Spence School is an all-girls independent school in New York City, founded in 1892 by Clara B. Spence who was its head for 31 years. The school was once boarding, and its motto is "non scholae sed vitae discimus" (Latin for "Not for school, but for life we learn").
The school is popular with elite families in New York City.
The first building was located on New York City's West 48th Street although the school has been located on East 91st Street since 1929. The campus is currently located in three buildings in the Carnegie Hill Historic District on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The Upper School (9–12) and Middle School (5–8) are housed a half block from Central Park/5th Avenue at 22 East 91st Street, next to the Cooper-Hewitt Museum. The Lower School (K–4) is housed in the renovated landmark building William Goadby Loew House on East 93rd Street between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue.
For the 2012-13 academic year, tuition is $39,200 for all grades K-12. Its sister schools are the all-girls Brearley School, the all-girls Chapin School and the all-boys Collegiate School, all in New York City. Forbes magazine ranked Spence ninth on its "America's Best Prep Schools" list in 2010.
In a Worth magazine study, out of the 31,700 private and public high schools in the United States, Spence ranked the sixth most successful school in the country in placing its graduates in Harvard, Yale and Princeton.
The top most frequently attended colleges and universities for Spence graduates from 2006-2010 were: University of Pennsylvania (14), Princeton University (13), Duke University (12), Cornell University (10), Dartmouth (10), Harvard University (7), Yale University (6), Stanford University (5), and Brown University (5).
Notable alumnae
Talia Lewis, philanthropist and comedienne
Serena Altschul, broadcast journalist
Madeleine Astor, wife of John Jacob Astor IV
Georgina Bloomberg, daughter of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Ellen Sparry Brush, pioneer anthropologist, first woman to become a member of the Explorers Club in NYC
Eleanor A. Campbell, M.D., physician and founder Judson Health Center, daughter of Elizabeth Milbank Anderson
Huguette M. Clark, heiress and philanthropist.
Dawn French, British comedienne, star of French and Saunders and The Vicar of Dibley, and ex-wife of Lenny Henry
Helen Clay Frick, daughter of Henry Clay Frick
Francine du Plessix Gray, author
Lauren Helm, M.D., psychiatrist and former fashion model
Nancy Hopkins, molecular biologist
Jade Jagger, jewelry designer and daughter of Mick Jagger and Bianca Jagger
Bonnie Jenkins, Ambassador
Margaret Carnegie Miller, daughter of Andrew Carnegie.
Alley Mills, actress
Elizabeth Montgomery, actress
Gwyneth Paltrow, actress
Mary Ellis Peltz, music critic, poet, and first chief editor of Opera News
Marjorie Post, philanthropist
Lucia Haagensen, philanthropist
Alexis Lass, author