Clara Spence, a visionary educator, founded her school for girls in 1892, welcoming ten students to a brownstone on West 48th Street in New York City. These girls were among the first to benefit from Clara Spence’s firm belief that higher education for women was of paramount importance. The outside world of politics, the arts and the community was embraced in her school, and from the beginning Spence girls developed a keen sense of self-confidence and assumed their roles as significant members of the community. Clara Spence died in 1923 after leading her school for 31 years.