Trevor Zoo

About Trevor Zoo

The Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo, generally known as the Trevor Zoo, sits on the campus of Millbrook School, a private boarding school in Millbrook, New York. It is the only AZA-accredited zoo in the United States located at a high school, and it is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums as one of 237 AZA-accredited facilities nationwide. The zoo occupies about six acres of the school's grounds and houses 170 exotic and indigenous animals.

What sets the Trevor Zoo apart from most zoos is its role in the school itself. Millbrook students take part in its daily operation through a curriculum called Zoo Community Service, which involves them directly in animal husbandry, diet preparation, and veterinary medicine. The zoo also operates its own on-site veterinary clinic. It is run to serve both an educational mission for the school's students and a public visiting mission for the surrounding community.

History

The zoo was founded in 1936 at Millbrook School by Frank Trevor, the school's first biology teacher, who started it with his students as a hands-on way to teach about wildlife. In 2025, the zoo was renamed the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo to also honor Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, a Millbrook graduate from the class of 1959 who became a prominent conservation biologist known as "the Planet Doctor," championing biodiversity and protecting the Amazon while shaping global environmental policy. Lovejoy credited his time at the zoo as a student with shaping his lifelong commitment to protecting biodiversity, and the school describes him as arriving at Millbrook uninterested in biology before Frank Trevor's influence changed his path.

Exhibits and habitats

Descriptions of the zoo's habitats were not available in the sources used for this page beyond its overall footprint of about six acres and its total of 170 animals. The zoo's facilities include a dedicated on-site veterinary clinic used both for animal care and for student instruction in veterinary medicine.

Animal highlights

The zoo lists at least 170 individual animals on its website. A full species list was not available from the sources used for this page.

Conservation and programs

The zoo's educational role is built directly into how Millbrook students engage with wildlife. Through the Zoo Community Service curriculum, students participate hands-on in animal husbandry, diet preparation, and veterinary medicine, giving them direct experience with the zoo's animals alongside their more traditional academic classes. The renaming of the zoo in honor of Dr. Thomas Lovejoy also reflects a broader emphasis on conservation biology as part of the school's identity: Lovejoy went on to shape global environmental policy and conservation work in the Amazon, and the school credits his time working with the zoo's founder for setting that career in motion.

Planning your visit

As listed on the school's website, the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, with Members-Only Mornings from 8 to 9 a.m. Visitors must make a reservation online before arriving; a single reservation can include up to ten people, and groups arriving together as multiple parties or families should book one shared reservation rather than several. Guests can arrive within about 60 minutes of their reservation time and are welcome to stay as long as they like once admitted, and payment is not collected until arrival.

Admission is $5 for children ages 3 to 12, and free for children ages 0 to 2. The zoo is located on Millbrook School Road, about six miles east of Millbrook and four miles west of Amenia, just north of Route 44; the school's website provides driving directions from both Route 44 and from the Rhinebeck and Pine Plains area. From the parking lot, visitors walk across a curved bridge and follow a path along a stream to the Mill Welcome Center and gift shop. As with any seasonal admission and reservation policy, hours, pricing, and reservation rules should be confirmed on the official website before visiting.