Miss Hall's School

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Miss Hall's School

What Girls Have In Mind
Established	1898 by Mira Hinsdale Hall
School type	All girls, independent
Grades	9-12
Head of School	Jeannie Norris
Location	Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA
Students	175
Colors	Blue and Gold
Mascot	Hurricanes
Website	misshalls.org

Miss Hall’s School, founded in 1898 by Mira Hinsdale Hall, is an all-girls, independent school for grades 9-12. It was one of the first girls’ boarding schools established in New England.

1 History and background
2 Academics
3 College Placement
- 3.1 Horizons
4 Leadership Development
5 Campus
6 Notable alumnae
7 External links

[edit] History and background

Mira Hall was a graduate of Smith College and thus had an interest in education for women.

Today, Miss Hall’s School augments a sophisticated college-preparatory curriculum with two innovative, nationally acclaimed programs, Horizons and the Girls’ Leadership Project. Through Horizons, girls work in one of 65 off-campus sites to hone communication and problem-solving skills, refine ethical positions, strengthen financial literacy, and explore interests for college majors and careers. Through the Girls Leadership Project, young women conduct research and design programs and workshops around the themes of “voice” and personal authority and leadership.

The School, as stated in its mission, “inspires and encourages each girl to pursue the highest standards of learning and character; to contribute boldly and creatively to the common good; and to seek a purposeful life based on honor, respect, and personal authenticity.”

Average class size: 10; students of color: 22%; international students: 18%; 21 states and 15 countries; students with need or merit aid: 47%; faculty with advanced degrees: 70%; admission acceptance rate: 60%.

[edit] Academics

As part of its college preparatory curriculum, the School offers classes in math, science, history, English, foreign languages, English as a second language, the arts, and athletics, as well as an off-campus experiential learning program called Horizons. Students generally take 5 to 6 classes per semester and must complete at least 18 credits to graduate. Advanced Placement courses are offered in all disciplines.

[edit] College Placement

College counseling is an on-going process at Miss Hall’s and it begins the moment a student enrolls at the school. Formal meetings occur in the junior year, when the student and her college counselor begin to talk about her goals and accomplishments and examine the possibilities for her college experience. The college counseling staff continues to offer guidance and support to each student throughout her junior and senior years as she refines her list, visits college campuses, takes the SAT and ACT tests, completes the college application process, and decides among her acceptances. Recent college placements include: Boston University; Chicago Art Institute; Clark University; Colby; Cornell; Dartmouth; Georgetown; George Washington; Harvard; Lehigh; Middlebury; Northeastern; NYU; Smith; Williams College; Wellesley; Yale; and the Universities of Massachusetts, Southern California, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

[edit] Horizons

It also has an experiential learning program called Horizons where all students do volunteer work in the community. Each Thursday throughout the school year, each student works in one of 65 off-campus sites in Berkshire County. By graduation, each girl has gained work experience, written a resume, developed interview skills, completed an individual professional internship, and learned the value of community involvement. Horizons work sites include Berkshire Medical Center, Norman Rockwell Museum, Merrill Lynch, American Red Cross, Sacred Heart School, Sunshine Photographics, Pittsfield Community Television, Congressman John Olver’s office, GE Plastics, Canyon Ranch, Cranwell Resort, and many more.

[edit] Leadership Development

The school has a leadership laboratory called The Girls’ Leadership Project (GLP) where girls address such leadership topics as loyalty to personal ideals versus loyalty to friends and personal feelings versus the greater through research, activities, and projects that they design. The GLP also serves as a resource for Miss Hall’s Student Council, gathering data required for the initiatives the Council undertakes. Members of the GLP have presented their research widely at conferences and in publications.

There are many clubs where girls can take on leadership roles: ISA Vocal

[edit] Campus

The Georgian-style, 90,000 square foot Main Building was built in 1923 and underwent and eight-year renovation and expansion that began 1996. In this building are classrooms, laboratories, choral and instrumental music rehearsal space, administrative offices, the Humes Euston Hall Library, Firman Family Technology Lab, residential hallways, and the the Leonhardt Family Academic Skills Center. Other campus sites include the Anne Meyer Cross Athletic Center, Ara West Grinnell Teaching Greenhouse, Elizabeth Gatchell Klein Arts Center, and Jessie P. Quick Ski Chalet.

[edit] Notable alumnae

Alison Beach, ’81

After MHS: Smith College, Columbia University, Fulbright Fellow

Today: Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, College of William and Mary

Lucy Adams Billings, ’66

After MHS: Smith College, University of California, Berkeley School of Law

Today: New York State Supreme Court Justice

Doreen A. Boatswain, ’75

After MHS: Wellesley College, University of Michigan

Today: Director, Office of Environmental Protection and Industrial Hygiene, MTA New York City Transit

Barbara Cooperman, ’73

After MHS: Trinity College, Harvard Business School

Today: Executive Vice President, Market Communications and Corporate Relations, Elsevier

Kristin Ellison, ’77

After MHS: Bowdoin College, University of Massachusetts, Tufts University

Today: Assistant Professor, Brown University, Director of Electrophysiology, Brown University School of Medicine’s Rhode Island Hospital.

Jean Erdman, '34,

After MHS: Sarah Lawrence College. An influential figure in the world of modern dance and part of the Martha Graham Dance Company; was on the faculty of Columbia University and New York University; was the wife of mythologist Joseph Campbell until his death in 1987.

Today: Now retired.

Louise Hamlin, ’67

After MHS: University of Pennsylvania

Today: Painter/printmaker and Associate Professor of Studio Art, Dartmouth College

Prudence Hostetter, ’65

After MHS: Colby Jr. College, Sorbonne, Paris, Boston University

Today: Pilot, American Airlines

Camille Jackson, ’90

After MHS: Yale University

Today: Journalist, Southern Poverty Law Center

Cameron Catlin Johnson, ’52

After MHS: Swarthmore College

Today: Program Manager for Residential Programs, New Jersey Office of Clean Energy

Priscilla Fierman Kauff, ’58

After MHS: Radcliffe College, New York University

Today: Pyschoanalyst, author, and a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Cornell University and the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital