Northfield Mount Hermon

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Northfield Mount Hermon

Image:Nmh.gif

Head of School Thomas K. Sturtevant
Established 1879
School type Private
Location Northfield, MA, USA
Enrollment Apx. 725
Faculty Apx. 115
Campus Rural
Mascot Hoggers

Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH) is a ninth-twelfth grade private college-preparatory high school (secondary school) located in western Massachusetts, U.S.A. Its Northfield campus is located in Northfield, Massachusetts, and its Mount Hermon campus is located in nearby Gill, Massachusetts.

Contents

History

The school was originally founded by famed Protestant evangelist Dwight Lyman Moody (DLM) as two separate institutions: The Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies in 1879 and Mount Hermon School for Boys in 1881. DLM envisioned both these schools as parts of his dream to provide the best possible education for less privileged people. Indeed, even, in their infancy, DLM’s schools matriculated students whose parents were slaves, Native-Americans, and from outside the US -- something that was unimaginable in many elite private schools at that time. Dwight Lyman Moody's birthplace and burial place are both located on the Northfield campus.

In DLM's view, Christian religious education was an essential part of the objective of his schools. However, under subsequent administrations, the schools became more theologically liberal and ultimately became nonsectarian and ceased evangelization of students. (This change put them at odds with other Moody institutions such as the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.) Religious life continued to be an important part of the schools, but religious services ceased to be compulsory and students were no longer instructed in Christian doctrine.

In the 1970s and 1980s, many U.S. private secondary schools that had previously offered single-sex education either became coeducational unilaterally or merged with other schools to become coeducational. In what was then a controversial decision, the Northfield Seminary and the Mount Hermon School merged to become a single coeducational institution in 1971. The settlement of mutually accepted terms was a contrast to the takeover of Abbott Academy by its neighbor, Phillips Andover. The new school was dubbed Northfield Mount Hermon School. Both original campuses were retained and made co-educational, but students were initially segregated by sex at the dormitory level. The school has operated on two campuses since that time by providing a regular bus service transport for the five-mile-interval across the Connecticut River.

In 1980, a history of NMH entitled So Much to Learn was written by Burnham Carter on the occasion of the school's 100th anniversary.

Northfield Mount Hermon Today

DLM’s vision of an education for the less privileged remains at the heart of NMH’s education: the school is known to give a generous amount of financial aid to the students, even though its endowment is not that large. Moody's bearded visage and Golden Rule philosophies influence the campus today. To graduate, all students must perform several hours of physical labor each week, be it scrubbing dishes in the dining halls or harvesting maple syrup at the Mount Hermon farm.

The percentage of international students at NMH is also far above the average of many elite private schools, at 25 percent compared to perhaps 10 percent at other institutions. In many cases, international students make a connection with the school through family members who attended NMH or, in some cases, were evangelized by Moody or his affiliated denominations and religious missions in the 19th century.

The students at NMH are sometimes described as more culturally or politically liberal than students at other New England private college preparatory schools. NMH has no dress code and is sometimes viewed as informal, tolerant, and progressive.

In 2004, the Trustees of Northfield Mount Hermon School, forseeing difficult financial challenges, decided to close the beautiful Northfield campus in 2005 and to consolidate the school with a smaller coeducational student body on the Mount Hermon campus. This decision has been controversial. Before consolidation, the school had about 1100 students enrolled per year; afterward, it is expected that enrollment will decrease to around 600.

Mount Hermon Buildings

Assorted NMH maps

Dormitories

  • Overtoun ("Tron") - Boy's dorm
  • London ("Cottage 1" or "C-1") - Freshmen boy's dorm ( used to be for upperclassmen)
  • Monadnock ("Cottage 2" or "C-1") - Boy's dorm
  • Hubbard ("Cottage 4" or "C-4") - Girl's dorm
  • Manchester ("Cottage 5" or "C-5") - Freshmen girl's dorm ( used to be for upperclassmen)
  • New Dorm 1 ("Cottage Sub Zero" or "Subzero"; new as of 2005 - 2006) - Boy's dorm
  • New Dorm 2 (not officialy named yet; new as of 2005 - 2006) - Girl's dorm
  • Wallace Hall - Girl's dorm
  • Rikert (reopened for 2005 - 2006) - Girl's dorm
  • North Crossley: Upper and Lower (divided into Upper and Lower as of 2005 - 2006) - Boy's dorms
  • South Crossley: Upper and Lower (divided into Upper and Lower as of 2005 - 2006) - Girl's dorms
  • Hayden ("Motel H" or "Motel 6") - Boy's dorm
  • North Farmhouse (reopened for 2005 - 2006) - Girl's dorm; the original Mount Hermon dorm (now used when more beds are needed)

Classroom Buildings

  • Cutler Sciene Center - basement: computer labs, misc.; 1st floor: physics; 2nd floor: chemistry; 3rd floor: biology
  • Blake (primarily the student center) - top floor: misc. classrooms
  • Beveridge - basement: foreign language; 1st floor: humanities, misc.; 2nd floor: math & misc.
  • Lower Module - humanities, misc.
  • Upper Module - theatre, misc.
  • Art Studios (Pottery Shed, Milk Shed, etc.: on the farm) - all arts courses
  • Dance- -has been moved to Grandin. Its home was on the Northfield Campus, but unfortunetly the new Performing Arts Center on Hermon will not be running for a few years. The company's performances will no longer be in Silverthorne Theatre and will now be in Grandin.

Offices, etc.

This listing does not include the offices that may be included in classroom buildings (ex: International Students Assoc. in Beveridge basement) or on campus faculty housing.

  • Blake - Student Center, Student Activities office, snack bar, book store, mail room (upstairs: classrooms & Grandin)
  • Grandin (attached to Blake) - old theatre, now used for dance, occasional performances, and watching movies
  • O'Conner Health Center - 24/7 medical staff, beds, x-ray machine, counselors, etc.
  • Alumni Hall (old: "West Hall") - cafeteria, meeting rooms, etc.
  • Cottage 3 ("C-3") - admissions
  • Oaknoll Cottage (2004 - 2005: chaplain's house; 2005 - 2006: offices) - workjob office, varried deans
  • Holbrook Hall - deans offices, college counseling, etc.
  • Memorial Chapel - multifaith chapel, related offices, etc.
  • Shauffler Library - library, info commons, IT, etc.
  • Farm - a fully functioning New England farm
  • Forslund Gym/James Gym (same building) - basketball courts, wrestling gym, weight room, locker rooms, athletic department offices, etc.
  • McCollum Hockey Arena - fully functioning hockey arena
  • Power Plant
  • Plant Facilities

Notable alumni

External links

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