Now enrolling for Fall 2027 · First open house Sat, Sep 26
An independent JK–Grade 12 day school · Elmbridge · Est. 1927
612 students from junior kindergarten to Grade 12, a four-acre ravine for a classroom, and a habit of telling families the truth — about admissions, about tuition, and about your child.
Fall open houses: Sep 26 · Oct 17 · Nov 7 — Saturdays, 10 a.m., children welcome
One campus, three schools
The Portfolio a JK student starts becomes the Senior Thesis a Grade 12 student defends. Each division is built for its age — and each page below walks you through a real day.
Signature programs
JK–Grade 12
Every student keeps a running portfolio of work they choose and annotate themselves — presented to parents in Grade 5, to peers in Grade 8, and folded into the Senior Thesis in Grade 12. Fourteen years of watching yourself learn.
JK–Grade 8
Four acres of ravine, creek, and woodland behind the campus, used weekly in all four seasons — creek chemistry, winter tracking, field journals, and the Grade 8 Ridge Hike that caps the program.
Grade 12
The graduation requirement since 1974: one year, one mentored question, one public defence at Thesis Night in May. Recent theses include a restored 1962 outboard engine, a study of Elmbridge creek pollution, and an original one-act play.
What we believe
Wonder isn't a personality trait some children have — it's a habit every child can practice. We build the school day around questions worth chasing.
Kindness, honesty, and grit show up when they've been practiced a thousand small times. Advisory, service, and the way we run a hallway all count.
Every student at Marlowe is known by name by adults who aren't their teachers. That's not a slogan — it's a scheduling decision we make every year.
We publish tuition, explain aid plainly, and tell you what we actually look for in admissions. If we're not the right school for your child, we'll say so.
“Our tagline is a claim about mechanism, not magic. A child taught to chase a real question learns to tolerate frustration, argue honestly, revise, and care about something beyond themselves. That is what we mean by character.”
Come see it
Tuesdays & Thursdays · 8:45 a.m. · up to 6 families · 90 minutes
Small-group walking tour with an admissions team member — classrooms in session (or summer programs in July–August), the ravine trailhead, and time for questions.
Schedule a morning tourThree Saturdays each fall · 10:00 a.m. · 2 hours
The whole campus open, faculty in their rooms, students leading tours, and the head of school taking unscripted questions. Children very welcome.
Schedule a open houseWeekdays · 9:00, 10:30, or 1:30 · 60 minutes
Just your family, an admissions team member, and the relevant division head — tailored to your child's grade and your questions. Best for specific situations: mid-year moves, learning profiles, shy kids.
Schedule a private family visitReady when you are: book any tour in about two minutes — no login, no phone tag.
From the green
June 18, 2026
The lab takes over the adjoining workshop this summer — more benches, a second laser cutter, and a proper spray booth. The wall of documented failures is, of course, coming along.
July 6, 2026
September 26, October 17, and November 7, all Saturdays at 10 a.m. No registration wall, no scripted route — the school as it actually is, with students leading the tours.
Tours run year-round, including summer. Tuition is published, aid is explained in plain English, and the admissions page tells you what we actually look for.