The Branson School (also known as Branson, Branson School, or KBS) is a co-educational college-preparatory high school for students in grades 9–12. The school has 370 students, and is located in Ross, California, 11 miles (18 km) north of San Francisco.
In 1916, a group of 15 families in Marin County, California, pooled resources to start a local private school. The Little Gray School was finished in 1917. It began as a coeducational primary school, for students in grades 1–4. In 1918 it added intermediate and upper levels, both of which were limited to girls, and was renamed the San Rafael School for Girls.[1]
Portrait of school's namesake, headmistress Katharine Fleming Branson
In April 1920, the school's trustees appointed two co-headmistresses, Katharine Fleming Branson and her sister Laura Elizabeth Branson. The elder of the two sisters, Katharine Fleming Branson, was Associate Director of Studies at the Beard SchoolinOrange, New Jersey. Laura Elizabeth Branson was a teacher of mathematics and science at The Shipley SchoolinBryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and had formerly served as head of the Department of Mathematics at Rosemary HallinGreenwich, Connecticut. Both sisters were cum laude graduates of Bryn Mawr College.
Branson girls raking leaves in front of the Residential Hall in the 1950s
One former student has alleged that the school condoned teacher and student relationships.[2] There was also a law firm report that illustrated the permissive culture of the school. [3] The school initially seemed to take the investigation seriously, however there's no comment about it on this page.[4] The actual report that named sex offenders sparked an investigation at University High School where the coach Randy Taylor was employed after Branson. [5]
The division of the two schools by gender started to become obsolete by the 1980s, as the two schools shared faculty, trustees, and curriculum. In July 1985, The Katharine Branson School and the Mount Tamalpais School were merged as a coeducational private day school, The Branson School. Today the school is approximately evenly composed of boys and girls.
The Tallant Science Center is home to most science classes at Branson. The center is 6,000 square feet, and contains science labs, prep spaces and storage rooms.
New Oaks contains most of the mathematics and language classes at Branson.
Study Hall is composed of English and History classrooms, and a computer lab.
