Gill St. Bernard's School is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational, college preparatory day school located along the Somerset-Morris county line between the Gladstone section of Peapack-Gladstone and Chester Township, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Established in 1900, Gill St. Bernard's is the result of the merger of two Somerset Hills institutions: St. Bernard's School for boys in Gladstone and The Gill School for girls. The school serves students in primary (3- to 4-year-olds) through twelfth grade. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1979 and is accredited until January 2028.
Gill St. Bernard's School is a member of and accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools and the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools. In 2014, Gill St. Bernard's was ranked the number four private high school in New Jersey by national ranking service Niche.
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 561 students (plus 17 in PreK) and 78.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 7.1:1.
Contents
Campus
The campus has three divisions: the lower school (Cox Building), middle school (Conover Building), and upper school. The upper school contains the Chapin Science Complex, the Hockenbury Building (Student Center, Library, and Humanities Classes), Founders Hall (Art, Lunch, and Language, and Dining Hall) and Matthews Theater (music, drama, performing arts etc.)
History
St. Bernard's School was founded in 1900 by the Rev. Thomas A. Conover. In the early days, academic classes alternated with work in the carpentry shop, print shop or on the farm. Regular attendance at religious services was required. In 1956, boarding at St. Bernard's School was discontinued.
The Gill School was established by Miss Elizabeth Gill in 1934 as the Wychwood School. In 1940 Miss Gill's School moved to Stronghold, the former Dryden estate on Bernardsville mountain.
In 1972, St. Bernard's School merged with Miss Gill's School to become Gill St. Bernard's School. At this time the religious affiliation of St. Bernard's was discontinued. The new school hosted grades K–8 on the old Gill campus in Bernardsville and grades 9–12 on the St. Bernard's campus in Gladstone. The two divisions consolidated in 1997 on the Gladstone campus. Sid Rowell became Headmaster in 2001 and served until July 2025, when he was succeeded by Delvin Dinkins.
Today, there are three divisions—Lower, Middle and Upper—located on 208 acres (840,000 m2) which span the Somerset-Morris County line between the Borough of Peapack-Gladstone and Chester Township.
The school acquired Hi-Hills Day Camp in 2002, which had previously operated on the campus since the late 1960s. A new athletic center opened in fall 2004 that includes three full-sized basketball courts, administrative offices, and Brueckner Hall. The Hockenbury Academic Center, a 33,000-square-foot (3,100 m2) academic building, opened in March 2009 and includes Upper School classrooms, student center, conference room and a school store. An addition to Founders Hall was completed in 2012 that included additional dining space and art studios. A new turf field was constructed in summer 2013. The school also features five playing fields, a track, seven, tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool and a low ropes course.
Extracurricular activities
The Gill St. Bernard's Knights compete in the Skyland Conference which is comprised of public and private high schools in Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren counties and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 277 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Non-Public B for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 37 to 366 students in that grade range (equivalent to Group I for public schools).
Athletic facilities include a field house, athletic center, seven all-weather tennis courts, outdoor track, two full size basketball courts, sport court, lacrosse wall, as well as soccer and sports fields. Programs include fencing, basketball, cross country, volleyball, baseball, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track and field, swimming and tennis.
Gill St. Bernard's offers 24 different opportunities for interscholastic sports, including 12 competitive athletic programs for boys and 13 for girls in the Upper School. In the three years through 2013, every varsity team qualified for the NJSIAA post-season, and many advanced to sectional semifinals and finals. GSB teams have won 35 conference championships since the beginning of the 2006–2007 school year. Since 2007, five GSB varsity teams have been ranked in the "Top 20" in New Jersey, a state with more than 450 public and non-public schools. The girls' basketball, boys' tennis, boys' soccer, boys' basketball, and girls' tennis teams have won Non-Public B North Sectional Championships. The girls' basketball team won the Somerset County championship in the 2008–2009, 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 school years, and was the smallest school in Somerset County to ever win a county championship in a team sport. Several coaches have been named Coach of the Year by various media outlets.
The school was awarded the ninth annual ShopRite Cup in the Non-Public B Division in 2012 as the most outstanding school. In 2013, Gill St. Bernard's School was runner-up.
The 2007 girls tennis team won the Non-Public Group B state championship, defeating Newark Academy in the semifinals and knocking off runner-up Moorestown Friends School 5-0 in the final match of the playoffs.
Notable alumni
Sean S. Baker (born 1971, class of 1989), Palme d'Or and four-time Academy Award winning film director best known for Anora and The Florida Project
Tyus Battle (born 1997, transferred), college basketball player for the Syracuse Orange
Greg Best (born 1964, class of 1982), equestrian competitor and coach in the sport of show jumping who won two silver medals for the United States in the 1988 Summer Olympic Games
Edie Clark (1948–2024), nonfiction author who was known for her writings with Yankee magazine and books on New England life
Tim DiBisceglie (born 1994, class of 2013), professional soccer player for the Philadelphia Atoms
Ella Fajardo (born 2003), point guard for the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights women's basketball team who has represented the Philippine national team in international competition
Elena Kampouris (born 1997), actress who appeared in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
Page McConnell (born 1963, class of 1982), multi-instrumentalist most noted for his work as the keyboardist and a songwriter for the band Phish
Mackenzie Mgbako (born 2004, transferred), basketball player, small forward for the Indiana Hoosiers
Jaren Sina (born 1994), college basketball player who played for the Seton Hall Pirates and George Washington Colonials
Laura Sydell (born 1961, class of 1979), former senior technology reporter for Public Radio International's Marketplace, and a regular reporter on for National Public Radio's All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition