Avon Old Farms

The school's conception dates to a few years before 1918 when Riddle purchased 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of land on which to build it. Together with the architect Charles A. Platt, she toured several boys' schools in New England, including Andover, Groton School, Hotchkiss School, Middlesex School, Pomfret School, St. Mark's School, and St. Paul's School, but as she wrote to a friend, "They all illustrate exceedingly well the things I wish to avoid."[3] In 1918 she created the Pope-Brooks Foundation, to manage both her house, Hill-Stead and its artworks, and the as-yet unformed new school.[3] The school's earliest buildings, which she designed, were constructed from 1923 to 1926 by over 500 workers from America and the Cotswolds.[3] For her designs Riddle was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and awarded the Robinson Memorial Medal of the Architectural Club of New Haven.[3]

John Wallace Riddle set about designing the Avon buildings in a manner resembling the houses and spatial dimensions of an old English village. She had previously designed Westover School for Girls. A handbook published in 1925 said that Avon, then in planning, sought to cultivate "the sturdiness of character found in the old New England stock of Colonial times." Each student was to work for an hour or two daily for the school community or on the school farm. Carpentry and forestry were other forms of work that Riddle found valuable. She thought of students as citizens in a "small commonwealth."[4]

The school's earliest days were marked by vigorous disagreements between Riddle and the school's board and members. She dismissed the board in 1926 when it refused to grant her absolute control and refused her dictum that "there will be no gymnasium and no indoor inter-school athletics." The school was then run directly by the Pope-Brooks foundation.[3] Its first Provost (headmaster), John Mitchell Froelicher, served from 1927 to 1929, when he, too, was dismissed. After several abortive attempts to find a replacement, Percy Gamble Kammerer was named Provost in August 1930. He served until January 1940, when he was forced to resign. That summer, W. Brooke Stabler was named as his replacement. He, again, had disagreements with Riddle, who was unbending in her authority. He resigned in March 1944. At this event, the entire faculty resigned en masse.[3]

Starting in June 1944, during World War II, the campus was adapted to serve as the Old Farms Convalescent Hospital for blind veterans. Riddle died in 1946, and the hospital wound down in 1947. In 1948, the Avon Old Farms School resumed operation under Provost Donald W. Pierpoint.[3]

Avon Old Farms is in the Founders League.

Avon ice hockey teams have won nine Division 1 New England Championships (five between 2004 and 2010). In the 2015–16 season, the Winged Beavers won the Founders League and landed third in the USHR standings.[5] On December 21, 2009, Avon played Taft School in the first hockey game played at Fenway Park.[6]

In 2015, the Avon lacrosse team won the Western New England and the Founders League. The 2015 team was also rated as the number one team in New England and one of the best programs in the "Elite 25" by USA Today.[7]

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