Rutgers Preparatory School is the oldest independent, college preparatory school in New Jersey. Founded in 1766, RPS today is a coeducational day school with programs from pre-kindergarten through grade twelve. In its origin, RPS represented the joint aspirations of Dutch and English colonists and it has sustained this remarkable tradition of multiculturalism throughout its history. This diversity is a strength celebrated at RPS.



There was quite a competition between Newark and New Brunswick during the 1760's to obtain a charter for the first college in the colony. Ultimately, New Brunswick succeeded in chartering Queen's College and Queen's College Grammar School (Rutgers Prep) because only here did both the Anglican and Dutch Reformed congregations join together in their petition to the crown. As advertised on August 15, 1768, the first master to give instruction here was Caleb Cooper of Nassau Hall (Princeton).



A boys' boarding school throughout most of its history, RPS has strong international connections, especially with Japan. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the first Japanese students to come to America studied at the prep school before attending Rutgers University and hundreds would follow them by the turn of the twentieth century.



During the Progressive Era, Rutgers Preparatory School was an innovator, being among the first schools in the nation to institute laboratory sciences, extracurricular activities, student publications and community service. This leadership was also reflected in an expansion of the curriculum and the inclusion of female students from 1892 through the 1920's. It was during this period that poet A. Joyce Kilmer '04 attended the school.