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Phillips Exeter Academy
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Phillips Exeter Academy (also called Exeter, Phillips Exeter or PEA) is a co-educational independent boarding school for grades 9–12 and postgraduates, located on in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA, north of Boston. Because of its large endowment, the scope of its physical plant, the depth of its faculty and a long tradition of sending graduates to the nation's top colleges, Phillips Exeter is widely regarded as one of the United States's best preparatory schools.
Early alumni include US Senator Daniel Webster (1796), US President Franklin Pierce (1820), Abraham Lincoln's son Robert Lincoln (1860), Ulysses S.
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Phillips Exeter Academy (also called Exeter, Phillips Exeter or PEA) is a co-educational independent boarding school for grades 9–12 and postgraduates, located on in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA, north of Boston. Because of its large endowment, the scope of its physical plant, the depth of its faculty and a long tradition of sending graduates to the nation's top colleges, Phillips Exeter is widely regarded as one of the United States's best preparatory schools.
Early alumni include US Senator Daniel Webster (1796), US President Franklin Pierce (1820), Abraham Lincoln's son Robert Lincoln (1860), Ulysses S. Grant, Jr. (1870), "grandfather of football" Amos Alonzo Stagg (1880), and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Booth Tarkington (1889). Exeter students and alumni call themselves "Exonians”.
Exeter is noted for its Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking questions and creating discussions.
The school's traditional rival is Phillips Academy (Andover), and the annual Exeter-Andover Football game has been played since 1878.
History
Origins
The academy was established in 1781 by merchant John Phillips and his wife Elizabeth. The school was to educate students under a Calvinist religious framework. Phillips was previously married to Sarah Gilman, wealthy widow of merchant Nathaniel Gilman, whose large fortune conferred onto Phillips ultimately established Exeter Academy. The Gilman family donated to the academy much of the land on which it stands, including the initial 1793 grant by Governor John Taylor Gilman of the Yard, the oldest part of campus; the academy's first class in 1783 boasted seven Gilmans. In 1814, Nicholas Gilman, signer of the U.S. Constitution, left $1,000 to Exeter to teach "sacred music".
John Phillips was also the uncle of Samuel Phillips, Jr., who had founded Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1778. As a result of this family relationship, the two schools also share an academic rivalry to match their athletic one.
Exeter's Deed of Gift, written by John Phillips at the founding of the school, warns:
At the Opening Assembly of every school year, the Principal of the academy speaks on the subject of the Original Deed of Gift and its relevance and ramifications for the wider Exeter community. In this same spirit, the greatest responsibilities to which the faculty and administration hold the students accountable are honesty and academic diligence.
The Harkness gift
On April 9, 1930, philanthropist and oil magnate Edward Harkness wrote to Exeter's Principal Lewis Perry regarding how a substantial donation he had made to the academy might be used for his vision of a new way of teaching and learning:
The result was Harkness Teaching, in which a teacher and a group of students work together, exchanging ideas and information, similar to the Aristotelian method of antiquity. In November 1930 Harkness provided a $5.8 million gift to support this initiative. Since then, the academy's principal mode of instruction has been by discussion, "seminar style", around an oval table known as the Harkness Table.
Coeducation
The academy became coeducational in 1970 when 39 girls began attending. In 1996, a new gender-inclusive Latin inscription Hic Quaerite Pueri Puellaeque Virtutem et Scientiam ("Here, boys and girls, seek goodness and knowledge") was added over the main entrance to the Academy Building to augment the original Huc Venite, Pueri, ut Viri Sitis ("Come hither boys so that ye may become men") to reflect the school's coeducational status. Today males and females each represent 50% of student body.
Academics
Exeter promotes Harkness teaching, in which classes are taught seminar style. Classes are held Monday through Saturday, although Wednesday and Saturday are half days. Exeter uses an eleven point grading system where an A is worth 11 points and an E is worth 0 points. Exeter has a student to teacher ratio of 5:1. A majority of the faculty have advanced degrees in their fields.
Students are required to take courses in the arts, classical or modern languages, computer science, English, health & human development, history, mathematics, religion and science. Most students obtain a normal diploma, although those completing Latin and ancient Greek can obtain the classical diploma.
Harkness Teaching Method
Most classes at Exeter are taught around a Harkness table; lectures are rare. For example, math is not taught with traditional textbooks. Instead, workbooks written by the faculty are used. Students complete complex word problems from the workbook and present their work to the class. Students are not given theorems, model problems, or principles beforehand. Instead, these emerge from students' complementary approaches to the assigned problems. Elements of the Harkness method can now be found at academic institutions across the globe.
The completion of the Phelps Science Center in 2001 meant that all science classes, previously the only ones taught in a more conventional layout, could also be conducted around the same tables. Classes are small, having no more than 12 students, to encourage all students to participate. These Harkness classes feature heavily in both the school's identity and its day-to-day life.
Off-campus study
Tenth Principal Richard Ward Day believed in the value of students studying outside of the town of Exeter, broadening a student's experience and forms of education. During Day's tenure, the Washington Intern Program and Foreign Studies Program were begun.
The academy currently sponsors trimester-long foreign study programs in Stratford, England; Grenoble, France; St. Petersburg, Russia; Cape Eleuthera, Bahamas; Göttingen, Germany; Ballytobin, Ireland; and Cuernavaca, Mexico; as well as school-year abroad programs in Beijing, China; Rennes, France; Viterbo, Italy; and Zaragoza, Spain. The academy also offers foreign language summer programs in France, Japan, Spain, and Taiwan.
Exeter also offers the Washington Intern Program, where students intern in the office of a senator or congressional representative.
The Milton Mountain School program allows students to study in a small rural setting.
Matriculation
Exeter was originally intended to be a preparatory school primarily used for matriculation to Harvard, much as its archrival Phillips Academy was seen as a Yale feeder school. But today neither is true: Exonians matriculate to many top universities across America and abroad, although each year more students go to Harvard than to any other single college or university.
Many Exeter students matriculate to top universities. For example, the classes of 2005-2007 most frequently enrolled at Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, Tufts, and Yale.
Student body
The academy lays claim to a tradition of diversity. One of its unofficial mottoes – "Youth from Every Quarter" - is derived from the message of the Original Deed of Gift and is widely quoted and emphasized in the introductory course for freshmen in the fall. One of the most dramatic episodes concerning this policy of diversity occurred during the Civil War, when three white students from Kentucky confronted the then-principal Gideon Lane Soule over the presence of an African-American student in their midst. When they demanded that the black student be expelled on account of his color, Soule replied, "The boy is to stay; you may do as you please." Since that time, Soule's response has widely been seen as an affirmation of the school's dedication to being open for all qualified students.
"Youth from Every Quarter" is one of the main guiding messages in the academy's admissions policies. The Director of Scholarships H. Hamilton "Hammy" Bissell (1929) worked actively to assist qualified students from all over the U.S. to attend Exeter.
Currently, 45 states, 26 different countries, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are represented in the student body of the academy.
Students of non-European descent represent 38% of the academy (Asian 24%, Black 8%, Hispanic/Latino 6%, Native American 0.4%).
Legacy students represent 13% of the student body. As a result of this tradition, Exeter students come from a broad range of socioeconomic origins and backgrounds. Of new students entering in 2006 (a total of 345), 54% attended public school and 46% attended private, parochial, military, home or foreign schools.
Eighty-one percent of the students live in on-campus dormitories or houses. The remaining nineteen percent of the student body are day students from the surrounding communities.
The academy uses a unique designation for its grade levels. Entering first-year students are called Juniors (nicknamed "Preps"), second-years students are Lower Middlers ("Lowers"), third-year students are Upper Middlers ("Uppers"), and fourth-year students are called Seniors. Postgraduate students are commonly called PGs.
Finances
Tuition and financial aid
Tuition to Exeter for the 2009–2010 school year is $37,960 for boarding students and $29,330 for day students. In addition, each students will spend an estimated $850 for books. Mandatory fees are $720 for boarding students and $300 for day students. Additionally, there are optional fees of $1,213 and $684, respectively, for discretionary services.
Exeter offers need-based financial aid, and many families earning up to $200k in income qualify. All financial aid is in the form of grants that do not need to be repaid. In November 2007, Principal Tyler Tingley announced that beginning in the 2008-2009 academic year, admitted students whose family income is $75,000 or less would receive a free education (which includes tuition, room and board, travel to and from the academy, a laptop, and other miscellaneous expenses).
The current president of the Academy's board of trustees, Charles T. 'Chuck' Harris III, a former Goldman Sachs managing partner, attended Exeter on full scholarship. "Everything I am is a result of that experience," Harris has said of financial aid, "and I'd like to think there's some opportunity like that for every kid in the world."
Endowment
Exeter's endowment as of 5 October 2007 was $1 billion,but due to the recent economic downfall, has since fallen 21.8%. This is the third-highest endowment of any American secondary school, behind the $9.0 billion endowment of Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii, and the $7.8 billion of the Milton Hershey School in Pennsylvania. Due largely to the successful investments of the school and gifts from wealthy alumni, this school has an endowment of over $1 million per student.
According to The New York Times, Exeter devotes an average of $63,500 annually to each of its students, an amount well above the 2007-8 annual tuition of $36,500. This money is spent on, in addition to operating expenses, maintaining small classes (with a typical student-teacher ratio of no more than 12 to one), computers for students, financial aid, and maintaining two swimming pools, two hockey rinks, and the largest secondary school library in the world. Exeter also ensures a high quality cafeteria, serving such meals as made-to-order omelets for breakfast.
Campus facilities
Academic facilities
- The Academy Building is the third of its kind, erected in 1914 after a devastating fire ruined the second example. The latest Academy Building was designed by the architect Ralph Adams Cram of Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson, and houses the History, Math, Religion and Classical Languages departments. Two wings were added to the original structure during the building boom of the 1920s and 1930s, orchestrated by Principal Lewis Perry. The Academy Building also houses the Assembly Hall (formerly known as the Chapel). In former times, non-denominational, Christian religious services were conducted in the Chapel every morning Monday through Saturday before the beginning of classes, and attendance was mandatory for all students in keeping with the wishes of the founders of the academy. The bell (visible in the photo of the Academy Building tower) was rung in a succession of rings to call the student body to worship: Ones, Twos, Threes, Fours and Fives. After Fives were rung, monitors would begin walking down the rows checking attendance on the benches. The bell continues to be rung to mark the end of classes.
- The Class of 1945 Library is a famous modern library designed by Louis Kahn. As of 2006, the library houses 158,000 volumes and has a shelf capacity of 250,000 volumes. It is the largest secondary-school library in the world.
- Phillips Hall is home to the English and Modern Languages Departments. Includes the Elting Room (home to faculty meetings). The fifth floor is entirely devoted to the Daniel Webster Debate Room, and serves as the Phillips Exeter Debate Team meeting place. Faculty meetings are held on the first floor in the Elting Room. It was built in 1932 during the tenure of principal Lewis Perry to make use of the new Harkness system.
- Phelps Science Center was designed by Centerbrook Architects. The center provides laboratory and classroom space. In 2004 it received the American Institute of Architects New Hampshire's Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture.
- Fisher Theater is home to the Drama Department, Shakespeare Society, and the Dramatic Association (DRAMAT). It includes a 100 seat blackbox theater and a 225 seat main stage.
- Forrestal Bowld Music Center houses the Music Department, the Music Library, and a cappella groups.
- Mayer Art Center is home to the Art Department and the Lamont Art Gallery. It was constructed in 1903 as Alumni Hall.
Athletic facilities
- The George H. Love Gymnasium was built it 1969. It houses squash facilities with 10 international sized courts, one swimming pool, two basketball courts, a weight training room, sports science lab, gym offices, two hockey rinks, a training room, locker rooms and visiting team locker rooms.
- The Thompson Gymnasium was built in 1918 and was a gift of Colonel William Boyce Thompson (1890). It has a basketball court, a dance studio, one swimming pool, visiting team locker rooms, a cycling training room and a media room.
- The Thompson Cage was built 1931 and was also a gift of Colonel William Boyce Thompson (1890). It is an indoor cage with two tracks; one has a wooden surface and the other a dirt surface. The open dirt surfaced floor is a multipurpose area. A wrestling room and gymnastics space are attached.
- Ralph Lovshin Track is an outdoor all-weather 400 m track named for the long-serving track coach Ralph Lovshin.
- The Plimpton Playing Fields are used for various outdoor sports. They are named in honor of alumnus and trustee George Arthur Plimpton, Class of 1873.
- Phelps Stadium is used for football, lacrosse and field hockey. It was converted into turf surface in 2006.
- William G. Saltonstall Boathouse is the center of crew on campus, on the Squamscott River. It is named for the academy's ninth principal.
- Amos Alonzo Stagg Baseball Diamond was named after alumnus Amos Alonzo Stagg.
- Hilliard Lacrosse Field
- Roger Nekton Championship Pool is named for the long-serving former swimming and water polo coach.
- 23 outdoor tennis courts
- Several miles of cross country and running trails
- Wrestling practice room
Other facilities
- Phelps Academy Center was opened in the spring of 2006. It is home to the grill, the post office, the Forum (a 300 person auditorium), student clubs including the PEAN (Phillips Exeter Annual, the student yearbook), the Exonian (Exeter's student newspaper, which is the oldest continuously running secondary school newspaper in the country), PEALife Magazine (PEAL), the Student Council, Student Activities, and WPEA (the student-run radio station).
- Phillips Church was originally built as the Second Parish Church in 1897 and was purchased by the academy in 1922. The current building was designed by Ralph Adams Cram. The building is a place of worship for students of all faiths. The building includes a Hindu shrine, a Muslim prayer room and ablutions fountain, a kosher kitchen, and a meditation room. Services that are individual to Phillips Church include Evening Prayer on Tuesday nights, Thursday Meditation, and Indaba—a religious open forum.
- Nathaniel Gilman House was built in 1740. The Gilman House is a large colonial white clapboard home with a gambrel roof hipped at one end, a leaded fanlight over the front door and a wide panelled entry hall. This home, as well as the Benjamin Clark Gilman House which is also owned by the academy, were built for members of Exeter's Gilman family, who donated the Nathaniel Gilman House to the Academy in 1905. The home now houses the academy's Alumni and Alumnae Affairs and Development Office.
- The Davis Center was designed by Ralph Adams Cram as the Davis Library. Today it houses the financial aid offices.
Athletics
Exeter has a history of highly competitive athletic teams. PEA first organized its PEA Baseball Club on October 19, 1859, and on September 6, 1875, Exeter had the first meeting of the Phillips Exeter Academy Athletic Association. Captains of all Exeter's athletic teams were awarded the right to display Exeter's "E" on their sweaters, along with a certificate from the Phillips Exeter Academy Athletic Association authenticating their rights in writing.
Students are required to participate in intramural or interscholastic athletic programs. The school offers 65 interscholastic teams at the varsity and junior varsity level as well as 27 intramural sports squads. Other various fitness classes are also offered.
Interscholastic sports
Fall
- Boys Cross Country
- Girls Cross Country
- Football
- Field Hockey
- Boys Soccer
- Girls Soccer
- Volleyball
- Boys Water Polo
Winter
- Boys Basketball
- Girls Basketball
- Boys Ice Hockey
- Girls Ice Hockey
- Boys Squash
- Girls Squash
- Boys Swimming
- Girls Swimming
- Track
- Wrestling
Spring
- Baseball
- Boys Crew
- Girls Crew
- Cycling
- Boys Lacrosse
- Girls Lacrosse
- Golf
- Softball
- Boys Tennis
- Girls Tennis
- Track
- Girls Water Polo
Opponents
Exeter's main rival is Phillips Academy (Andover). The rivalry is America's earliest between preparatory schools. Exeter defeated Andover 12–1 in the first ever baseball game played between these two academies on May 2, 1878. Andover, in turn, defeated Exeter 22–0 in football on November 2, 1878. One of Exeter's most memorable football games took place in 1913 with a 59–0 victory over Andover. Exeter and Andover have competed nearly every year in football since 1878; currently Andover leads in the number of games won.
Other opponents include Deerfield Academy, Northfield Mount Hermon, Choate Rosemary Hall, Loomis Chaffee, Tabor Academy, Avon Old Farms, Worcester Academy, and Cushing Academy.
Championships
The boys' water polo team has won twenty-two New England prep school championships. Until winter of 2008, boys' swimming had won fifteen of the last seventeen New England championships, placing runner-up both losing years. The cycling team is the defending champion. Wrestling has won the New England tournament thirteen times as well.
Exeter is a fixture in New England championship tournaments in nearly all sports, missing the championship in both boys' and girls' soccer in 2005, and winning the New England Class A Championship in football in 2003. In 2007, the boys' squash team finished second at the New England Division A Interscholastic Championship and fourth at the National High School Team Tournament. Both the men's and women's cross country teams have won the NEPSTA Championship multiple times in the past decade. The wrestling team has won more Class A and New England Prep School Wrestling Association titles than any other team, most recently winning the Class A tourney in 2007 and 2003 and the New England tourney in 2001. It has also crowned a National Prep Wrestling champion, Rei Tanaka, in 1990. Both the girls' and boys' ice hockey teams have won New England championships recently.
The boys' crew took first, fourth and fourth place at the U.S. Rowing Junior National Championships in 1996, 2002 and 2008 respectively. The girls' team took sixth place at the 2006 championships, fourth in 2007 and third in 2008. The boys' crew was the first organized sport at Exeter, and over its more than 100 years of competition has produced several Olympians, National Team members and numerous Division I rowers.
Student life
Exeter maintains a dress code. Boys are required to wear shirts and ties or turtlenecks. Girls are required to wear similarly appropriate attire.
The academy claims to offer 100 different student clubs. The Exonian is the school's weekly newspaper. It claims to be the oldest preparatory school newspaper in the United States. Other long established clubs include ESSO, which focuses on social service outreach, and the PEAN, which is the academy's yearbook.
Exeter also has the oldest-surviving secondary school society, The Golden Branch (founded in 1818), a society for public speaking and inspired by PEA's Rhetorical Society of 1807-1820. Now known simply as "Debate Team", these groups served as America's first secondary school organization for oratory and prepared students for the communication skills required for success at Harvard University.
Exeter's emblems
The Academy Seal
Exeter is known by two symbols: a seal depicting a river, sun and beehive, incorporating the academy's mottos; and the Lion Rampant. The seal has similarities to that used by Phillips Academy—an emblem designed by Paul Revere—and its imagery is Masonic in nature. A beehive often represented the industry and cooperation of a lodge or, in this case, the studies and united efforts in support of the academy. The Lion Rampant is a symbol derived from the Phillips family's coat of arms, thereby making a statement that all of the academy's alumni are part of the "Exonian family".
Exeter has three mottoes noted on the academy's seal: "Non Sibi" (in Latin)—"Not for oneself"- indicating a life based on community and duty, "Finis origine pendet" (in Latin)— "The end depends on the beginning"- reflecting Exeter's emphasis on hard work as preparation for a fruitful adult life, a third motto, "????t? Te??" (in Greek)- "By the grace of God", reflects Exeter's Calvinist origins, of which the only remnant today is the schools's requirement that most students take two courses in religion or philosophy.
School colors and the alumnus tie
There are several variants of official school colors associated with Phillips Exeter Academy that range from crimson red and white to burgundy red and silver. Black is also a color associated with the school to a lesser extent. Exeter's official school color is typically generalized as a deep red, a color associated with Harvard University and Exeter's once primary matriculation. The traditional school tie reserved for both the standard school year alumni and the summer school alumni is a burgundy red tie with alternating diagonal silver strips and diagonal rows of silver lion rampants. The alumnus' tie was typically made from a Boston manufacturer also associated with Harvard University neckware.
Alumni
Exeter alumni pursue careers in various fields. Alumni noted for their work in government include Daniel Webster, Franklin Pierce, Lewis Cass, Judd Gregg, Jay Rockefeller and John Negroponte. Those choosing military careers include historian George Bancroft and Charles C. Krulak. Authors George Plimpton, John Knowles, Gore Vidal, John Irving and Dan Brown attended the academy. Other notable alumni include businessmen Joseph Coors, David Rockefeller, Jr., Pierre S. du Pont and Mark Zuckerberg; journalists Drew Pearson, Paul Klebnikov and Suzy Welch; musicians Benmont Tench, Win Butler and William Butler; historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and composer Adam Guettel.
Other academic programs
Summer school
Each summer, Phillips Exeter hosts over 700 students for a five-week program of academic study. The summer program accommodates a diverse student body typically derived from over 40 different states and dozens of foreign countries.
Exeter's summer school is divided into two programs of study: Upper School, which offers a wide variety of classes to students currently enrolled in high school who are entering grades ten through twelve as well as serving post graduates; and Access Exeter, a program for students entering grades eight and nine, which offers accelerated study in the arts, sciences and writing as well as serving as an introduction to the school itself. Access Exeter curriculum consists of five academic clusters; each cluster consists of three courses organized around a focused central theme. Some of Exeter's summer school programs also give students the opportunity to experience studies outside of Exeter's campus environment, including interactions with other top schools and students, experience with Washington D.C., and travel abroad.
Workshops
The academy offers a number of workshops and conferences for secondary school educators. These include the Exeter Math Institute; the Exeter Humanities Institute; the Math, Science and Technology Conference; the Exeter Astronomy Conference and the Shakespeare Conference.
The On Beyond Exeter program offers one week seminars for alumni. Most courses are held at the academy but some meet in the locations central to the courses topic.
Historical endeavors
In 1952, Exeter, Andover, Lawrenceville, Harvard, Princeton and Yale published the study General Education in School and College: A Committee Report. The report recommended examinations that would place students after admission to college. This program evolved into the Advanced Placement Program.
In 1965 Exeter became the second charter member (after Andover) of the School Year Abroad program.
The program allows students to reside and study a foreign language abroad.
Exeter in popular culture
Certain works are based on Exeter and portray the lives of its students. Many are written by alumni who disguise the name, but not the character of the academy. Key works are listed below.
- A Separate Peace: This novel by John Knowles '45, is set at "Devon", a thinly-veiled fictionalization of Exeter, in the summer of 1942. The climactic scene of the novel is set in the Ralph Adams Cram-designed Chapel. A movie based on the novel was filmed on campus in 1972.
- A Prayer for Owen Meany: In this novel by John Irving '61, the protagonist/narrator, John Wheelwright (Irving lived with his parents in Wheelwright Hall and Wheelwright was the founder of the town of Exeter), and his best friend, Owen Meany, are both day students at Gravesend Academy, modeled after Exeter. Owen writes a popular column in The Grave (modeled after The Exonian) called "The Voice", which is critical of the school administration and the Vietnam war, among other topics. The book was later adapted for the movie Simon Birch, although Exeter is not addressed in the film.
- The World According to Garp: In this novel by John Irving, the protagonist/narrator, T.S. Garp, is the illegitimate, only child of Jenny Fields, the school nurse at "Steering School", Irving's fictionalized name for Exeter. Young Garp grows up in Steering's infirmary, eventually attending the school and joining its wrestling team. The book was adapted into a screenplay for the film of the same name, starring Robin Williams, Glenn Close, and featuring a cameo by the author as a wrestling referee.
- Tea and Sympathy: This play by Robert Anderson (later a movie as well) treats the inner struggles of an Exeter student.
- In Revere, in Those Days: A novel by Roland Merullo, this is about a boy who, instead of attending public school in his predominantly Italian town in Massachusetts, attends Exeter and plays hockey.
A number of other films and novels make fleeting reference to Exeter but do not feature the school in a significant way.
See also
External links
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