— T H E G I R L S O F ’ 77 —
Form at all, according to Ms. Clarke, who doubled as an admissions officer. Though there was no set number, there had to be enough girls to make a coed class viable, and finding qualified applicants wasn’t easy. In light of the difficulties incumbent on being the oldest and entering Groton in eleventh grade, the candidates had to have something above and beyond intellect, athleticism, or a legacy connection. “They were looking for a certain level of maturity and strength of character,” notes Alyce Jones Lee ’77. A sense of independence, an adventurous spirit, and the willingness to take
size was essential, it was clear that the student body would have to get bigger in order to add girls without a significant cut in the number of boys. According to Mr. Brown, the target for the fall of 1977 was three hundred students: 180 boys and 120 girls. In fall 1975, the first year of coeducation, the school matriculated 208 boys and 48 girls distributed among the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Forms. It would take a few admissions cycles to reach the established goal. Initially, there was some debate over whether to accept girls into the Fifth
COEDUCATION at Groton
Boys Girls
Based on fall matriculation figures
The Girls of ’77 TOTAL STUDENTS 225
225
200
200
175
175
150
150
125
125
100
100
75
75
50
50
25
25
74 / 75
24
75 / 76
Groton School Quarterly
76 / 77
•
77/ 78
Spring 2017
78 / 79
74 / 75
79 / 80
84 / 85 89 / 90 94 / 95 99 / 00 04 / 05 09 / 10 14 / 15 16 / 17