The Dragon was originally founded in 1877 as the Oxford Preparatory School to educate the sons of Oxford University dons (professors). The name was changed to Dragon School and was run for many years by the Lynam family. They were progressive educationalists who believed that children should enjoy school and understand the world around them. The aims and ethos of the Dragon retain strong links to these roots. Nowadays the school has boarding and day pupils representing 30 different nationalities which reflects the cosmopolitan nature of the university city of Oxford. Young Dragon grow in confidence as they move through the School, and they progress to a wide range of top senior schools with many gaining academic and specialist scholarships each year. ‘Old Dragons’ have gone on to be successful in different fields, from politics to business and poetry to acting, and form an important part of the Dragon community.