History of the School

Bancroft School is the oldest co-educational independent day school in Central Massachusetts. Bancroft School was founded in 1900 by a group of Worcester parents interested in providing a rigorous education for their children. The School was named in honor of George Bancroft (1800-1891), a Worcester native and accomplished scholar, Secretary of the Navy, Ambassador to Prussia and England, and renowned historian. The original charter formed a corporation “for the purpose of providing a complete school training for boys and girls of all ages, Kindergarten, Primary, Intermediate, and Academic Departments.”

The School opened in a house at 93 Elm Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. By 1902, Bancroft had outgrown its facility and a new school was constructed at 111 Elm Street. In 1922, in order to accommodate its over two-hundred-and-fifty students enrolled, the School moved to larger quarters on Sever Street in Worcester (the present campus of Becker College). The final move to the present campus at 110 Shore Drive was completed in September, 1958.

From its beginning until 1913, Bancroft was co-educational at all grade levels. In 1913 the School admitted both boys and girls through grade 8, but only girls were admitted to the Upper School. A boarding component to the school was opened in 1920 and continued to attract resident students until 1943. At that time, the Trustees decided to discontinue the operation of the residency program and to focus on its mission as an independent day school.

After the move to the Shore Drive location, the School continued to grow to its present enrollment of 559 students, Kindergarten through Grade 12. To accommodate the growing school population, and to meet the current and emerging program challenges of the future, over the last ten years the School has built new facilities and renovated existing structures on its thirty acre campus. The School has added to its facility a new gym, additional Upper School classrooms and offices, a state of the art Technology Center, a new kitchen, an expanded Bookstore, a multipurpose room and dining area. A new Multimedia Language Learning Center has been completed, enhancing the Foreign Language Department’s program. The Harrington Auditorium has undergone physical and technical modernization, and the facilities for the Performing Arts Department have been enlarged. Most recently, Bancroft has completed a renovation of the Fuller Science Center as well as opened the new and spacious McDonough Center to house the Lower and Middle School programs.

Even more important than the buildings, however, are the people—the students, faculty, and parents—who have defined the Bancroft community. Over one hundred years old, and with over 3000 living alumni, Bancroft has lived its mission of preparing young people to be life-long learners and teachers of others and community leaders dedicated to service. Bancroft’s curricular and extracurricular programs have grown, expanded, and changed to reflect the School’s mission in an increasingly interdependent global community.

Heads of School