Northfield Mount Hermon School

Coordinates: 42°40′03″N 72°29′08″W / 42.66750°N 72.48556°W / 42.66750; -72.48556
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Northfield Mount Hermon
Address
Map
1 Lamplighter Way

Gill
,
Massachusetts
01354

United States
Coordinates42°40′03″N 72°29′08″W / 42.66750°N 72.48556°W / 42.66750; -72.48556
Information
School typePrivate, day and boarding, college-preparatory
MottoEducation for the Head, Heart, and Hand
Discere et vivere
(Learn and Live)
Established1879; 145 years ago (1879)
FounderDwight L. Moody
Head of schoolBrian H. Hargrove
Faculty90 (on an FTE basis)
Enrollment672 total
82% boarding
18% day
Average class size12
Student to teacher ratio6:1
Campus size215 acres (core campus), 1,353 acres (total land holdings)
Campus typeRural
Color(s)Maroon and light blue   
SongJerusalem
Athletics20 interscholastic sports; 67 teams
Mascotthe Hogger
Endowment$185.9 million (June 30, 2023)
Websitewww.nmhschool.org

Northfield Mount Hermon School (abbreviated as NMH), is a co-educational college-preparatory school in Gill, Massachusetts. It educates boarding and day students in grades 9–12, as well as post-graduate students. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association and the Six Schools League.

History[edit]

Egalitarian origins[edit]

In 1879, Northfield, Massachusetts native Dwight Lyman Moody (1837–99) established the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies (later called the Northfield School for Girls) in his hometown. Two years later, he established a brother school, the Mount Hermon School for Boys, across the Connecticut River in Gill, Massachusetts. The schools were consolidated into a single non-profit corporation in 1912, but operated separately until 1971.[1][2]

Moody initially envisioned the schools as a source of terminal education; in the early days, some of the students were in their thirties.[3] They initially offered three separate programs of study: one college-preparatory, one technical, and one for future ministers.[4] In the early days, most students enrolled in the ministerial program, whose curriculum was designed to be sufficiently rigorous that a graduate could "enter the ministry or a related field without further formal education."[4]

Memorial Chapel was featured in the film The Holdovers.[5] Although the school was founded by a Christian preacher, NMH is now a secular institution.[6] The Chapel hosts a weekly interfaith all-school meeting.[7]

An Evangelical preacher, D. L. Moody sought "to provide a Christian education for [students] of high purpose and limited means."[8] The schools charged low tuition ($100/year in 1881) compared to other boarding schools and relied heavily on donations from Moody's followers.[9] Through the 1920s, the rule was that "[n]o student was accepted if he could afford the fees of more expensive schools"; as a result, the students were "drawn largely from families at or near the poverty line," and as late as 1914, a majority of male students at Mount Hermon had previously worked in an occupation or trade.[10] In 1903, the schools reportedly enrolled 1,200 students and received at least four applicants for every vacancy.[11]

On campus, the schools tended to provide a "community life of minimum expenditure."[12] The schools operated a campus farm, and all students (both boys and girls) were required to perform some kind of labor to help fund the school's operations.[13][1][14] Today, each student is still required to hold a job on campus, working three hours a week.[15]

Evolution to nonsectarian college-preparatory school[edit]

Blake Student Center was donated by alumnus S. Prestley Blake, the founder of Friendly's Ice Cream.[16]

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Northfield schools shifted to a more conventional college-preparatory boarding school model. Enrollment remained high; by 1930, the schools' combined enrollment made the institution the largest private secondary school in the United States.[17] The ministerial curriculum was eliminated, and although a minority of Mount Hermon graduates went on to college during the Moody years, by the 1940s "virtually all [students] did so."[18]

During the Great Depression, many Americans proved unable to pay even the Northfield schools' relatively low tuition fees. As such, the schools began accepting wealthy students in the 1930s.[19] Nonetheless, they still educated large numbers of working- and middle-class students; in 1963 60% of the combined schools' students were on scholarship.[19] The cost of providing a college-preparatory education has increased over time, and the school's reliance on wealthy students has increased accordingly. The percentage of scholarship students halved from 1963 to 2015.[19][20]

The schools' ties to Evangelical Christianity weakened amidst the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy, and the schools eventually shifted to "a more liberal brand of Protestantism."[21][17]

Ethnic and regional diversity[edit]

Northfield Mount Hermon has a long tradition of educating minority and international students. (D. L. Moody was harshly criticized for his failure to oppose the emerging segregation movement when visiting the South in 1876; he founded Northfield Seminary three years later.[22])

One of Mount Hermon's first graduates, Thomas Nelson Baker Sr., was a freed slave who became the first African-American to obtain a PhD in philosophy in the United States.[23] As late as 1950, the Northfield schools were two of a handful of New England boarding schools admitting African-American students.[24][25] Several notable black lawyers attended the Northfield schools in the 1940s and 1950s, including judges William C. Pryor and Anna Diggs Taylor[26] and civil rights attorney James Nabrit III, who argued (and won) Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.[27][28] In 1963 Mount Hermon's president pioneered a program to prepare black students to attend private schools, which developed into the A Better Chance program.[29]

Sixteen of Northfield Seminary's first 100 students were Native Americans.[1] In an era where the U.S. government sought to relocate Native Americans to federal boarding schools, Moody sought to train Native teachers who would return to their communities and open local schools.[30] At Mount Hermon's first commencement in 1887, one student addressed the audience "in his native language, for the representatives of the Sioux, Shawnee, and Alaskan tribes in the school."[31] Henry Roe Cloud, class of 1906, was the first Native American to graduate from Yale.[26][32] The Athabascan Walter Harper attended the school in the 1900s after becoming the first man to summit Denali.[33] In the 1970s and 1980s, the school educated two of "the first Navajos to matriculate at Princeton."[34]

The Northfield schools have educated students from Asia since at least 1886.[35] Many international students were referred to the schools by American missionaries.[36] Chan Loon Teung, class of 1892, was Harvard's first Chinese graduate.[23][37] Pixley Seme, the founder and president of the African National Congress, graduated from NMH in 1902.[26] In 1889 Mount Hermon enrolled 37 international students from 15 countries, mostly Canada and the British Isles; 3 students came from East Asia, 3 from Turkey, and 1 from Africa.[38] In 1904 it enrolled 113 international students from 27 countries, including 14 from Asia.[38]

21st-century downsizing and reorientation[edit]

Northfield Seminary's Marquand Hall (pictured in 1904) is now part of Thomas Aquinas College's Northfield campus.[39][40]

From 2004 to 2005, NMH closed its Northfield campus and announced that it would halve its enrollment.[41][42] The school explained that it wanted to reduce its high operating costs, including faculty salaries and the expenses of running two campuses.[42] It sold Northfield's academic core in 2009 and the surrounding grounds in 2016.[43][44] Since 2019, Northfield has hosted a satellite campus of California-based Catholic liberal arts college Thomas Aquinas College.[41][45]

Since the downsizing, NMH's faculty and student body have shrunk, but the share of students on financial aid has not increased. In 2003, NMH educated 1,124 students, 42% of whom were on financial aid.[46] In the 2023–24 school year, the school enrolled 630 students, 37% of whom were on financial aid.[47] The student-teacher ratio remained constant at 6:1.[46][47] In the 2023–24 school year, 23% of the student body came from abroad, and 33% of the American students (25.4% of the student body) identified as people of color.[47]

NMH is currently conducting a fundraising campaign which aims to raise $225 million, including $120 million for the endowment ($65 million for financial aid, $10 million for faculty salaries, $45 million for general purposes) and $55 million for facility improvements.[48]

The school was a major filming location for Alexander Payne's 2023 film The Holdovers, standing in for the fictional Barton Academy.[5][49]

Tuition[edit]

Tuition and financial aid[edit]

In the 2023–24 school year, NMH charged boarding students $72,647 and day students $48,302, plus other mandatory and optional fees.[50] International students were charged an additional $3,345.[50]

37% of the student body is on financial aid, which covers, on average, $56,314 (77.5% of tuition) for boarding students and $34,361 (71.1% of tuition) for day students.[48] The school commits to meet 100% of an admitted student's demonstrated financial need.[51]

Endowment and expenses[edit]

NMH's financial endowment stood at $185.9 million as of June 30, 2023.[52] In its Internal Revenue Service filings for the 2021–22 school year, NMH reported total assets of $311.8 million, net assets of $212.4 million, investment holdings of $178.0 million, and cash holdings of $23.3 million. NMH also reported $36.7 million in program service expenses and $9.1 million in grants (primarily student financial aid).[53]

Athletics[edit]

James and Forslund Gymnasiums

NMH has one of the strongest athletic programs in New England. Notable teams include boys' basketball (2013 national title, 4 New England titles),[54][55] boys' cross country (27 New England titles),[56] track and field (8 New England titles),[57] boys' soccer (7 New England titles, the most of any school),[58] girls' volleyball (7 New England titles),[59] girls' basketball (5 New England titles),[60] wrestling (5 New England titles),[61] and girls' alpine skiing (3 New England titles).[62]

In recent years, NMH's postgraduate program has become a popular option for students seeking to bolster their academic and athletic resumes before applying to college.[63] In 2014, the Harvard Crimson wrote that NMH "has become the standard layover destination for [postgraduate basketball] players in the Ivy League."[64] (The previous year, 47.7% of Ivy League men's basketball players had prep school experience.[63]) According to the NMH website, "[o]ver the past 15 years, NMH has sent 45 players to the Ivy League, which is more than 3x the amount of any other program."[55]

In February 2024, the school announced plans to build a new hockey rink (to open in 2025-26) and to convert its existing hockey rink into a new set of basketball and tennis courts (to open in 2026). The project is estimated to cost $20 million.[65]

William G. Morgan, the inventor of volleyball, graduated from Mount Hermon in 1893.[66] NMH also claims to have invented the sport of Ultimate Frisbee in 1968.[67]

Arts programs[edit]

Rhodes Arts Center opened in 2008.[68]

The Rhodes Arts Center houses a concert hall, a black-box theater, and art and music rehearsal spaces and practice rooms.[68][69]

Memorial Chapel houses a 2-manual 27-stop, 37-rank tracker organ with a pedal compass of 30, and a manual compass of 56.[70]

Notable alumni[edit]

Main article: List of Northfield Mount Hermon people

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Our History". Northfield Mount Hermon School. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  2. ^ State Library of Massachusetts (1912). Acts and resolves passed by the General Court, 1912. Boston, MA: Secretary of the Commonwealth. pp. 610–11.
  3. ^ Curry, Joseph (1972). Mount Hermon from 1881 to 1971 : an historical analysis of a distinctive American boarding school. University of Massachusetts, Amherst. pp. 48-52.
  4. ^ a b Curry, pp. 39-40.
  5. ^ a b Moon, Ra. "Where was The Holdovers filmed? The Barton School and all the locations". Atlas of Wonders. Archived from the original on 2024-02-26. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  6. ^ "Campus & Spiritual Life". Northfield Mount Hermon School. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  7. ^ "Tour-Memorial Chapel". Northfield Mount Hermon School. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  8. ^ Curry, p. 1.
  9. ^ Curry, pp. 1-2, 103.
  10. ^ Curry, pp. 1-2, 56-57, 99-100.
  11. ^ "College Notes". The Journal of Education. 58 (19 (1453)): 330–330. 1903. ISSN 0022-0574.
  12. ^ Allis, Jr., Frederick S. (1979). Youth from Every Quarter: A Bicentennial History of Phillips Academy, Andover. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England. p. 279.
  13. ^ "Education: At Northfield". Time. 1934-09-24. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  14. ^ "PUPILS EARN $66,000 OF TUITION COSTS; All at Northfield Contribute to Total of 330,000 Work Hours in Schools' Year". The New York Times. 1938-12-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  15. ^ "Workjob". Northfield Mount Hermon School. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  16. ^ Heinonen, Sarah (2021-02-23). "Blake's philanthropy can be seen around the region". Reminder Publishing. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  17. ^ a b "Education: Northfield Milestone". Time. 1930-11-03. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  18. ^ Curry, pp. 6, 75-76.
  19. ^ a b c Curry, pp. 101-03.
  20. ^ "2015-16 Fast Facts" (PDF). Northfield Mount Hermon School. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-01. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  21. ^ Curry, p. 5.
  22. ^ Blum, Edward J. (2001). "Gilded Crosses: Postbellum Revivalism and the Reforging of American Nationalism". The Journal of Presbyterian History (1997-). 79 (4): 288–90. ISSN 1521-9216.
  23. ^ a b Neubert, Martha (Spring 2022). "Throughline". NMH Magazine: 9 – via Issuu.
  24. ^ Plaut, Richard L. (1954). "Racial Integration in Higher Education in the North". The Journal of Negro Education. 23 (3): 314–15. doi:10.2307/2293229. ISSN 0022-2984.
  25. ^ Yoo, Paula (2021-04-20). From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement. WW Norton. ISBN 978-1-324-00288-8.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Prominent Alumni | Northfield Mount Hermon". Northfield Mount Hermon School. Archived from the original on 2011-06-18. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  27. ^ Yardley, William (2013-03-28). "James M. Nabrit, a Fighter for Civil Rights, Dies at 80". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  28. ^ "James M. Nabrit, III". Oyez. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  29. ^ Allis, pp. 626-27.
  30. ^ Ehrlander, Mary F. (2017). Walter Harper: Alaska Native Son. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 85–86.
  31. ^ Askins, Kathryn (2009). Bridging Cultures: American Indian Students at the Northfield Mount Hermon School. University of New Hampshire. pp. 116, 119–120.
  32. ^ "Yale Celebrates First Native American Graduate: Henry Roe Cloud". YaleNews. 2010-10-29. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  33. ^ James, David (2022-05-21). "Alaska Magazine | The Brief, But Bright Story of Walter Harper". Alaska Magazine. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  34. ^ Bush, Alfred L. (2020). "A Few Incidents from My Life Among the Indians on the Princeton Campus". The Princeton University Library Chronicle. 78 (1): 115. ISSN 0032-8456.
  35. ^ Curry, pp. 59-61.
  36. ^ Sargent, Porter (1920). A Handbook of American Private Schools. Boston, MA: Porter Sargent. p. 227.
  37. ^ Ly, Long V.; Jager, Martine J. (2012). "Three Generations of Eminent American Chinese: Lives Intertwined With History". Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology (Philadelphia, Pa.). 1 (3): 129–134. doi:10.1097/APO.0b013e31825633e4. ISSN 2162-0989. PMID 26107327.
  38. ^ a b Curry, p. 61.
  39. ^ "Marquand Hall, Northfield Seminary". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  40. ^ "New England Campus Map". Thomas Aquinas College. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  41. ^ a b Kinney, Jim (2021-07-28). "College buys nine campus homes from Northfield Mount Hermon". Springfield Republican. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  42. ^ a b Badman, John (2004-01-24). "NMH to Consolidate School Into Single Mount Hermon Campus". The Phillipian. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  43. ^ Associated Press (2013-01-02). "Former Northfield-Mount Hermon campus given to group that will find owner". Mass Live. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  44. ^ "Baker-Polito Administration Preserves 1,300 Acres of Land in Northfield". Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  45. ^ "New England". Thomas Aquinas College. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  46. ^ a b "NMH Fast Facts". Northfield Mount Hermon School. Archived from the original on 2003-02-24. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  47. ^ a b c "2023 NMH Facts and Figures". Northfield Mount Hermon School. 2024-03-14. p. 6-7. Retrieved 2024-04-23 – via Issuu.
  48. ^ a b "This Place, This Moment: The Campaign for Northfield Mount Hermon". NMH Campaign. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  49. ^ Rathe, Adam (2023-11-04). "How The Holdovers Makes a Star of Boarding School". Town & Country. Archived from the original on 2024-02-26. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  50. ^ a b "Admission - Tuition & Expenses | Boarding & Day School | NMH". Northfield Mount Hermon School. Archived from the original on 2023-07-10. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  51. ^ "Admission - Need-based Scholarships". Northfield Mount Hermon School. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  52. ^ "NMH 2023 Financial Highlights". Northfield Mount Hermon School. 2024-03-07. Retrieved 2024-04-23 – via Issuu.
  53. ^ "Northfield Mount Hermon School, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  54. ^ "NMH Wins National Prep Championship |". newenglandrecruitingreport.com. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  55. ^ a b "Basketball". Northfield Mount Hermon School. 2023-11-17. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  56. ^ "Cross Country". Northfield Mount Hermon School. 2023-10-14. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  57. ^ "Track & Field". Northfield Mount Hermon School. 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  58. ^ "Soccer". Northfield Mount Hermon School. 2023-11-18. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  59. ^ "Volleyball". Northfield Mount Hermon School. 2023-09-09. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  60. ^ "Basketball". Northfield Mount Hermon School. 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  61. ^ "Wrestling". Northfield Mount Hermon School. 2024-01-27. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  62. ^ "Alpine Skiing". Northfield Mount Hermon School. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  63. ^ a b "Taking Their Talents to the Ivies". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  64. ^ "Playing With The Rules". The Harvard Crimson. 2024-11-20. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  65. ^ "New Field House and Hockey Arena Planned". Northfield Mount Hermon School. 2024-02-07. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  66. ^ "A Selected List of NMH Notable Alumni". Northfield Mount Hermon School. Archived from the original on 2003-02-24. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  67. ^ "Ultimate Frisbee". Northfield Mount Hermon School.
  68. ^ a b "Academics - Arts". Northfield Mount Hermon School. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  69. ^ "Northfield Mount Hermon School-Rhodes Arts Center". CBT. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  70. ^ Lawson, Steve E. (2015-06-11). "Andover Organ Co. Opus 67 (1970)". The OHS Pipe Organ Database. Archived from the original on 2017-03-31. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  71. ^ "Prominent Alumni | Northfield Mount Hermon". Nmhschool.org. Archived from the original on 2011-06-18. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  72. ^ "The Force Behind The Whitney". AMERICAN HERITAGE. 1907-04-09. Retrieved 2024-03-13.

External links[edit]

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