Educator best known as the founder of Miss Porter's School.

Sarah Porter, unlike most women of her time, received a classical education from Yale professors who were willing to teach women "after hours." At the age of 30, in 1843, she established her own school but was unable to support herself, so she left to teach in Buffalo . Then, in 1847, she was asked to return to Farmington to establish a female counterpart to what had become Simeon Hart's Academy for Boys.

The original class at Miss Porter's School included 25 students, nine of them boarders. Soon the school's reputation spread throughout the world, with many prominent families sending their daughters to Connecticut to study. By 1885, Sarah Porter had bought the original schoolhouse and surrounding land, as well as the Union Hotel on Main Street , to accommodate increasing numbers of students. In the 1850's, the curriculum included Latin, French, German, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, chemistry, history, geography, music and natural philosophy. Extracurricular activities included required Bible study on Sundays and lectures by prominent speakers.

Though Porter was not in favor of women's suffrage, she did support reforms in divorce and property laws which had disadvantaged women. She also founded the Farmington Lodge Society to bring "tired and overworked" girls from New York City to Farmington during their summer vacation.