Archival Exhibit of NCCS Athletics on Display in Grace House Lobby

The Community School Girls’ Basketball Trophy from the 1925-26 season is evidence that a competitive athletic program existed at Country School all the way back to the early years. However, the school’s location, in the center of the village of New Canaan, did not afford land for athletic fields or a suitable gymnasium necessary to sustain team sports such as football, field hockey and basketball. In those days, boys were more likely to depart the Community School after grades five or six for schools with more robust and challenging athletic programs.

By 1935, when the school was looking to expand its program and facilities, the vast expanses of former farmland on the corner of Frogtown Road and Ponus Ridge became a very attractive solution to the physical plant issues that were having a profound impact on the school’s enrollment goals. As Country School settled into its new home, complete with fields for outdoor sports and a proper gymnasium, enrollment grew quickly. Older boys, in particular, took interest in the school, which had strategically positioned itself to begin to develop a diverse, competitive and instructional athletic program, which has since become a hallmark of the NCCS program. As the school executes plans that will significantly influence the future of the program, the photographs and other artifacts in this exhibit, document the rise and development of New Canaan Country School’s athletic program from its earliest roots.