Our campus features state-of-the-art facilities, a dedicated and talented faculty, and students who are excited to learn and grow. Prep students are as intellectually curious, engaged, energetic, entrepreneurial, thoughtful, and kind as our faculty and staff. Our academic and co-curricular programs balance rigor with fun, fostering students’ creativity and guiding their development as human beings.
Our Mission, Vision & Philosophy
Our Mission
Flintridge Preparatory School seeks to nurture in its students the knowledge, critical skills, community values, and creativity essential for an engaged, balanced, and responsible life.
Our Vision
We are committed to providing a school environment that values ethical and emotional development as equally important to intellectual development.
Our Honor Code
My responsibility as a student, teacher or parent in the Flintridge Prep community is to be honest, kind, generous, and respectful.
Our Philosophy
We believe in a balanced approach to the full human development of our
students, promoting both academic achievement and creativity, social
engagement and individuality, active health, happiness, and responsibility.
We believe students thrive in intimate and supportive settings when
challenged to realize their full potential. Toward that end, we are
committed to retaining, developing, and supporting outstanding and committed
school faculty and administration.
We believe students can make positive contributions to their classmates,
school, and community through intellectual and social development,
sportsmanship and character, and community engagement.
We believe in encouraging creativity, risk-taking, and the development of a
mature and self-confident personality.
We believe in the essential value of diversity—of people, of talent, of
interests, of passions, and of engagements.
School History
Founded in 1933 by Doane Lowery, who was a trained YMCA administrator, Flintridge
Preparatory School for Boys began with 22 students on a bucolic patch of land in
then-rural La Cañada Flintridge.
A “non-sectarian, non-military, non-profit” college preparatory school, Flintridge Prep
served third grade through high school students—including a small number of boarding
students—with a starting roster of 7 teachers, one of whom, Malcolm Dickinson, became
headmaster in 1935. Prep’s first (lone) graduate was Peter Schenck ’36. Tuition in
1939-1940 was $135 per month for boarders and $65 per month for day students. In 1940,
Flintridge Prep was a founding member of the California Association of Independent
Schools (CAIS).
The property on the corner of what is now Foothill Boulevard and Crown Avenue was
purchased because the large house on the corner of the lot, called Skillen House, could
house boarders, the dining room, a kitchen, and administrative offices.
From the beginning, Flintridge Prep was known for its rigor and its commitment to a
well-rounded education. Sports and academics were equally encouraged and the school was
well-known for its swim team; the first thing Lowery built on the campus was a pool.
By the early 1950s, Flintridge Prep was taking part in the Southern California
prosperity boom. The school established an alumni association, purchased adjacent land,
and built new classrooms and a chemistry lab. A gym was completed on the school’s 25th
anniversary in 1958, the same year boarding was eliminated and the student body numbered
240.
More expansion took place in the 1960s, including two new classroom buildings and a new
pool. Lowery and many of the founding teachers retired, and the school, like the
country, saw change and evolution. A series of five headmasters took the helm from 1965
until 1975, when Edor Anderson, Jr. became headmaster.
In 1979, the Board of Trustees voted to admit girls for the first time. Cathy Bathke ’80
was Prep’s first female graduate. The school added a full complement of girls sports
soon after. The Norris Auditorium, computer lab, and science labs were completed in
1985. Flintridge Preparatory School reached true 50-50 gender balance in 2000.
Under the administration of Peter Bachmann, who was named headmaster in 1991, Prep added vital performing arts, visual arts, and human development programs. The centers of many of these programs are the Randall Performing Arts Center (completed in 2000) and the Chandramohan Library (completed in 2007). Human development became an essential part of the liberal arts mix. Bachmann prioritized faculty professional development and increased salaries, as well as student financial assistance and overall giving from parents, parents of alumni, and alumni. Prep has consistently topped national ranking of exceptional independent schools.
Prep Today
Currently 70 faculty, 33 of whom have master’s degrees and 12 of whom have doctoral
degrees, work with a student body of 530 7th through 12th graders on the 7.5 acre
campus. With an 8:1 student to faculty ratio and average class sizes of 15, students
learn and grown within a nurturing, collaborative, and engaged environment.
In the fall of 2020, the Bachmann Collaboration Building opened. The 17,000-square-foot
building features three floors dedicated to the school’s STEAM, Global Studies, and
Leadership programs. Created to promote deep learning for students, inspire
cross-pollination of ideas, projects, and experiments, and nurture creative problem
solving, the Bachmann Collaboration Building is one of the most significant changes to
Prep’s campus in over a decade.
In its history, Flintridge has had 12 school heads. Peter Bachmann began his tenure in
1991 and retired on June 30, 2020 after nearly 30 years as head and 40 years as a member
of the faculty. On July 12, 2021, Vanessa Walker-Oakes became the new head of school and
the school’s first female head.
Vanessa Walker-Oakes and student leaders celebrated a return to
in-person learning at Book Day 2021.
