Saint Andrew's School began as a boarding high school for boys, and was founded by the Episcopal School Foundation in 1961, led by The Rev. Hunter Wyatt-Brown Jr., who became the first headmaster. The late
Alexander D. Henderson Jr., a retired
Avon Products, Inc. executive, and his wife, Lucy (Lucia Maria Ernst), provided significant private
donations during the early years. The Hendersons donated a substantial portion of the start-up funding while the property itself, which was located on an unused section of the Butts Farm west of Boca Raton, was donated by the ARVIDA corporation and the Butts family with the condition that a
Christian school be established there. This agreement later included in the school by-laws that the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida be an
ex officio member of the board of trustees. The School opened on September 21, 1962, with 122 boarding and day students from as far away as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and several states including Michigan, New York, and Ohio using the English system of Forms 1 (7th grade) through 6 (12th grade). The School served as the original full-time training camp and practice facility for the
Miami Dolphins in the mid-1960s through 1969 and in 1968 served as the training facility to the
Baltimore Colts for
Super Bowl III. The campus and facilities also served as the filming location for the 1968 movie
Paper Lion starring
Alan Alda,
Lauren Hutton,
Roy Scheider, and
Alex Karras adapted from the
George Plimpton autobiographical pro football book of the same name. In 1977, the School served as camp HQ for the
PGA National Academy of Golf that included exhibitions and instruction by
Julius Boros and
Andy North. In 2011, the Scots Summer Tennis camp included an exhibition by
David Wheaton. The first group of girls as boarding students were admitted in 1972. Saint Andrew's School added a Lower School in 2000 and a Junior Kindergarten program in 2008. In 2010, the Saint Andrew's School began offering the
International Baccalaureate Diploma program as an IB World School and in 2011, the school was accepted as a full international member of the
Round Square Organization and was declared a "Green School of Excellence." In 2013, Saint Andrew's School hosted the Round Square International Conference with over 750 educators and international students attending, including
Constantine II of Greece and
Prince Andrew, Duke of York. Over the last fifteen years, more than $30 million in new plant construction and renovation projects have been completed. The capital projects include a new welcome center, multiple gymnasiums with one featuring a rock climbing wall, a dance studio, a new track and field, the renovation of the administrative buildings, a track and field facility, a science building, and a preschool. The school has also constructed a new Head of School residence and erected a replica of the original Chickee Chapel that had been built by the Miccosukee Seminole Indian tribe with which the early school had a close relationship. The idea for that chapel and several 'carports' of the same construction that dotted the campus in its early years was the brainchild of Father Raymond M. O'Brien, an original founding faculty member and the school's chaplain, Latin/Theology teacher, and Classical Language Department Head, as a continuing symbol of School heritage. The original altar front, a Seminole princess painted native nativity scene commissioned by Fr. O'Brien, now hangs on display in Saint Andrew's Chapel on campus. In 2015, SAS embarked on a new campus master plan, which made improvements and enhancements in the Middle and Upper School areas, including the introduction of the Dr. Albert Cohen Family Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in 2018. In 2019, Justin Hall, which houses the school's Advancement Office, was constructed and Andrews Hall in the Upper School was renovated. In 2021, the next phase involved the total renovation of Henderson Hall into the new home of the Parker Library. ==Leadership==