Upper School

Virginia Keating-Miller: Headmaster

Teaching at Thornton-Donovan since 2002

B.A. Education Concordia College, Bronxville, NY, 1993
M.S. Education Iona College, New Rochelle, NY, 2003

Thornton Donovan’s academic program is unique, a level up from the curricula available in neighboring schools.

Upper School at T-D

Thornton-Donovan offers various courses in all the common branches and numerous world languages. Each year, thematic courses are designed to reflect a theme as the school celebrates a different country, culture, or historical character, which is an integral part of the program. Then, in the spring of the school year, Thornton-Donovan will visit, tour, and embrace the country, culture, or historical figure being saluted academically.

*Please note that as there is no “typical” at Thornton-Donovan, many courses reappear every year or every other year, but not all courses do return.
**Please visit the office if interested in APs.

Explore available courses.

Thornton-Donovan HIGH School

Summer Reading Assignments

Select TWO books that you haven't read before from our suggested list.

  • You must select books from the ‘Summer Reading PDF’.

    You can check many of these books out from a public library. Be thoughtful about your selection. Choose something of personal interest and something that will push you as a reader and thinker. You are free to read from any grade level.

This assignment will be due the first week of school and will serve as our community-building kickoff.

Guidelines to consider:

  • The spirit of this assignment is to encourage curiosity and thoughtfulness about books and the world. Be original, be creative, have fun! Please, please, please don't be boring. We are interested in your opinions, reactions, and responses to the book. No summaries, please; we can read those online, too.

  • Save your work digitally to easily upload your writing/artwork to Google Classroom by the first week of school, in the fall.

  • To find the reading list click the “Download Summer Reading PDF Here” button.

Choose ONE of the following prompts to complete.

  • Write a personal response to your chosen books. What did you find relatable / compelling / infuriating / thought-provoking / problematic and why? How do the issues and themes these books raise relate to your life? Dig into some specific ideas and moments that got you thinking. (500 words)

  • Create a piece of visual art that explores an important idea from the books you read. The piece should delve into your response to the books, not just provide an illustration. It may be any size or medium, but it must be your original artwork. Include a caption that explains your intentions and choices. (150-300 words)

  • Compose a letter to the author of your chosen books OR a letter to a character in them. In your letter, bring up the ideas and questions that the book raised for you. Consider offering your personal reactions to specific moments in the books. Write like it's a conversation, not an essay. (500 words)

General Selection

  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

    Henrietta Lacks was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine…

  • This Boy's Life A Memoir by Tobias Wolff

    Meet the young Toby Wolff, by turns tough and vulnerable, crafty and bumbling, and ultimately winning. As Toby fights for identity and self-respect again…

  • Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

    This is a compelling novel about a young heroine, Anna, who works at the Brooklyn Navy Yards during WWII and becomes one of the first woman divers while dealing with her elusive gangster father and other colorful characters.

  • Code Girls The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II by Liza Mundy

    This year's Greenwich Reads Pick is a good one, More than ten thousand women were recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges...

  • The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

    Cora: a young slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. When a fellow slave convinces her to join him on the Underground Railroad, she seizes the opportunities…

  • Notes of A Native Son by James Baldwin

    Powerful work written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view on the racist landscape of the United States…

  • Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

    First, in a new fantasy series, this installment introduces the reader to Lazlo Strange, a war orphan and junior librarian who has always feared that his dream…

  • Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

    A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise a plan…

  • Born A Crime Stories From A South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

    "Daily Show" host & comedian Trevor Noah shares funny yet poignant tales about growing up in South Africa and how, with his mother's help, overcame prejudice and set out on a path of his own making.

  • All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

    When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “nature…”

  • The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

    Lenora Allbright is 13 when her father convinces her mother, Cora, to forgo their inauspicious existence in Seattle and move to Kaneq, AK. It's 1974…

  • Just Mercy A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

    Bryan Stevenson was a gifted young attorney when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending the poor…

  • The History of Jane Doe by Michael Belanger

    Fans of John Green should check out Michael Belanger’s recently published first novel, The History of Jane Doe.