John Thomas Dye School
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The John Thomas Dye School, nicknamed JTD, is an independent private coeducational nonsectarian elementary day school located in the Bel-Air area of Los Angeles, California, serving students in prekindergarten through sixth grade.
The school was founded in 1929 as the Brentwood Town and Country School by Cathryn Robberts Dye and her husband, John Thomas Dye II, with its first classes held in the Dyes' living room, and their son John Thomas Dye III its first student. The first permanent facility was built in 1949 and named the Bel Air Town and Country School, on the site still occupied by the school today. The school building was designed by noted Santa Monica architect John Byers.<ref>The Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica</ref> In 1959, the School was renamed The John Thomas Dye School in honor of John Thomas Dye III, who had become a fighter pilot killed by enemy action in World War II.<ref>All About JTD</ref>
The wealthy and famous have sent their children to Dye throughout its history. Each grade has fewer than two dozen students, and there are two teachers in every classroom. In 2003, tuition exceeded $15,000 annually, and parents are generally expected to donate still more. Some parents routinely shuttle their children to the school in chauffeured limousine, a service which can top $300 per day.<ref>Laurence Darmiento. "The cost of childhood: when price is no object, raising kids can become an exercise in excess", L.A. Business Journal, 2003-05-26. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.</ref> According to the New York Times, parents must postmark their child's application for kindergarten on a precise day one year in advance.<ref>Michele Willens. "Where Getting Into Kindergarten Is a Fierce Audition", 1993-09-09. Retrieved on 2006-11-02. Cited in Information Inequality, Herbert J. Schiller, Routledge (1995).</ref>
[edit] Notable alumni
- Eric Avery<ref name=Navarro>Biography of David Michael Navarro</ref>
- Monica Lewinsky<ref name=Monica>Review of Monica’s Story, By Andrew Morton, St. Martin’s Press, 279 pp., Memphis Flyer, March 15, 1999</ref>
- Dave Navarro<ref name=Navarro/>
- Lisa Marie Presley<ref name=Navarro/>
- Maureen Reagan<ref name=Morris>Edmund Morris (2000). Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan. Modern Library.</ref>
- Ron Reagan<ref name=Morris/>
- Melissa Rivers<ref>Participant Biography: Melissa Rivers for I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here!</ref>
- Rod Roddenberry<ref>Biography of Eugene W. Roddenberry</ref>
- Tori Spelling<ref name=Monica/>.
