Milton Academy

History

The original Milton Academy was founded by a Massachusetts bill granting a charter in 1798, but operations ceased decades later with the opening of the public Milton High School; the institution, however, was re-established in 1884 by John Murray Forbes. Up until 1980, the school was split into boys and girls schools. The school was established in 1798, as shown below the book in the school crest. However, the number given in Roman numerals along the outside of the crest reads 1898, marking the school's centennial.

Students and faculty

There are 670 Upper School students at Milton, half of whom live on campus. There are 127 faculty members in the Upper School, 78% of whom have postgraduate degrees, and 9% holding doctorates. It has an average class size of 14, and a female-to-male ratio of 50–50. There are 305 students in the Lower School (Kindergarten through Grade 8). The Middle School (Grades 6–8) and Lower School (Kindergarten through Grade 5) have 25 and 28 faculty members respectively. Tuition is $39,000 per year for day students and $47,000 for boarding students, according to http://boarding-schools.startclass.com/l/142310/Milton-Academy

Milton offers several off-campus programs. Some students take a school year abroad in France, Italy, Spain, or China; others go on semester programs such as Chewonki Semester School, The Mountain School, or CITYTerm.

Clubs and organizations

There are over 10 different publications on campus, including news and literary magazines. There are several music groups, including the Chamber Singers, Miltones, Chamber Orchestra, jazz combos and four a cappella groups—two all-female groups (Epic and Octet), an all-male group (Miltones), and a co-educational group (3FU), which have performed throughout the United States, as well as Europe, Asia, and Africa. Milton Academy is also home to a jazz program, focused on small combos, that tours South Africa every other year. Beatnik Café, an independently run exhibition of student performances (such as jazz, improvisational skits, poetry readings, and singing), occurs three times a year. Theatrical productions provide about ten plays each year. Two student choreographed Dance Concerts are put up each year, the larger one occurring in the winter.

Milton Academy has a number of student activity clubs. Cultural clubs at Milton include GASP (Gay And Straight People), Onyx (black student group), the Asian Society, Latino Association, JSU (Jewish-Student Union), Christian Fellowship, Caribbean Student Association, and Multiracial Experience Club. Students at the academy can start their own clubs if they have a faculty sponsor. The Tibet Club - formerly the Milton Academy chapter of the Students for a Free Tibet - currently sponsors two Tibetan refugee children as part of a five-year commitment. Another club, Invisible Hand, is Milton's Capitalist Club. In addition to sponsoring weekly discussions pertaining to Capitalism and Economics, Invisible Hand has taken trips to Harvard Business School. Milton's Investment Club manages a $30,000 portion of the Academy's endowment. The Entrepreneurship Club brings in guest speakers to help facilitate discussions that teach students about creating, growing and managing non-for-profit and for-profit businesses. The Robotics Club, participates in Vex Robotics competitions in the fall and winter.

Milton Academy has an Outdoor Program. Select students hold a weekly meeting and plan weekend trips for the student body. The trips consist of hiking, white water rafting, kayaking, paddle boarding, rock climbing, snow shoeing, sea kayaking, and various other activities. The Outdoor Program also offers an annual longer trip during spring break. The outdoor program has gone to Zion and Joshua Tree national parks, The White Mountains, Acadia National Park, and many other destinations throughout North America.

Milton Academy has an speech and debate team that competes in the Massachusetts Forensic League (MFL), National Catholic Forensic League (CFL or NCFL), and National Forensic League (NFL).

The school also has many political groups, including the M.A.S.A.P and F.L.A.G. (Forward-looking Liberal Action Group).

Athletics

Milton offers 15 interscholastic sports for both boys and girls each, as well as nine intramural teams. Milton is a member of both the Independent School League and the New England Schools Sailing Association division of the Interscholastic Sailing Association. Since 1886, Milton's traditional rival has been the Noble and Greenough School of Dedham. Recently, the ultimate team was ranked seventh in the nation and the varsity football team "entered the 2005 season with the best ten-year record of all ISL prep programs". In the past five years, Milton has won 17 ISL Championships and most recently the boys' tennis team won New England's. The boys' tennis team has won four New England titles in a row. The coed sailing team has won two national championships - one in team racing and one in fleet racing. They have also won team racing worlds in 2015. Milton's boys' hockey team has had several players go on to successful professional careers, most notably 12-year NHLer Marty McInnis and current Boston Bruin Josh Hennessy. In 2011, Milton's boys hockey team won the NEPSAC championship. The team featured two NHL draft picks: Patrick McNally and Rob O'Gara. In 2012, the Girls' Cross Country team placed 1st and the Boys' Cross Country team placed 2nd in the ISL, earning the team's highest finish in 25 years. In 2013 the Girls Track & Field team clinched the ISL title while the Boys did the same in 2015. The Boys' Varsity Soccer team earned a first round bid in the playoffs for the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council in 2013. In 2014 they went undefeated until a semi final elimination in the playoffs but returned to a perfect untied and unbeaten 22-0 season the following year, earning the ISL title, the New England Class A championship and the ISL Sportsmanship award.

Publications

Milton Academy maintains several publications using school facilities. The Milton Paper, the school's independent newspaper, publishes weekly. The Milton Measure, the oldest and official biweekly publication of the school, is entering its 120th year. La Voz ("The Voice"), the school's Spanish language student newspaper, is published quarterly and allows students to write in Spanish about issues that involve the Spanish-speaking community. MagusMabus (colloquially: The Magus) is the school's art & literary magazine. It publishes two full issues a year as well as one smaller "maguette" which contains only poetry. In addition, the Magus hosts open mic nights called Beatnik Cafes. Milton students also publish Helix, a science magazine which is released seasonally. A more recent addition to Milton's publications is Gaia, the official environmental magazine, which publishes about 3 times a year.

Academic and student life facilities

Milton Academy offers a wide variety of student facilities, including performing arts and athletic facilities. The Ruth King Theatre was provided as a gift of novelist Stephen King in memory of his mother and is a 20th century adaptation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The school is home to Ayer Observatory, featuring a 12-foot dome housing a five-inch refractor and a nine-inch reflector. Milton's new visual arts center, completed in the fall of 2011, features the Academy's acclaimed Nesto Gallery, where several famous Boston-area and national artists have displayed their works.

Residential facilities

Approximately half of the Upper School student body consists of boarders. There are eight dorms, four girls dorms (Robbins, Hathaway, Hallowell, and Millet) and four boys dorms (Forbes, Goodwin, Wolcott, and Norris). Each of Milton's residential "houses" has unique traditions, such as holiday caroling, pumpkin carving, "wills night", Rain Soccer on East Campus before dinner on rainy days, barbecues, dodgeball, and dorm bowling to help foster friendship and support within the house. House sizes range from 30 to 48 students, and students live in the same house for their entire time at Milton.

Controversies

In February 2017, the academy announced the results of a nine-month sexual misconduct investigation by T&M Protection Resources. The firm interviewed 60 alumni, parents, current and former staff and came to the conclusion that four former employees had engaged in illegal sexual conduct with students in the 1970's and 80's. The most egregious abuse came from a drama teacher named Rey Buono who had abused at least 12 male students before being terminated by the school in 1987.

In 2005, the school expelled five members of the boys varsity hockey team for receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old female student in a school locker room. After an investigation, two of the students who were 16 at the time of the alleged incidents were charged with statutory rape. Both accepted plea deals and received no jail time.

These incidents have been the source for several works, including a non-fiction book and fictional Lifetime television movie, both entitled Restless Virgins.

In 2014, the head of school of Milton Academy and the Milton Police Chief confirmed the existence of an investigation of the sending of racially-charged hate letters to a black Milton Academy staff member. “I believe this was perpetrated from the inside,” Milton Police Chief Richard G. Wells Jr. said in an interview. In addition to the Police, out-of-state investigation agencies were brought into the investigation.