The Hill School

The Hill School
Location
Pottstown, PA
United States
Information
Type Independent, College-prep, Day & Boarding
Motto Whatsoever things are true.
Religious affiliation(s) Nonsectarian Christian
Established 1851
Headmaster Zachary G. Lehman
Faculty 74[1]
Grades 9-12 (Post-graduate year offered)
Gender Coeducational as of class of 1999
Enrollment 522;[1] 75% boarding, all students must board for one year
Average class size 14
Student to teacher ratio 7:1
Campus 200+ acres
Color(s) Confederate Gray, Union Blue
Athletics 29 Interscholastic
Athletics conference MAPL
NEPSAC
Mascot Ram
Nickname Blues
Rival The Lawrenceville School
Endowment $148 million (as of July 2016)[1]
Affiliations Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
TSAO
Website Official website

The Hill School (commonly known as "The Hill") is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about 35 mi (56 km) northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO).[2]

History

The Hill School was founded in 1851 by the Rev. Matthew Meigs as the Family Boarding School for Boys and Young Men. However, it has been know as the Hill School since at least 1874.[3]

The school opened on May 1, 1851, enrolling 25 boys for the first year. According to Paul Chancellor’s The History of The Hill School: 1851-1976, “He [Meigs] wanted to stress that he was not founding still another academy, but a type of school quite new and rare in America. There is a tendency to think that the boys’ boarding school as we know it existed as long as there have been private schools. It has not.... The Hill was the first to be founded as a "family boarding school" (a school where the students lived on campus), as opposed to boarding with families in the town.[4]

In 1998, the school became coeducational, enrolling 88 girls in its first year.[5]

School life

Each grade at The Hill is known as a form, which is consistent with the English schooling term. Ninth grade is called third form, tenth grade is called fourth form, and so forth. The school’s academic year is divided into trimesters.

The Hill maintains a formal academic dress code that requires boys to wear a coat and tie and conservative trousers and girls to wear a blazer and appropriate collared dress shirt with trousers or skirt, or a conservative dress during the school day and for special events and activities. Casual academic dress and casual dress codes apply at other times.

Two required nondenominational chapel services are held during the school week. Voluntary worship services are offered each weekend during the school year.

Student clubs

Pipe Club

The pipe club used to be a club for 5th and 6th formers for the purpose of smoking tobacco during leisure time. Playing cards was permitted in the Pipe club on Tuesdays and Thursdays only at the club.[6] The pipe club no longer operates today, and students may not be in possession of or use tobacco or nicotine products.[7]

DECA

The Hill is one of the only private schools in the U.S. to have a DECA club, which was founded in 2011. Unlike most school, this is an extracurricular activity, as The Hill does not offer vocational courses in marketing. Despite this, several students advance to the international level annually.[8]

Ellis Theatre Guild

The Ellis Theatre Guild was created in 1979 through the pledge of an annual donation from Mr. and Mrs. Michael Ellis. The Guild presents a musical (winter) and non-musical (spring) theatre production each year.[9]

Alcohol

During the earliest days of the school, the consumption of alcohol was prevalent, and it was common for boys to visit a neighbouring inn for a drink. Today, alcohol is forbidden.[7]

Academics

In the early 20th century, The Hill was a feeder school for Princeton University;[10] a prominent "The Hill School Club" operated at Princeton for the benefit of alumni.[11] The prevalence of Hill alumni, as well as those of Lawrenceville, Hotchkiss, Exeter and Phillips Academy at Princeton led F. Scott Fitzgerald to lament that it was those of 'lesser' preparatory schools which were more prepared for the fray.[12] The admissions process was relaxed for Hill School students, with cases including George Garrett, Princeton 1952, who was admitted when he confessed that he liked the striped football uniforms.[13] At one point, Lawrenceville and Hill sent more students to Princeton than all public schools combined[14] Today, Hill alumni attend a wide variety of colleges.[15]

The Hill School offers classes in each of its nine academic departments and offers 28 Advanced Placement courses.[16]

Foreign languages

The Hill offers classes in Chinese, French, Spanish, Arabic, Latin, and Ancient Greek.

Partner schools

The Hill School has had a relationship with Charterhouse School in the United Kingdom since 1994 that includes instructional trips, along with exchanges of extracurricular programs and teachers.[17] It is linked with the Maru a Pula School in Botswana.[18] As well, the Hill hosts a Thai King's Scholar every year.[19] The Hill School is a participating school in the Naval Academy Foundation Prep Program.[20]

Athletics

In the early days of the school, boys played shinney, town ball, football and cricket. Matthew Meigs was not an athlete, yet allowed sporting pursuits, unlike his contemporaries such as Samuel Taylor of Phillips Academy. During John Meigs' tenure as headmaster, organized and interscholastic sports began at The Hill. Tennis became the dominant sport during this period, unlike baseball at other schools.[21]

The Hill is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL), which the School joined in 1998.[22] The Hill was a charter member of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA), which became an officially sanctioned organization in 2011.[23] In 2014, The Hill received associate membership in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC).

The Hill’s rivalry with Lawrenceville dates back to 1887, and is the fifth-oldest high school rivalry in the United States.[24] Originally an annual football game, the schools now compete against each other in all of the fall sports on either the first or second weekend in November.

Peddie School also maintains a "Hill Day" during which several teams from Hill and Peddie compete.[25]

Participation in athletics is considered a key part of a Hill education. All third and fourth form students are required to participate in at least two seasons of interscholastic sports, and all fifth and sixth formers must play at least one interscholastic season. Students may fulfill a season requirement by serving as a student athletic trainer or team manager.

Campus

The Hill School operates on a 200-acre (81 ha) campus.[26]

Culture

The Hill has been described as different in style and spirit from its counterparts in New England, and has been described as strict and demanding.[27][28] It has also been described as conservative.[29]

Alumnus Oliver Stone described his experience at The Hill: "I hated the Hill School at the time. It was monastic. Horrible food, no girls. It was truly one of those Charles Dickens’ types of experiences.. And I really hated it. Years later I came to appreciate it. I think the inquiry and above all the discipline, of studying and concentrating and sitting down and doing it."[30] The Hill has been criticized, alongside other East Coast Protestant schools, for promoting "snobbish", undemocratic, and "un-American values".[31][32]

E. Digby Baltzell's book The Protestant Establishment identified Hill as one of the "select sixteen" best boarding schools in the United States.[33] In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, two of the 21 richest Nouveau riche families sent their sons to The Hill.[34]

Film

The school was used as a filming location in the 2009 movie The Mighty Macs[35]

Peter Quinn is a fictional alumnus of the Hill and Harvard.

Alumni

Hill alumni include the Pullmans, Mayos, Firestones, and Weyerhausers.[36]

Rhodes scholars

Name Hill class Undergraduate institution Oxford College
Henry Spelman 2006 UNC Balliol [37]
Bruce Partridge 1957 Princeton New
Michael Smith 1960 Princeton[38] Worcester[39]
Josiah Bunting 1957 VMI Christ Church
Caleb Frank Gates 1922 Princeton Balliol
Theodore Hume 1921 Yale New[40]
William Arrowsmith 1941 Princeton Queens[41]
Peter Macky[42] 1953 Harvard Jesus

Fulbright scholars

Name Hill class
Jessica Argenti[43] 2010
Chris Troy[44] 2011

Headmasters

Controversies

Nude posture picture involvement

It has been alleged that The Hill took part in posture pictures, a since-discredited science which involved taking pictures of naked men and women at Ivy League and Seven Sisters colleges to diagnosis postural defects.[45]

1995 defamation lawsuit

Wendell Chestnut, a former English master and squash coach at The Hill, was awarded $10.25 million after the headmaster allegedly issued defamatory statements.[46] In 1997, the ruling was overturned.[47]

2000 tax exemption ruling

In 2000, a ruling on the tax-exempt status of The Hill School was the first to designate a single-sex institution as a public charity in Pennsylvania, and was a precedent-setting case in the Commonwealth.[48] (The case dealt with the years 1996-1998, before the school became co-ed).

2010 indecent assault scandal

Former Spanish teacher Carlos Ortega was charged by Pottstown Police for sexually assaulting a female student at the school.[49][50] Ortega was subsequently sentenced to 3–23 months in prison.[51]

2013 intoxication incident

In 2013, an unidentified faculty member was terminated after becoming intoxicated and making inappropriate comments to several students during a school trip to Italy.[52]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "FAQs about The Hill School". thehill.org. 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  2. ↑ "Ten Schools". Ten Schools. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  3. ↑ "Hill School History and Trivia". www.thehill.org. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  4. ↑ Chancellor, Paul (1976). he History of the Hill School:1851-1976.
  5. ↑ TheHillSchool1851 (2016-05-10), The Hill School's Historic Move to Coeducation in 1998 (2016), retrieved 2017-06-22
  6. ↑ "The Hill School - Dial Yearbook (Pottstown, PA), Class of 1954, Page 225". E-yearbook.com. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  7. 1 2 "Handbook 2016-2017 rev E Final review.pdf" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  8. ↑ "The Hill School -> Six students compete at DECA Nationals". Thehill.org. 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  9. ↑ "The Hill School's Ellis Theatre Guild". Thehill.org. 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  10. ↑ Princeton Alumni Weekly. 12. Princeton Publishing Company. 1911. PRNC:32101077278289.
  11. ↑ Princeton Alumni Weekly. 11. Princeton Publishing Company. 1910. PRNC:32101081974675.
  12. ↑ "The Complete Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald: Novels, Short Stories, Poetry ... - F. Scott Fitzgerald - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  13. ↑ "Princeton Alumni Weekly - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  14. ↑ "Lessons from Privilege: The American Prep School Tradition - Arthur G. Powell - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  15. ↑ "The Hill School College Matriculation". Thehill.org. 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  16. ↑ "Advancement Placement Courses". The Hill School. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  17. ↑ "The Hill School, Pottstown, USA", Charterhouse School. Accessed March 13, 2017. "The relationship between Charterhouse and The Hill School, Pottstown, USA started in 1994 and has developed into a strong working partnership that has seen regular science trips (every year for over 10 years), a theatre trip, choir visits, football matches and a teaching exchange."
  18. ↑ "Student Exchanges | Maru-a-Pula School". Maruapula.org. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  19. ↑ "Profile for Colleges" (PDF). www.thehill.org.
  20. ↑ "About Us - ASP Programs". www.usna.com. 2001-11-09. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  21. ↑ "Muscle and Manliness: The Rise of Sport in American Boarding Schools - Axel Bundgaard - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  22. ↑ "Mid-Atlantic Prep League". Maplathletics.org. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  23. ↑ "Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association". Paisaasports.org. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  24. ↑ Seeley, Don. Hill School vs. Lawrenceville more than a rivalry. Pottstown Mercury (Pennsylvania). November 12, 2010. "The fifth-oldest rivalry in all of America is enough to kindle the Rams and the entire Hill School campus."
  25. ↑ "Recordings of Hill Day wins for football and field hockey now available | Peddie School". Peddie.org. 2014-10-13. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  26. ↑ "The Hill School Campus". www.thehill.org. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  27. ↑ Morrow, Brendan (2016-05-25). "Eric Trump, Donald’s Son: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  28. ↑ "Edmund Wilson's America - George H. Douglas - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. 2015-01-13. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  29. ↑ "Kingdom: The Story of the Hunt Family of Texas - Jerome Tuccille - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  30. ↑ Strauss, Valerie (2010-09-24). "The Answer Sheet - The education of Oliver Stone". Voices.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  31. ↑ "The High Status Track: Studies of Elite Schools and Stratification - Paul W. Kingston - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. 1990-03-27. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  32. ↑ "Who Was Hobie Weekes?". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  33. ↑ (a1) State University of New York (2017-02-24). "Education of an Elite | History of Education Quarterly | Cambridge Core". Cambridge.org. doi:10.2307/369088. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  34. ↑ Levine, Steven B. (1980). "The Rise of American Boarding Schools and the Development of a National Upper Class". Social Problems. pp. 63–94. doi:10.2307/800381. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  35. ↑ Fleener, Sarah. "Cameras roll on The Hill for film about unlikely champs", Pottstown Mercury, June 19, 2007. Accessed March 13, 2017. "The feature film Our Lady of Victory came on location to the Hill School's campus to film a number of scenes in the Gillison Gymnasium, hallways and locker rooms. The independent film, described by the film's writer and director Tim Chambers as 'a true Cinderella story,' captures the 1972 Immaculata College girls basketball team's unlikely rise to the national championships."
  36. ↑ Carol Cleaveland (1988-01-21). "A Tradition Of Mystique And Achievement At The Elite Hill School, Campus Life Is A Cross Between Competition And Camaraderie". Articles.mcall.com. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  37. ↑ "The Hill School -> Hill alumnus selected as one of 32 Rhodes Scholars". Thehill.org. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  38. ↑ "Grant Rhodes Scholarship for Bradley". Archives.chicagotribune.com. 1964-12-21. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  39. ↑ "LIFE - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. 1966-03-04. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  40. ↑ Hume, Theodore Carswell, 1904-1943 Alternative names. "Hume, Theodore Carswell, 1904-1943". Socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  41. ↑ "Biographical Dictionary of North American Classicists - American Philological Association - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  42. ↑ "Bermuda Rhodes Scholars - Details". Rhodes.bm. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  43. ↑ "The Hill School -> Alumna Awarded Fulbright Scholarship". www.thehill.org. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  44. ↑ "The Hill School -> Alumnus awarded Fulbright Scholarship". Thehill.org. 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  45. ↑ Cavett, Dick (2011-12-02). "The Old Ivy League Photo Scandal, Part Two - The New York Times". Opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  46. ↑ Glazer, Sarah. "Crackdown on Sexual Harassment: CQR". Library.cqpress.com. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  47. ↑ July 3, 1997 (1997-07-03). "Judge Overturns Award Of $10 Million In Lawsuit - tribunedigital-orlandosentinel". Articles.orlandosentinel.com. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  48. ↑ "Hill School in Pottstown qualifies as tax-exempt". Timesherald.com. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  49. ↑ "Hill School responds to charges against former teacher, coach". Pottsmerc.com. 2010-08-16. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  50. ↑ Kahl, Jason A. "Ex-Hill School teacher pleads guilty to indecent assault on student". .readingeagle.com. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  51. ↑ Hessler, Carl Jr. (2011-04-11). "Former Hill teacher sentenced to 3 to 23 months in jail". The Times Herald. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  52. ↑ Brandt, Evan (2013-03-20). "Hill School teacher fired for intoxication, comments during Italy trip". The Mercury News. Retrieved 2017-07-26.

Coordinates: 40°14′42″N 75°37′59″W / 40.2449°N 75.6331°W / 40.2449; -75.6331

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