A Brief History

In 1929, founders, Cathryn Robberts Dye and her husband, John Thomas Dye II, started the Brentwood Town and Country School in their home for their only son, John Thomas Dye III, and his friends. Children flourished in this loving atmosphere. Soon all of the students were calling the founders Aunty Cathryn and Uncle John.

The School's reputation for academic excellence, strong ethics, and its unique learning environment, attracted many new students. By 1949, the School had out grown its home. A new, bigger facility, called The Bel Air Town and country School was built on its present site. In 1959, the School was renamed The John Thomas Dye School in honor of John Thomas Dye III, who was killed in action during World War II. Mr. and Mrs. Dye served as Headmaster and Headmistress until they retired in 1963. Back to top

A Deeper Look...

1929 through 1948

Cathryn Robberts Dye and John Thomas Dye II had a belief that their schools had an uncommon destiny. They were schools based on high ideals, integrity, and the quality of excellence, and the founders dedicated the school to this lofty purpose.

They believed the school could transmit these values from each generation to the next and motivate their development in individual lives, then communities and even the world.

Two years after WW I, the entire Dye family was forced to move from their beloved Indiana due to the loss of a valuable piece of their property through the mismanagement of a trusted friend. They moved to Los Angeles with a three month old son and four generations of family. Back to top

Although they came from a family of educators, neither of them had formal teacher training. John had majored in agriculture at University of Indiana and Cathryn had majored in Fine Arts at University of Iowa. John and Cathryn were the directors and administrators who offered teacher guidance from 1929 until they retired in 1963.

Six months after founding their school in the fields of corn and peas, with only two houses in sight, the stock market crashed. For the next sixteen years they would struggle to keep their school open during the Depression and World War II. They offered summer school, boarding for students from foreign countries, and even high school diplomas. They had planned to move the school from their house in the early forties, but Pearl Harbor and World War II interrupted their plans for expansion.Back to top

1949 through 1961

Agony gave way to hope as the war ended. The Dyes had overcome the loss of their property in Indiana, the Depression and the loss of their only son in World War II. Their dream school had survived many setbacks.

As Cathryn writes in her book Golden Years, "After the war was over and we had experienced the unbelievable loss of our beloved son, we knew that it was time to grow and to share with another generation of young people what had been created for John."

Their search for the right location ended when they found the present sight in Bel Air in 1948. This was undeveloped virgin land with no homes in sight. The school was to be a centerpiece of a planned community. The Dyes, along with three other investors, installed the roads and utilities to the property and dreamed of selling off over a 100 lots surrounding the school. Sixty-five students began classes on February 1, 1949. Back to top

Within two years, due to mismanagement, the owners were forced to foreclose on the development and the Dye's were left with huge debts on the school property. As Cathryn writes, "There were difficult times, but when we believe that something is meant to be, we can learn to forget the unpleasant, sometimes frightening experience, and, instead come to dwell on and to be grateful for the good that fills our lives." As more and more financing became necessary the Dyes sold their cars, their war bonds, cashed insurance policies and stocks and mortgages their Brentwood School property. They took no pay from 1949-1951.

In order to pay off the debt and to expand, a non-profit corporation was formed under the guidance of a Board of Trustees in 1951.

From 1949-1959 both the Brentwood Town and Country School and the Bel Air Town and Country School were operated with full enrollment. In 1959, the Board changed the name of the Bel Air campus to The John Thomas Dye School. The Dye's decided to close their Brentwood School in 1960 and enrolled as many students as possible at John Thomas Dye.

In June 1961 the mortgage of the school was burned in the fireplace of the Los Angeles Country Club. The Dyes dream had weathered all the setbacks and the future was bright for this outstanding school.Back to top

1961 through 1978

After nearly a decade of forming a new school, retiring the debt and finally consolidation of their dreams on one campus, the Dyes were looking towards a bright future.

By nine o'clock on Monday morning, November 6, 1961, only six months after paying off the mortgage, 280 boys and girls were happily working in their regular classrooms.

Suddenly, a telephone call from a neighbor warned the Dyes that a raging fire was fast approaching. Within one hour, all the children had been evacuated to the Dye's home at the corner of 26th and San Vincente. Late in the afternoon the unbelievable word came to the Dyes that their beloved John Dye Hall and the east and west wings had burned to the ground. The only building left was the Lower School (presently Kindergarten Campus).Back to top

Within three days an offer came from Westwood Community Methodist Church offered their facility to the school. Classes resumed on November 13, 1961. Children were bussed to the campus for physical education and art classes in the Art Room which had been spared.

Within one week, the Board of Trustees and the Dyes began rebuilding the school. Cathryn states in Golden Years,

"In retrospect, the agony and ecstasy of those days and weeks and months between November, 1961, and September, 1962 are unbelievable. Hundreds of parents, students, alumni, and friends went daily to our hill to watch the John Thomas Dye School rise again. And with heartfelt gratitude to all the wonderful people who had made it possible, our beloved school opened its new buildings in September, 1962." Back to top