Groton School

Groton School is a private, college-preparatory, day and boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, United States. It is affiliated with the Episcopal tradition.

Groton enrolls about 380 boys and girls from the eighth through twelfth grades, dubbed Forms II–VI in the British fashion. Its $475 million endowment enables the school to admit students on a need-blind basis. Typically, 40–44% of students are on financial aid. Students with family incomes under $150,000 attend for free.

The school admitted 8% of applicants in 2022. Its list of notable alumni includes U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Nobel laureate John B. Goodenough.

History

The Peabody era, 1884–1940

Groton School was founded in 1884 by Endicott Peabody, an Episcopal priest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Peabody was backed by Harvard president Charles Eliot and affluent figures of the time, such as Peabody's father Samuel Peabody, Phillips Brooks, William Lawrence, William Crowninshield Endicott, and J. P. Morgan.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The school also enjoyed the patronage of the Roosevelt family, as Theodore Roosevelt was one of Peabody's close friends.<ref name=":9">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The design of St. John's Chapel (1900) reflects the school's low church tendencies.<ref name=":22">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Its architect, a high churchman, proposed adding an ornate reredos like the one he built for St. Paul's School, but Endicott Peabody vetoed it.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":22" />Template:Rp

Peabody served as headmaster for 56 years. A proponent of "muscular Christianity," he instituted a Spartan educational system that included cold showers and dormitory cubicles instead of individual bedrooms.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He successfully attracted the children of wealthy families,<ref name=":24">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name=":16" /> whom he hoped to toughen up through this program of "corrective salutary deprivation."<ref name=":3" />

Under Peabody, Groton sought to inspire its students to serve the public good, rather than enter professional life.<ref name=":24" />Template:Rp In peacetime, many graduates were involved in public affairs,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":24" />Template:Rp but the alumni typically gravitated to business, finance, law, or similar professional positions.<ref>Karabel, p. 33 (quoting an alumnus who quipped that most Groton alumni wanted to make enough money "to send their sons to Groton").</ref><ref name=":24" />Template:Rp In wartime, the school's ethos of public service played a more prominent role. Of Groton's 580 military-age alumni, 475 served in World War I; 24 died and another 36 were wounded, at a time when the graduating class contained roughly 27 students.<ref name=":2" />Template:Rp Roughly 700 alumni served in World War II, with 31 deaths.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Peabody also expected his students to "be ready for advanced courses at the universities."<ref name=":24" />Template:Rp He sought to improve the academic qualities of the student body, introducing competitive entrance examinations and a scholarship program in 1907.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":24" />Template:Rp (One such scholarship student, Henry Chauncey '23, went on to popularize the Scholastic Aptitude Test with American universities.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>) Since even Ivy League universities could not always be counted on for financial aid at the time, Peabody also helped certain students pay for college. Chauncey was able to transfer from Ohio State to Harvard after Peabody arranged for a Groton donor to subsidize the cost,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Peabody gave the 1940 valedictorian John B. Goodenough a tutoring job to help make ends meet after the latter was admitted to Yale.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Crocker era, 1940–65

Peabody was succeeded by John Crocker '18, the Episcopal chaplain at Princeton University.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite news</ref> Crocker's 25-year tenure overlapped with the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1952, Groton accepted its first African-American student.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In April 1965, Crocker and his wife—accompanied by 85 Groton students—marched with Martin Luther King Jr. during a civil rights demonstration in Boston.<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp (Four years earlier, Southern authorities had arrested Crocker's son John Jr. '42 during the Freedom Rides, leading to the Supreme Court case Pierson v. Ray.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>) Crocker also significantly expanded the school's financial aid program; by his retirement in 1965 approximately 30% of Groton students were on scholarship.<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp

Co-education and change, 1965–77

After Crocker, Groton cycled through three brief Headmasterships: Bertrand Honea Jr. (1965–69), Paul Wright (1969–74), and Rowland Cox (1974–77).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> These years were marked by disputes over how (if at all) to implement co-education at Groton. Honea proposed either merging with a girls' school or formalizing a sister-school relationship with Concord Academy, a well-regarded girls' school twenty miles away.<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp<ref>"In Memoriam: The Reverend Bertram Needham Honea Jr.," p. 9.</ref> (Concord declined Groton's offer to help relocate the academy to the town of Groton, and mooted the issue by opening its doors to boys in 1971.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>) Following Honea's departure, Wright successfully proposed an organic transition to co-education by expanding the student body from 225 to 300 students; this plan limited the number of boys that would be rejected under the new system.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite journal</ref> After Wright reached Groton's mandatory retirement age, the school tapped Cox to implement the plan.<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp Groton welcomed its first female students in 1975.<ref name=":4" /> Applications tripled,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and today, Groton's student body is evenly split between boys and girls.<ref name=":4" />

The new headmasters also relaxed some of the more Spartan aspects of Peabody's Groton in response to changing preferences within the American upper class, which increasingly favored private day schools over boarding schools.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They replaced the sleeping cubicles with proper bedrooms, added more holidays to the academic calendar, relaxed the dress code, authorized a school newspaper, and gave students more free time over the weekends to explore the town of Groton or their own personal interests.<ref name=":14">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":5" />Template:Rp However, some traditions remain, such as the school's commitment to public service, its small community, and its attachment to the Episcopal Church.

Contemporary Groton, 1977–present

Groton reached its modern form under William Polk '58 (1978–2003) and Richard Commons (2003–13), who significantly upgraded the campus' buildings and grounds and internationalized the admissions process; and the current Headmaster, the South African Temba Maqubela (2013–present).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In recent years the school has focused on broadening affordability. In 2008, Groton, Andover, and Exeter began offering free tuition to families with household incomes below a certain threshold, initially set at $75,000.<ref name=":28">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From 2014 to 2018, the school conducted a $74 million fundraising campaign that allowed it to begin admitting students on a need-blind basis.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In the spring of 1999, the Middlesex County District Attorney began investigating the claims of three Groton seniors, who alleged that they, and other students, had been sexually abused by other students in dormitories in 1996 and 1997.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the school's investigation of the matter, another student brought a similar complaint to the school's attention. In 2005, the school pleaded guilty to a criminal misdemeanor charge of failing to report the latter student's sexual abuse complaint to the government and paid a $1,250 fine. The school issued an apology to the victims, and the civil suit stemming from the first student's complaint was settled out of court.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the fall of 2006, as part of the settlement, the school published a full apology to the boy who first alleged the abuse in 1999.

Members of the Groton community continue to play a notable role in the secondary school community. At present, former Groton masters are the heads of school at Cranbrook (Aimeclaire Roche, also president of the national Heads and Principals Association),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":11">Template:Cite web</ref> St. Paul's (Kathleen Giles),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Roxbury Latin (Sam Schaffer),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Dana Hall (Katherine Bradley),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Salisbury (William Webb),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Brewster International (Craig Gemmell),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> among others.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Academics and reputation

The walls of the Schoolroom (the study hall) are covered with wooden tablets bearing the names of every graduate and every member of Phi Beta Kappa.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2024, Niche ranked Groton as America's top private high school.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2016, Business Insider ranked Groton as the most selective boarding school in the United States.<ref name=":19" /> In 2024, the website Private School Review repeated this ranking, although it did not say whether it confirmed this information with Groton.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Curriculum and test scores

The Form of 2023's average combined SAT score was 1490 and its average combined ACT score was 33.5.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> The school's 4:1 student-teacher ratio<ref name=":0" /> allows the school to offer a variety of courses and an individualized study program for seniors whose academic interests have gone beyond the regular curriculum.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although not every academic department offers Advanced Placement classes,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Groton students took 2,582 AP exams (approximately 6.5 per student) from 2018 to 2022 and passed 93% of them.<ref name=":0" />

Role as feeder school

Groton has historically served as a feeder school for Harvard College. From 1906 to 1932, 405 Groton students applied to Harvard and 402 were accepted.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":2" />Template:Rp

There were at least three major reasons for this level of success. First, even Ivy League schools accepted most of their applicants until the second half of the twentieth century, when the government expanded the pool of students who could afford college by backing student loans (Higher Education Act of 1965) and providing G.I. Bill funding for veterans.<ref>Karabel, p. 258.</ref><ref name=":15">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (Stanford, which accepted seven of every eight applicants in 1951, was rejecting four of every five by 1965.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>) Second, Groton students often performed well on college entrance examinations. From 1906 to 1934, only six students received perfect scores on the English component of the College Boards (the predecessor to the SAT), and four were Groton alumni.<ref name=":2" />Template:Rp Third, even when Groton produced middling students, elite colleges were often willing to admit them anyway because of their parents' legacy status, wealth, or connections.<ref name=":15" /><ref name=":92">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> One especially rich Groton boy did so poorly in school that Endicott Peabody threatened to ban him from applying to Harvard.<ref>Lord, p. 67.</ref> Despite "appalling" scores on his entrance exams, Harvard admitted him anyway.<ref>Lord, p. 73.</ref> (In those days, a student did not actually have to pass his entrance exams to be admitted.<ref>Karabel, p. 22 ("[T]he [entrance exams] were not especially demanding, and a young man with modest intelligence from a feeder school like Groton could usually pass them with ease. If he did not, however, he could take them over and over again to obtain the requisite number of passes. Even the unfortunate applicant who failed to pass exams in enough subjects could still be admitted with 'conditions.'").</ref>)

In 1953, McGeorge Bundy '36 became the faculty dean at Harvard, a role which gave him oversight of undergraduate admissions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although he became a Groton trustee in 1957,<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp he believed that the college entrance exams of the time were doing a poor job of identifying the most talented students, and concluded that "[t]he untrained boy of real brilliance is more valuable to [Harvard] than the dull boy who has been intensely trained."<ref name=":21">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1958, Bundy commissioned a report urging Harvard to diversify its student body and to give greater weight to raw academic talent in undergraduate admissions.<ref>Karabel, pp. 264–79.</ref> The share of prep school graduates at Harvard declined from 57% of the freshman class in 1941 to 32% in 1980.<ref name=":21" /> These changes were not confined to Harvard. In 1960, Groton's 75th anniversary book accurately warned that prep school students were now "challenged ... by boys who come from public schools all over the country. As one [Yale] dean said to me, 'There has been a dramatic rise in the academic competence of Yale's students during the last few years. The best of the present are no better than the best of previous years; there are simply more of them.'"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

From 2019 to 2023, the ten most common destinations for Groton graduates (in order) were University of Chicago, Georgetown University, Yale University, Harvard University, Boston College, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Brown University, and Columbia University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Related educational institutions

Groton has contributed to several other educational institutions.

In 1909, Bishop Charles Henry Brent founded Baguio School (now Brent International School Baguio) in Baguio, Philippines to educate the children of American colonial administrators, military personnel, missionaries, and businesspeople.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The school's first headmaster was Remsen B. Ogilby, a former Groton teacher,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Peabody lent the school Guy Ayrault, who became its first assistant headmaster.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Peabody's son Malcolm '07 ran the school from 1911 to 1913.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The school sought to be a "determinedly American institution" in Southeast Asia until the Philippines gained their independence in 1946.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 1926, Peabody founded Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts. Groton was heavily oversubscribed, and the introduction of competitive examinations in 1907 had not meaningfully trimmed the waitlist.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Peabody did not want to increase the size of the school (which never exceeded 194 students during his tenure),<ref name=":24" />Template:Rp but also did not want to turn away too many parents.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Accordingly, he raised over $200,000 from Groton donors to build a new school,<ref name=":24" />Template:Rp which, like Groton, would be Episcopal and small enough to be familial.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Brooks sought to replicate Groton's emphasis on "stern Christian principles ... to train boys for life," but avoided the "character-building cold showers that had been a dreaded prebreakfast ritual at Groton."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Groton currently supports Epiphany School, an academically intensive, tuition-free, lottery-admission Episcopal middle school for at-risk youth in the Boston area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The school was founded by John Finley '88,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Groton headmaster William Polk previously served on Epiphany's board.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Epiphany's academic year is 11 months long,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the entire school relocates to Groton's campus in the summer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Admissions and student body

Admission policies

After several years of acceptance rates around 12%,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":19">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> applications increased by 20% during the COVID-19 pandemic, driving the acceptance rate down to 9% in 2021 and 8% in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Groton admits students on a need-blind basis.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> Before adopting need-blind admissions, full-pay applicants had an advantage in the application process; in 2012, the last year the school reported these statistics, 25–30% of full-pay applicants were admitted compared to 10–20% of financial aid applicants.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2018, the school announced that its admission rate was the same for both financial aid applicants and full-pay applicants.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

At the start of the 2018–19 school year, 18 of Groton's 96 incoming students were siblings of current students, and another 5 were children of school employees.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Grade levels

At Groton, grades are known as Forms, a term used in the United Kingdom and adopted by Endicott Peabody from his time at Cheltenham College. In 1967, the last class of seventh graders (in school jargon, "First Formers") was admitted. In the 2022–23 school year, Groton enrolled 26 eighth graders ("Second Formers"), 81 freshmen ("Third Formers"), 87 sophomores ("Fourth Formers"), 92 juniors ("Fifth Formers"), and 91 seniors ("Sixth Formers"), for a total enrollment of 377 students.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Student body

When Groton was founded in 1884, American boarding schools primarily catered to White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. St. Paul's accepted only students with "sound Episcopal credentials,"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and in 1885 Andover admitted a Jew "[f]or the first time in twelve years."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Although Groton was open to Jews and non-Episcopalian Christians (for example, the Presbyterian Theodore Roosevelt and the Jewish Otto Kahn both sent their sons to Groton<ref name=":9" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>), the results were not substantially different.

In Groton's early years, most of its students came from wealthy families in New York; some others came from New England.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A 1902 graduate recognized that "[n]inety-five percent of these boys came from what they considered the aristocracy of America. Their fathers belonged to the Somerset, the Knickerbocker, the Philadelphia or the Baltimore Clubs. Among them was a goodly slice of the wealth of the nation."<ref name=":16">Template:Cite book</ref> Accordingly, schools such as Groton considered it their mission "to make virtuous and brave those who, through the accident of birth, would someday exercise great power and influence."<ref name=":3" />

In the 2023–24 school year, 46% of Groton students identified as students of color, and 15% commuted to school from towns and cities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.<ref name=":0" /> In addition, 7% of the student body were foreign students; they came from 25 countries.<ref name=":0" />

Finances

Tuition and financial aid

In the 2023–24 school year, Groton charged boarding students $59,995 and day students $46,720, plus other optional and mandatory fees.<ref name=":1" /> Typically, 40–44% of students are on financial aid,<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which covers, on average, $46,519 for boarding students and $32,371 for day students.<ref name=":1" /> Since 2008, Groton has guaranteed free tuition for families with incomes under a certain threshold.<ref name=":28" /> In 2024, the school raised the threshold from $80,000 to $150,000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> All financial aid is distributed as grants (i.e., nothing needs to be paid back); the school discontinued student loans in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 2014, Groton adopted a policy of restricting frontline tuition below that of its competitors. In 2022, it was the least expensive school among a sample of 40 peer boarding schools.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, after financial aid is taken into consideration, other boarding schools may still offer competitive tuition packages once a student is admitted. For example, at Lawrenceville, boarding tuition for 2023–24 was $76,080 (roughly $16,000 more than Groton), but the average aid grant for boarding students that year was around $60,000 (roughly $13,000 more than Groton).<ref name=":42">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Conversely, at Roxbury Latin, an all-boys day school with a similar frontline tuition policy, tuition for 2024–25 was $40,600 ($6,820 less than Groton) while the average aid grant was $27,348 ($8,811 less than Groton).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Endowment and expenses

Groton's financial endowment stands at $475 million.<ref name=":0" /> In its Internal Revenue Service filings for the 2021–22 school year, Groton reported total assets of $623.4 million, net assets of $537.3 million, investment holdings of $471.1 million, and cash holdings of $3.1 million. Groton also reported $37.8 million in program service expenses and $7.8 million in grants (primarily student financial aid).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Governance

Organization

Groton is an independent (private) school accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The school was initially organized as a charitable trust.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1893, the Massachusetts legislature passed an act reorganizing the school into a non-profit corporation governed by a board of trustees.<ref name=":12" /> The Articles of Incorporation have been amended only twice since 1893: to enable girls to attend Groton,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and to change the name of the legal entity from Trustees of Groton School to (simply) Groton School.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External affiliations

Groton does not participate in either the Eight Schools Association or the Ten Schools Admissions Organization.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Outside of athletics, Groton has collaborated with other independent schools on a primarily ad hoc basis. For example, after the Kent State shootings, Groton, St. Paul's, Andover, and Exeter held an emergency meeting to discuss how boarding schools should respond to growing student unrest.<ref>Allis, p. 664.</ref> Groton also worked with St. Paul's, Andover, Deerfield, and Hotchkiss to create the Gateway to Prep Schools application portal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The current headmaster, Temba Maqubela, sits on the board of the Heads and Principals Association.<ref name=":11" />

Funding

As an independent school, Groton is not dependent on public funding.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, private schools are still eligible for government grants and indirect assistance. The Massachusetts Development Finance Agency has issued tax-exempt bonds to finance renovations and/or new buildings at Groton,<ref name=":13">Template:Cite web</ref> Andover,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Deerfield,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> St. Mark's,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Nobles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The schools are still required to pay back the bonds on their own, but obtain tax benefits and more attractive repayment terms by working with the government.<ref name=":13" />

Campus

Template:Wide image Groton has a 480-acre campus,<ref name=":0" /> including academic buildings, dormitories, athletic fields, and undeveloped land for conservation.<ref name=":27">Template:Cite web</ref> The campus layout and landscape was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park in New York City and many other educational institutions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The school's core buildings are arranged around a (mostly) circular lawn, and "The Circle" is the primary metonym for Groton's campus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2018, Architectural Digest named Groton the most beautiful private high school campus in Massachusetts.<ref name=":17">Template:Cite web</ref>

The earliest surviving buildings on campus surround the Circle. Most of them were designed by Peabody & Stearns between 1884 and 1902.<ref name=":35" /> These buildings include the Brooks House dormitory (1884), the Fives Court (1890), the Hundred House dormitory (1891), the Schoolhouse (1899),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the old gymnasium (1902), the latter of which is now the dining hall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The present Chapel was consecrated in 1900.<ref>Dobbins, p. 12.</ref>

Other architects who worked at Groton include Graham Gund (Campbell Performing Arts Center), R. Clipston Sturgis (Sturgis House and Gardner House), McKim, Mead & White (Norton House), and Henry Forbes Bigelow (Cutting House).<ref name=":35">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> More recently, the school built a solar battery farm and a net-zero emissions faculty residence to improve energy efficiency on campus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The school's athletic facilities include the Athletic Center (which contains two hockey rinks, three basketball courts, twelve squash courts, and a swimming pool), a crew boathouse on the Nashua River, a track and field complex, and 18 tennis courts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• 
  The Dining Hall (formerly the gymnasium).<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp
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  A light-hearted, three-story tiled poster that students mounted on the Chapel in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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  Most Upper Schoolers (10th–12th grades) live in Hundred House, which originally housed 100 students.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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  Lower Schoolers (8th and 9th grades) and some Upper Schoolers live in Brooks House, Groton's original building.<ref name=":2" />Template:Rp

Spiritual life

Chapel program

St. John's Chapel

St. John's Chapel opened in 1900. It was the gift of William Amory Gardner, one of the school's original teachers.<ref name=":22" />Template:Rp It was designed by Henry Vaughan, who also designed Washington National Cathedral and the New Chapel at St. Paul's School.<ref name=":212">Template:Cite journal</ref> The Chapel replaced an earlier Vaughan design (now the Sacred Heart Church of Groton), which the school donated to the local Catholic community.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":22" />Template:Rp

The Chapel's large size reflects the school's dual role as high school and parish church (cf. Christ Church, Oxford). Local landowners James and Prescott Lawrence donated the land for the campus on the understanding that the school would serve as the town's parish church, as there was no Episcopal church in Groton.<ref name=":24" />Template:Rp In 1950, the school's pastoral responsibilities were transferred to its satellite church in Ayer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Chapel's Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ (b. 1935) was designed by G. Donald Harrison, and was one of the first American organs designed to play Baroque music.<ref name=":23">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Over the next few decades, Harrison used the organ as a "laboratory" for the American Classic organ style.<ref name=":23" />

Since 1929, the school has hosted an annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, based on the version at King's College, Cambridge.<ref name=":25">Template:Cite web</ref>

Episcopal heritage and ecumenicism

At Groton, students are required to attend five religious services a week: four ecumenical services on weekday mornings (comparable to morning assembly at a non-religious school) and one sectarian service of the student's choice on weekends.<ref name=":25" /> According to Catholic commentator William F. Buckley Jr., when a prospective Catholic parent asked Groton whether it would encourage his son to attend Sunday Mass, the school replied, "No, he won't be encouraged to. He'll be required to."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The school's Protestant liturgy and architecture reflect Endicott Peabody's low church tendencies.<ref name=":22" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> To this day, the Chapel does not have any pews for students except in the choir.<ref name=":27" /> One scholar has suggested that the relative lack of ritual at Sunday services helped attract non-Episcopalian students to the school.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> School chaplain Allison Read sits on the board of the National Association of Episcopal Schools.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The school's continued adherence to religious services on weekends has made it somewhat of an anomaly among Eastern boarding schools. In the 1990s, the aforementioned Buckley surveyed twelve American boarding schools and reported that Groton, Kent, and St. George's were the only schools in the study that required students to attend a sectarian religious service on the weekend.<ref>Buckley, pp. 290–300 (the schools in the study were Brooks, Choate, Deerfield, Exeter, Groton, Hotchkiss, Kent, Lawrenceville, Milton, St. George's, St. Paul's, and Taft).</ref> Since then, Kent has dropped its requirement, and St. George's moved its mandatory service to Thursdays.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, students have found ways to accommodate their own preferences. In 2018, a student wrote in the school newspaper that the Buddhist service (which allows students to use smartphones) has become a popular "catch-all for non-religious students."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Motto

Groton adopted its current motto, cui servire est regnare, in 1902.<ref name=":26">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Anglican Episcopal">Template:Cite journal</ref> Its proper English translation has been debated over the years. The Anglican Communion still uses Thomas Cranmer's translation "in whose [God's] service is perfect freedom" from the original Anglican Book of Common Prayer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, other sources, including the Catholic Church (Lumen gentium), have used the more straightforward translation "to serve [God] is to reign."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The school acknowledges the validity of both translations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The phrase cui servire est regnare was originally attributed to Saint Augustine, and has been used in Christian liturgies since the 8th century at the latest (Gelasian Sacramentary).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The school adopted the motto after guest speaker Arthur C. A. Hall, the bishop of Vermont, used the term in a sermon on campus.<ref name=":26" />

Athletics

Groton's sports teams compete in the Independent School League (ISL), a group of boarding and day schools in Greater Boston.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> ISL schools may only award financial aid based on a family's ability to pay; as such, they do not offer athletic scholarships.<ref name=":20">Template:Cite web</ref> In addition, ISL schools may not recruit post-graduate students,<ref name=":20" /> unlike the Founders League.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sports

Groton offers 47 teams in 22 interscholastic programs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:Columns-start Fall athletic offerings

• Cross country
• Field hockey (girls)
• Football (boys)
• Soccer
• Volleyball (girls)

Winter athletic offerings

• Basketball
• Ice hockey
• Squash
• Swimming

Spring athletic offerings

• Baseball (boys)
• Rowing
• Lacrosse
• Tennis
• Track and field

Photo of the 1894 football team, captained by Percy Haughton.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Groton football team has produced three national championship-winning college football coaches, including four-time champion Percy Haughton, and four members of the College Football Hall of Fame.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":7">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1905, when several colleges (including Stanford, California, Northwestern, and Duke) dropped football citing player safety,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Endicott Peabody persuaded Theodore Roosevelt to push the remaining colleges to make the game safer by reforming the rules of football; this resulted in the legalization of the forward pass, the rule requiring 10 yards for a first down, and the creation of the neutral zone.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Groton football team won the ISL championship in 1997. Caleb Coleman '20, Robert Long '21, and Wilson Thors '21 are currently playing college football.

File:Groton Hockey 1911-1912.png

Photo of the 1912 ice hockey team, captained by sixth former Hasper (4th from right) and 1913 captain Taylor (2nd from right).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Groton boys' crew has won nine New England championships<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref> and has produced five Olympic gold medalists (Frederick Sheffield '20, Howard T. "Ox" Kingsbury '22, Donald Beer '53, Charles Grimes '53, and Emory Clark '56) one Olympic silver medalist (Seymour "Sy" Cromwell '52), one Olympic bronze medalist (Ted Patton '84) and thirteen Olympic rowers overall (James Lawrence, Jr '25, Lawrence Terry '18, John Parker '85, Henry Nuzum '95, Liane Malcos '96 and Alex Karwoski '08).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The younger Groton girls' crew has won four New England championships<ref name=":8" /> and has produced world champion Liane Malcos '96.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Both teams send crews to the Henley Royal Regatta and Henley Women's Regatta with some regularity.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Groton girls' tennis team won the ISL championship in 2023 and 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Groton boys' tennis team won the ISL championship in 2018 and 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Both the Groton girls' and boys' squash teams won the 2020 U.S. high school team division three national championship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Groton alumni have produced two International Six Metre class Sailing Olympic gold medalists (James Hopkins Smith Jr. '27, John Adams Morgan '49).

Rivalry (or rivalries)

Groton's sports rival is St. Mark's School. The two schools began playing in 1886 and contest the fifth-oldest high school football rivalry in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The rivalry began when St. Mark's rejected Endicott Peabody for its vacant headmaster job on the basis that the school bylaws required the headmaster to be an Episcopal priest and Peabody had not yet been ordained, only to turn around and hire a different layperson for the position.<ref name=":24" />Template:Rp It took on a friendlier tone when St. Mark's hired Peabody's deputy William Greenough Thayer as its new headmaster.<ref name=":2" />Template:Rp

Groton's crews have rowed against Noble and Greenough School since 1922.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This rivalry developed because historically, Groton and St. Mark's only played each other in football, baseball, and fives,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> although the schools now play in all sports.

Groton and St. Paul's School play each other in all sports and compete for a trophy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Groton also plays its neighbor Lawrence Academy in various sports, but because the ISL is split into different divisions for football and hockey, matchups are less frequent.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In popular culture

• The school has inspired (to some extent) several novels, such as the boarding schools Justin Martyr in Louis Auchincloss '35's The Rector of Justin<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Ault School in Curtis Sittenfeld '93's Prep.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Times has also speculated that Whooton School in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye may have been based on Groton.<ref name=":14" />
• During Franklin Delano Roosevelt '00's presidential administration, which popularized the use of radio broadcasts in politics, Roosevelt's distinctive Northeastern elite accent (sometimes described as a transatlantic accent) led various writers to hypothesize the existence of a "Groton accent" or "Groton voice,"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> including F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tender is the Night).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The accent was soon linked to other Groton alumni, including Dean Acheson '12<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Averell Harriman '09.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Some modern-day writers continue to use the term,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but other researchers, including William Safire, have suggested that this form of "boarding school lockjaw" was taught by a wider range of Northeastern prep schools.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Groton was a minor filming location for Alexander Payne's 2023 film The Holdovers, standing in for the fictional Barton Academy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The production team shot footage in the chapel (although most of the chapel scenes were shot at Northfield Mount Hermon) and outside Groton's boathouse on the Nashua River.<ref name=":18">Template:Cite web</ref> As shown in the film, the west wall of the chapel has a large stained-glass window dedicated to the Groton alumni who died in World War I.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• In the TV show Gilmore Girls, Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry) has a picture of Endicott Peabody from his time at Groton. Both characters Logan and Christopher Hayden (David Sutcliffe) claim to have been kicked out of Groton.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• In Wendy Wasserstein's play Third, a college professor is assigned to teach a Groton alumnus who, despite his WASPy name, attends the college on scholarship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• In Robert Littell's novel The Company, several CIA officers are alumni of Groton, including the main character's (fictional) son and his (non-fictional) boss Richard Bissell.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The school has been parodied in several The New Yorker cartoons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Further reading

• Ashburn, Frank D. (1st ed. 1944). Peabody of Groton. New York: Coward McCann.
• Fentons, John H. (Jun. 13, 1965). "Groton Headmaster Ends 25-Year Tenure." The New York Times, p. 80.
• Hoyt, Edwin P. (1968). The Peabody Influence: How a Great New England Family Helped to Build America. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.
• McLachlan, James (1979). "The Resurgence of the Gentleman: Groton and the Progressive Educational Ideal" (Chapter 9). In: American Boarding Schools: A Historical Study. New York: Scribner's, pp. 242–98.
• Template:Cite news
• Cookson, Peter W. (Jr), and Caroline Hodges Persell (1985). Preparing For Power: America's Elite Boarding Schools. New York: Basic Books.

External links

• School website
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Flickr
• Vimeo
• Archives of the Groton School Quarterly (alumni magazine) and The Grotonian (literary magazine)
• The Association of Boarding Schools profile