The Key to Self-Discovery
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Welcome to the Upper School
An Expansive Adventure
Schools that urge high school students to follow the expected path, check only the right boxes, and polish their resumes are failing our students -- and breeding stress and anxiety.
At King School, we set a better standard by encouraging students to see learning as a personal adventure; one without a defined beginning, middle, or end. Our students engage deeply with the experience of education -- not just mastering material, but also inviting collaboration, applying knowledge, and making unexpected discoveries.
A Better Standard for Upper School
When young adults are cheered on as they begin to take ownership of their ambitions and achievements, they feel like stars of a team designed and built for their drive for excellence. As a private high school located in Stamford, CT, King school empowers students to unleash their greatness by emphasizing self-knowledge, expansive learning, and courageous thinking -- the very qualities that lead to happy, healthy, and purposeful lives.
LEARN HOW KING SETS BETTER STANDARDS
Learn more about Upper School: Grades 9-12
The Tools for Greatness
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“At King, we emphasize that an excellent education takes students where they want to go. We also believe that courage and compassion are essential components in the search for purpose, a key element of a King education. Our students support one another as they begin to bring their ambitions into sharper focus and work to achieve their goals, cheered on by the whole community.”
— Marnie Sadlowsky, Associate Head of School for Program and Head of Upper School
“Conducting my own scientific research in the Advanced Science Program for Research and Engineering (ASPIRE) is an incomparable experience.”
— Ashley X., Upper School student
"It’s fascinating to learn the stories of others, and how aspects of people's experiences have come to formulate what they believe. To me, there's always something to be learned from every person and their experiences."
— Will H., Upper School student
Meet our Community
Upper School in Action
King hosted its sixth annual El Sistema Residency, in which talented musicians from King's Middle and Upper Schools collaborated in intensive music workshops with visiting students of various El Sistema USA programs, including Stamford's own Project Music.
The residency's overarching focus is to inspire a deeper connection between communities of different socioeconomic backgrounds by using music as a vehicle to give voice to diverse cultural identities and amplify lived experiences.
King School STEM Club connected with tech giant IBM for three information-packed virtual sessions on artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and sustainability. The series began with IBM researcher Dr. Stacy Hobson, who surprised the students with a viewing of a horror movie trailer and later revealed that the entire trailer was created by AI software. The software was trained with snippets of the film and a database of other horror movie trailers to create a film montage designed to invoke similar human emotions from the other trailers, such as shock, fear, and surprise. “It was interesting to learn about so many different technologies in such a creative and fun way,” said Nicole Guido ’24, after watching the presentation.
While many in our community use the school's Spring Break to rest and recharge, five of the Advanced Science Program for Independent Research and Engineering (ASPIRE) students excelled in the final rounds of the 2021 Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair (CSEF), which had over 365 student participants this year.
Members of the Upper School’s Young Democrats and Young Republicans clubs interviewed Congressman Jim Himes, who represents Connecticut’s fourth district. The meeting took place on March 10, and in the spirit of bipartisanship, the two clubs worked together to develop their questions.
Four King students were selected to participate in the All-State Musical Festival hosted by the Connecticut Music Education Association from April 23-25, 2021. The selection process is highly competitive and involves preliminary qualification through the organization's Western Regional auditions before becoming eligible for All-State.
In their first-ever tournament, King's newly established Quiz Bowl team finished sixth overall, qualifying them to compete in the National Finals on June 26 and 27, 2021.
Students in the Advanced Science Program for Independent Research and Engineering (ASPIRE) competed virtually in the final round of the Connecticut/Regional Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) research competition on Sunday, March 7, 2021. Wafa Nomani '21, Joseph Winterlich '21, and Billy Bernfeld '22 previously qualified for the finals round by presenting their research projects via video submissions back in January 2021. Students who placed in the top-five spots qualified for the National JSHS competition.
Juniors John Russell '22 and Giovanna Armetta '22 placed 2nd and 4th, respectively, in the 2021 Connecticut State STEM Fair (CT-STEM Fair) last weekend.
The CT-STEM Fair is a statewide science research competition that began in 2001 with a mission of providing students with an opportunity to present their research work to like-minded scientists and professionals who currently work in the field.
The King Debate Team went 7-2 in their February meet. Sammy Cohen '24 and Matthew Graham Brown '24 placed fourth team out of 29, and Kenny Backes '23 placed 3rd speaker out of 58. "It's rewarding to see the progress we have made in practice come to fruition in such strong performances," says Co-Captain John Russell '22. This is a big win for King and a sign of what is to come."