dies
  • 1992 – Relocates to the Anglo-American School at 291 Central Park West (89th St.) which then becomes part of the Dwight School
  • July 21, 2001 – First Rhodes reunion held at TGI Friday's in Rockefeller Center
  • July 26, 2003 – Second Rhodes reunion held at the Park Avenue Country Club (27th St. and Park Ave.)

Former students

(1980s & 1990s Super Model, Culinary Producer, Business Owner)

  • Guy Van Baalen (attorney)

References
  1. LLC, New York Media (September 29, 1997). "The Sex Trap". New York. New York Media, LLC. Retrieved August 18, 2019 – via Google Books.
  2. Romano, Tricia (October 29, 2013). "From posh private school student to dominatrix". Retrieved August 18, 2019.
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