History

Kings College

Columbia Grammar School was founded in 1764, just ten years after the founding of Kings College (later Columbia University). Originally established as a boys preparatory school for the college, it functioned for one hundred years under the direct auspices of the college.

One of the most illustrious headmasters during that period was Dr. Charles Anthon, one of America's earliest and most distinguished classical scholars. During his tenure the Grammar School provided over half the students to Columbia College's freshman class.

In 1864, when Dr. Anthon retired as headmaster, the Trustees of Columbia College terminated their relationship with the Grammar School and the school became a proprietary institution, only achieving its non-profit status in 1941.

Columbia Grammar School (1921)
5 West 93rd Street

In 1937, the Leonard School for Girls was founded, using several interconnected brownstones on West 94th Street (now part of the lower school). The school joined with the Grammar School in 1956 to become a coed institution.

As only the 13th headmaster in the school's long history, Dr. Richard Soghoian has guided the physical expansion of the school from its 1905 home at 5 West 93rd Street to the present complex, which includes two high school buildings and an additional brownstone joined to the grammar school buildings.