The Hill School

This article is about the boarding school in Pennsylvania. For the private school in Middleburg, Virginia, see the Hill School (Virginia).
The Hill School

Whatsoever things are true.
Location
Pottstown, PA
United States
Information
Type Independent, College-prep, Day & Boarding
Religious affiliation(s) Nonsectarian
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 Mid-Atlantic Prep League
Mascot Ram
Rival The Lawrenceville School
Endowment $148 million (as of July 2016)[1]
Affiliations Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, TSAO
Website www.thehill.org

The Hill School (commonly known as "The Hill") is an elite preparatory boarding school for boys and girls located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO).[2]

History

Aerial View of the Quad

The Hill School was founded in 1851 by the Rev. Matthew Meigs as the Family Boarding School for Boys and Young Men.[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. Most of the 12 to 15 schools generally considered the “core” group were established in the last half of the nineteenth century. Of this whole group of schools, 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] Because of this, around 30 percent of today's Hill students have a legacy connection.[1]

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.

Academics

The Hill School offers classes in each of its nine academic departments and offers 28 Advanced Placement courses.[5] The School recently instituted a number of new courses including a team-taught AP Physics 1 with Pre-calculus Honors course; Arabic; and pilot STEM initiatives.

Engineering3,[6] a three-year, progressive engineering course, was launched in September 2015 as the initial offering in The Hill’s new Quadrivium Program. Engineering 1, focusing on problem solving and design from an engineering perspective, was first offered in the fall of 2015 under the oversight of Timothy Jump, creator of the program and Director of Quadrivium Engineering and Design.[7] The program will be fully in place in the fall of 2016. Through group work, application of the scientific method, and building with LEGO®, Engineering3 explores mechanical, electro-mechanical and control, and engineering design concepts.[8]

The Quadrivium Curriculum includes a robotics program. In 2014-2015, Hill’s robotics team competed in the Marine Advanced Technology Education International Robotics Competition in Newfoundland, Canada, by qualifying at the Pennsylvania Regional Underwater Robotics competition[9]

Athletics

Interscholastic sports at The Hill School date to the 1880s. The School’s teams are known as the Blues, with a ram serving as the official mascot.

The Hill is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL),[10] which the School joined in 1998. The MAPL also includes Blair Academy (Blairstown, NJ); The Hun School of Princeton (Princeton, NJ); The Lawrenceville School (Lawrenceville, NJ); Mercersburg Academy (Mercersburg, Pa.); and The Peddie School (Hightstown, NJ). The Hill was a charter member of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA),[11] which became an officially sanctioned organization in 2011. All Pennsylvania Independent Schools are invited to join the PAISAA. 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.[12] 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.

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.

Girls’ soccer won the 2011 and 2012 PAISAA Championships, while Boys’ soccer won the 2013 and 2014 PAISAA Championships.[13] In 2013, the team was Top Drawer Soccer’s #1 ranked Prep team in the nation, and was the #2 ranked prep team in 2014. Colten Habecker ’14 was named 2013 Gatorade Pennsylvania Boys’ Soccer Player of the Year. Boys’ basketball won the 2014 PAISAA Championship[14] and was Max Preps #2 ranked Prep team in the nation.

Notable alumni

Headmasters

Notable faculty

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 http://www.thehill.org/HillSchoolFAQs
  2. ↑ http://www.tenschools.org/
  3. ↑ Kennedy, Joseph. "Hill School tradition? It's all in the family The Meigses, father and son, shepherded it from a boarding school for boys to one of the nation's top prep schools". philly.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  4. ↑ The History of the Hill School:1851-1976, Paul Chancellor. The Hill School: Pottstown, Pennsylvania, 1976
  5. ↑ "Advancement Placement Courses". The Hill School. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "Engineering3". Engineering3. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Tim Jump". The Hill School. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Quadriviuim Curriculum". The Hill School. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Hill Robotic Team to compete in International Competition". The Hill School. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  10. ↑ http://maplathletics.org/landing/index
  11. ↑ http://www.paisaasports.org/
  12. ↑ 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."
  13. ↑ "Hill Boys' Soccer Captures PAISAA State". Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Hill Boys Win 2014 PAISSA Crown". Retrieved November 22, 2015.

External links

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

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