Northfield Mount Hermon School

Present day

NMH offers nearly 200 courses, including AP and honors classes in every discipline. Each semester, students take three major courses, each 80 minutes long, as opposed to five 50-minute classes which are more typical of high schools. This "College Model Academic Program" allows students to spend more time with their teachers and immerse themselves more deeply in academic subjects. NMH employs 95 teaching faculty members, 66 percent of whom have advanced degrees. The average class size at NMH is 11 students; the student-to-teacher ratio is 5 to 1.

Students are required to participate in co-curricular activities every semester; these include athletic teams, performing-arts ensembles, volunteer work on and off-campus, and activities such as working for one of the school's four student publications. Students may join an extensive array of extracurricular clubs, organizations, and affinity groups.

Students involved in visual and performing arts courses, as well as NMH's dozen performing ensembles, are supported by the Rhodes Arts Center, a 65,000-square-foot (6,000 m2) Gold LEED-certified facility that opened in fall 2008. The RAC houses two concert performance spaces, a black-box theater, two dance studios, an art gallery, art classrooms/studios, music practice rooms, and offices.

In early 2013,NMH announced that it would build a new facility to house its science, math, and technology programs. The facility will contain laboratories, classrooms, and lecture and common spaces. The project is expected to cost at least $45 million, with construction slated to begin during the 2015–16 academic year.

With more than 60 athletic teams in 21 interscholastic sports, NMH offers one of the broadest athletic programs among secondary schools in the U.S. and currently holds the national prep championship title in boys' basketball and New England championship titles in girls' crew, wrestling, and numerous individual swimming and track and field events. NMH offers an extensive outdoor education program in addition to its competitive teams.

Each student is required to hold a job on campus, working four to five hours a week for a total of 120 hours each school year. This contribution to the operation of the school stems from the school's founder, Dwight Lyman Moody, and his desire for students to understand the value of manual labor. The "workjobs" that students hold include washing dishes and preparing food in the dining hall kitchen; managing sports teams and performing arts groups; tutoring peers in various disciplines; leading campus tours for visitors; doing administrative office work; and caring for animals and performing other chores on NMH's working farm, such as making maple syrup and apple cider.

Traditions

Besides the "workjob," NMH has many other cherished traditions, some of which date back nearly a century. Among the annual favorites are the Bemis-Forslund Pie Race, a 4.5-mile course that is among the oldest footraces in the country and which rewards the top 200 runners with a homemade apple pie; Rope Pull, a giant tug-of-war between juniors and seniors; and Mountain Day, a surprise holiday when classes are cancelled and students and faculty hike either Mount Monadnock or Northfield Mountain.

History

The school was founded by Protestant evangelist Dwight Lyman Moody as the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies in 1879 (later called the Northfield School for Girls) and the Mount Hermon School for Boys in 1881. Moody built the girls' school in Northfield, Massachusetts, the town of his birth, and the boys' school a few miles away in the town of Gill. Moody's goal was to provide the best possible education for young people without privilege, and he enrolled students whose parents were slaves as well as Native Americans and people from other countries, which was unprecedented among elite private schools at that time. Moody sent out students who founded schools and churches of their own, for example a protégé of Moody founded Moores Corner Church in Leverett MA. Moody viewed Christian religious education as an essential objective of his schools. Under subsequent administrations, the schools grew more theologically liberal and ultimately became non-denominational. Today, NMH offers diverse ways to pursue religious studies and personal spirituality.

The two schools merged in 1972 to become Northfield Mount Hermon, with two coeducational campuses. In 2005, the school consolidated its students and classes onto the Mount Hermon campus. This decision by the board of trustees stemmed from a belief that students would receive the best possible education in a smaller, more close-knit community, and from a desire to focus the school's resources on educational programs and maintaining one campus instead of two. Before consolidation, the school enrolled approximately 1,100 students per year; the student body has now settled at 650, making the admission process even more selective.

NMH's head is Peter B. Fayroian, who joined the school in 2012.

Athletics

NMH sports programs include:

Fall teams

Winter teams

Spring teams

Arts programs

The 65,000-square-foot (6,000 m²) Gold LEED certified Rhodes Arts Center (at right) opened in fall 2008. The RAC is the home of all of the arts programs at NMH. It houses two concert performance spaces, a black box theater, two dance studios, an art gallery, classrooms, art studios, practice rooms, and faculty offices.

Performing groups include:

NMH also produces an annual arts and literary magazine, Mandala, as well as two student-run newspapers, The Bridge and The Hermonite.

Co-curricular and extra-curricular groups, classes, activities

Many of the activities that NMH students are involved in are considered classes or part of the work program; others are organized outside the curriculum. NMH's Student Activities office provides support, services, and resources for student organizations, including places to meet, materials, and funding. Organizations are listed below.

General leadership positions include Resident Leaders (RLs), who help run the dorms and serve as role models and mentors to dorm residents; International Ambassadors (IAs), who mentor international students and work to promote diversity throughout the year; peer mediators, who help settle student conflicts; and Student Congress representatives, who are elected by their peers and work directly with the school administration to propose new rules or improve existing ones.

Clubs and organizations There are dozens of clubs on campus, many of which are launched by students and which vary from year to year, depending on student interest. These include:

Multicultural affinity groups

Spiritual life

Deacons of the Church of Christ (Protestant) - Some of the Deacons recently protested against some decisions made by Rev. Lee-Ellen Strawn, as she included Qu'ran quotes and Buddhist meditation in her service.

Notable alumni

The following is a sampling of notable alumni of Northfield Mount Hermon School, organized by graduation year. NMH has the largest living alumni population among all boarding schools in America — roughly 30,000.