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{{Short description|Private day and boarding school in Groton, Massachusetts, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox school
 | name                    = Groton School
 | logo                    = Groton_crest_high_resolution.png
 | motto                   = ''Cui servire est regnare''
 | motto_translation       = "In whose [God's] service is perfect freedom" / "To serve [God] is to reign"
 | founder                 = [[Endicott Peabody (educator)|Endicott Peabody]]
 | headmaster              = [[Temba Maqubela]]
 | type                    = [[Private school|Private]], [[day school|day]] and [[boarding school]]
 | religious_affiliation   = [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]]
 | gender                  = [[Coeducational]]
 | endowment               = $475 million
 | grades                  = [[eighth grade|8]]–[[twelfth grade|12]]
 | enrollment              = 378
 | enrollment_as_of        = 2023–24
 | established             = {{start date and age|1884}}
 | street                  = 282 Farmers Row
 | city                    = [[Groton, Massachusetts|Groton]]
 | state                   = Massachusetts
 | country                 = United States
 | zipcode                 = 01450
 | coordinates             = {{coord|42|35|36|N|71|35|03|W|display=title,inline}}
 | campus_type             = [[Rural area|rural]]
 | colors                  = Red, white & black<ref>{{Cite news |last=Strauss |first=Michael |date=1952-10-17 |title=Mistakes Costly to Groton Eleven |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/10/17/archives/mistakes-costly-to-groton-eleven-3-setbacks-in-row-seen-due-to-late.html |access-date=2025-09-21 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en}}</ref><br>{{color box|#9E1B32}} {{color box|white}} {{color box|black}}
 | conference              = [[Independent School League (New England)|Independent School League]]
 | nickname                = [[Zebra]]s
 | tuition                 = Boarding: $60,895<br>Day: $47,420<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.groton.org/admission/tuition-and-affordability|title=Tuition & Affordability|website=groton.org|access-date=February 2, 2025}}</ref>
 | accreditation           = [[New England Association of Schools and Colleges|NEASC]]
 | website                 = {{URL|www.groton.org|groton.org}}
}}

'''Groton School''' is a [[Private school|private]], [[college-preparatory school|college-preparatory]], [[day school|day]] and [[boarding school]] located in [[Groton, Massachusetts]], United States. It is affiliated with the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|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 admission|need-blind basis]]. Typically, 40–44% of students are on [[Student financial aid in the United States|financial aid]]. Students with family incomes under $150,000 attend for free.

The school admitted 8% of applicants in 2022. Its [[List of Groton School alumni|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 (educator)|Endicott Peabody]], an Episcopal priest.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Groton School |url=https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/groton-school/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018123434/https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/groton-school/ |archive-date=2023-10-18 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=[[Episcopal Church (United States)|The Episcopal Church]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Karabel |first=Jerome |title=The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton |publisher=[[Mariner Books]] |year=2006 |edition=Rev.|location=New York |page=26}}</ref> Peabody was backed by [[Harvard University|Harvard]] president [[Charles William Eliot|Charles Eliot]] and affluent figures of the time, such as Peabody's father [[Samuel Endicott Peabody|Samuel Peabody]], [[Phillips Brooks]], [[William Lawrence (bishop)|William Lawrence]], [[William Crowninshield Endicott]], and [[J. P. Morgan]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Ashburn |first=Frank D. |title=Fifty Years On: Groton School 1884–1934 |publisher=Sign of the Gosden Head |year=1934 |location=New York |pages=}}</ref>{{rp|page=17}} The school also enjoyed the patronage of the [[Roosevelt family]], as [[Theodore Roosevelt]] was one of Peabody's close friends.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=Groton School |url=https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Encyclopedia/Culture-and-Society/Groton-School |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Theodore Roosevelt Center}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Peabody, Endicott |url=https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Encyclopedia/Family%20and%20Friends/Endicott%20Peabody |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=Theodore Roosevelt Center}}</ref>
[[File:Interior, Saint John's Chapel, Groton School (3678979640).jpg|left|thumb|262x262px|The design of St. John's Chapel (1900) reflects the school's [[low church]] tendencies.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |title=St. John's Chapel: 1900–2000 |publisher=Groton School |year=2000 |editor-last=Dobbins |editor-first=Gage S. |page=}}</ref>{{rp|page=20}} Its architect, a [[high church]]man, proposed adding an ornate [[reredos]] like the one he built for [[St. Paul's School (New Hampshire)|St. Paul's School]], but Endicott Peabody vetoed it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Design and Construction |url=https://hugh-harrison.co.uk/design/ |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=Hugh Harrison Conservation |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A New Chapel for St. Paul's School: Early Photographs of the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul |url=http://www.ohrstromblog.com/spsarchives/archives/category/new_chapel_early_photographs |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=Ohrstrom Library at St. Paul's School}}</ref><ref name=":22" />{{rp||page=29}}]]
Peabody served as headmaster for 56 years. A proponent of "[[muscular Christianity]]," he instituted a [[Sparta]]n educational system that included cold showers and dormitory cubicles instead of individual bedrooms.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Hicks |first=David V. |date=Autumn 1996 |title=The Strange Fate of the American Boarding School |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41212553 |journal=[[The American Scholar (magazine)|The American Scholar]] |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=525, 528 |jstor=41212553 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bundgaard |first=Axel |title=Muscle and Manliness: The Rise of Sport in American Boarding Schools |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]] |year=2005 |pages=111–120}}</ref> He successfully attracted the children of wealthy families,<ref name=":24">{{Cite book |last=Ashburn |first=Frank D. |title=Peabody of Groton |publisher=[[Riverside Press]] |year=1967 |edition=2nd |location=Cambridge, MA |page=}}</ref>{{rp||page=71}}<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" />{{rp|pages=72–73}} In peacetime, many graduates were involved in public affairs,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schlesinger |first=Arthur Meier (Jr.) |title=A Life in the Twentieth Century: vol. 1 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] |year=2000 |location=New York |page=91 (a Phillips Exeter graduate corroborating this view)}}</ref><ref name=":24" />{{rp||pages=321–28}} 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" />{{rp||page=318}} 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" />{{rp|pages=151, 162, 189–90}} Roughly 700 alumni served in [[World War II]], with 31 deaths.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Nichols |first=Acosta |title=Forty Years More: A History of Groton School 1934-1974 |publisher=Groton School |year=1976 |pages=}}</ref>{{rp|pages=42-43}}

Peabody also expected his students to "be ready for advanced courses at the universities."<ref name=":24" />{{rp|pages=72–73}} He sought to improve the academic qualities of the student body, introducing competitive entrance examinations and a scholarship program in 1907.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1907-08-19 |title=Groton School Bars Down; Rules That Have Made It Exclusive for Years to be Modified. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1907/08/19/archives/groton-school-bars-down-rules-that-have-made-it-exclusive-for-years.html |access-date=2024-03-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sargent |first=Porter |title=A Handbook of American Private Schools |publisher=Plimpton Press |year=1926 |edition=10th |location=Norwood, MA |page=118}}</ref><ref name=":24" />{{rp|pages=99–100}} (One such scholarship student, [[Henry Chauncey]] '23, went on to popularize the [[SAT|Scholastic Aptitude Test]] with American universities.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lewin |first=Tamar |date=2002-12-04 |title=Henry Chauncey Dies at 97; Shaped Admission Testing For the Nation's Colleges |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/04/nyregion/henry-chauncey-dies-at-97-shaped-admission-testing-for-the-nation-s-colleges.html |access-date=2023-10-12 |issn=0362-4331}}</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 University|Ohio State]] to Harvard after Peabody arranged for a Groton donor to subsidize the cost,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lemann |first=Nicholas |title=The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy |publisher=[[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]] |year=2000 |edition=Revised |location=New York |pages=16}}</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 University|Yale]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beran |first=Michael Knox |title=WASPs: The Splendors and Miseries of an American Aristocracy |publisher=Pegasus Books |year=2021 |location=New York |pages=315–317}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=McFadden |first=Robert D. |date=2023-06-26 |title=John B. Goodenough, 100, Dies; Nobel-Winning Creator of the Lithium-Ion Battery |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/26/science/john-goodenough-dead.html |access-date=2023-10-14 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== The Crocker era, 1940–65 ===
Peabody was succeeded by John Crocker '18, the Episcopal chaplain at [[Princeton University]].<ref name=":10">{{Cite news |date=1984-07-23 |title=Rev. John Crocker, Groton Headmaster from 1940 to 1955 |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/23/obituaries/rev-john-crocker-groton-headmaster-from-1940-to-1955.html |access-date=2023-10-12 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Crocker's 25-year tenure overlapped with the dawn of the [[Civil Rights Movement]]. In 1952, Groton accepted its first [[African Americans|African-American]] student.<ref>{{cite journal |date=June 19, 1952 |title=D. C. Youth First Negro To Enter Groton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RUMDAAAAMBAJ |journal=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]] |volume=II |issue=8 |page=16 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1952-06-02 |title=Groton Completes Plans to Admit The First Negro in Its 68 Years |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/06/02/archives/groton-completes-plans-to-admit-the-first-negro-in-its-68-years.html |access-date=2023-10-12 |issn=0362-4331}}</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" />{{rp|pages=113-14}} (Four years earlier, Southern authorities had arrested Crocker's son John Jr. '42 during the [[Freedom Riders|Freedom Rides]], leading to the Supreme Court case ''[[Pierson v. Ray]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marquard |first=Bryan |date=2012-01-06 |title=Rev. John Crocker Jr., 88; activist, college chaplain |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2012/01/06/rev-john-crocker-social-justice-activist-while-chaplain-brown-and-mit/DICXbIy93zU00JxvqRckDK/story.html |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=[[Boston Globe]] |language=en-US}}</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" />{{rp|124}}

=== 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>{{Cite journal |date=Spring 2011 |title=In Memoriam: The Reverend Bertrand Needham Honea, Jr. |url=https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/quarterly_2011_spring |journal=Groton School Quarterly |volume=LXXII |issue=2 |pages=3–10 |via=Issuu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Howe |first=Marvine |date=1993-07-17 |title=Paul W. Wright, 87, Retired Headmaster Of the Groton School |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/17/obituaries/paul-w-wright-87-retired-headmaster-of-the-groton-school.html |access-date=2023-10-12 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1977-08-20 |title=Rowland Cox, 49, Head of Groton; Helped Make School Coeducational |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/08/20/archives/rowland-cox-49-head-of-groton-helped-make-school-coeducational.html |access-date=2023-10-12 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> These years were marked by disputes over how (if at all) to implement [[Mixed-sex education|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" />{{rp||pages=220, 253}}<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>{{Cite journal |date=Spring 2012 |title=The Seventies: The Way It Was |url=https://issuu.com/concord_academy/docs/finalcamag_spring12-web/38 |journal=Concord Academy Magazine |pages=36–37 |via=Issuu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McFarland |first=Philip James |title=A History of Concord Academy: The First Half-Century |publisher=[[Concord Academy]] |year=1986 |pages=211–12}}</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">{{Cite journal |last=Pollock |first=Naomi |date=Spring 2017 |title=The Girls of '77 |url=https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/quarterly-spring-2017 |journal=Groton School Quarterly |volume=LXXVIII |issue=2 |pages=18–31 |via=Issuu}}</ref> After Wright reached Groton's mandatory retirement age, the school tapped Cox to implement the plan.<ref name=":5" />{{rp|229-31}} Groton welcomed its first female students in 1975.<ref name=":4" /> Applications tripled,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fiske |first=Edward B. |date=1976-03-01 |title=Economies, Growing Demand and Fund Raising Help Prep Schools Remain Financially Stable |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/01/archives/economies-growing-demand-and-fund-raising-help-prep-schools-remain.html |access-date=2023-10-20}}</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>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Evan W. |date=1971-02-16 |title=Prep School Blues |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1971/2/16/prep-school-blues-pfive-years-ago/ |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=[[The Harvard Crimson]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hechinger |first=Fred M. |date=1972-10-01 |title=Education |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/01/archives/to-let-some-air-into-the-hothouse-prep-schools.html |access-date=2023-10-14 |issn=0362-4331}}</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">{{Cite news |last1=Goldman |first1=Victoria |last2=Hausman |first2=Catherine |date=2000-11-12 |title=Less Austerity, More Diversity at Prep School Today |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/12/education/less-austerity-more-diversity-at-prep-school-today.html |access-date=2023-10-14 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":5" />{{rp||pages=143–45, 167–68, 202, 227–28}} 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>{{Cite web |title=William M. Polk '58 |url=https://www.groton.org/list-detail?pk=125767 |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=Spring 2013 |title=An Uncommon Decade |url=https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/quarterly_2013_spring |journal=Groton School Quarterly |volume=LXXV |issue=2 |pages=36–49 |via=Issuu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Colloredo-Mansfeld |first=Franz |date=Spring 2013 |title=Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future: The Schoolhouse Project |url=https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/quarterly_2013_spring |journal=Groton School Quarterly |volume=LXXV |issue=2 |pages=26–35 |via=Issuu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-11-24 |title=At elite Groton School, "unusual" headmaster Temba Maqubela puts focus on inclusion |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/groton-school-headmaster-temba-maqubela-elite-education-inclusion/ |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=[[CBS News]] |language=en-US}}</ref> In recent years the school has focused on broadening affordability. In 2008, Groton, [[Phillips Academy|Andover]], and [[Phillips Exeter Academy|Exeter]] began offering free tuition to families with household incomes below a certain threshold, initially set at $75,000.<ref name=":28">{{Cite news |last=Sato |first=Hiroko |date=2007-11-26 |title=Private-school education – at no cost? It's possible |url=http://www.lowellsun.com//ci_7562123?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301192939/http://www.lowellsun.com//ci_7562123?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com |archive-date=2014-03-01 |access-date=2024-02-25 |work=The Lowell Sun}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Groton School History |url=https://www.groton.org/about/history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117072543/https://www.groton.org/about/history |archive-date=2024-01-17 |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=Groton School}}</ref> From 2014 to 2018, the school conducted a $74 million fundraising campaign that allowed it to begin admitting students on a [[Need-blind admission|need-blind basis]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-21 |title=Momentum Continues as GRAIN Crests $74 Million |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail-title?pk=1210567&fromId=245736 |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Friedman |first=Gail |date=Fall 2018 |title=A Groundbreaking Mission: How GRAIN Took Root and Grew |url=https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/quarterly-fall-2018 |journal=Groton School Quarterly |volume=LXXIX |issue=3 |pages=10–23 |via=Issuu}}</ref>

In the spring of 1999, the [[Middlesex County, Massachusetts|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>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2001-08-23 |title=Accusations of Sex Abuse at Boarding School |url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=124035&page=1 |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burnett |first=James |date=2006-05-15 |title=The Boy Who Cried Rape |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/05/15/the-boy-who-cried-rape/ |website=[[Boston Magazine]]}}</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>{{cite news |date=25 April 2005 |title=Elite prep school pleads guilty in sex abuse investigation |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-04-25-groton-sex_x.htm |newspaper=[[USA Today]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=In Re: A Grand Jury Investigation |url=http://masslawyersweekly.com/fulltext-opinions/1990/01/01/in-re-a-grand-jury-investigation-2/ |publisher=Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly}}</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 Educational Community|Cranbrook]] (Aimeclaire Roche, also president of the national Heads and Principals Association),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hodges |first=Michael H. |title=Cranbrook names new president one year early |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/07/30/cranbrook-names-new-president-aimeclaire-roche/5545080002/ |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=[[The Detroit News]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite web |title=Executive Committee |url=https://www.headsandprincipalsassociation.org/executive-committee |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016084925/https://www.headsandprincipalsassociation.org/executive-committee |archive-date=2023-10-16 |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=Heads and Principals Association |language=en}}</ref> [[St. Paul's School (New Hampshire)|St. Paul's]] (Kathleen Giles),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kathleen "Kathy" Giles |url=https://www.sps.edu/about/directory/kathleen-kathy-giles |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016084921/https://www.sps.edu/about/directory/kathleen-kathy-giles |archive-date=2023-10-16 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=[[St. Paul's School (New Hampshire)|St. Paul's School]] |language=en}}</ref> [[Roxbury Latin School|Roxbury Latin]] (Sam Schaffer),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berg |first=Erin |date=2023-07-20 |title=Dr. Sam Schaffer Will Be Roxbury Latin's 12th Head of School |url=https://www.roxburylatin.org/2023/07/20/dr-sam-schaffer-will-be-roxbury-latins-12th-head-of-school/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=The Roxbury Latin School |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Dana Hall School|Dana Hall]] (Katherine Bradley),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-10-30 |title=Dana Hall School Appoints New Head of School |url=http://girlsschools.org/news/member-news/dana-hall-school-appoints-new-head-of-school/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016084920/https://girlsschools.org/news/member-news/dana-hall-school-appoints-new-head-of-school/ |archive-date=2023-10-16 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=[[International Coalition of Girls' Schools]] |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Salisbury School|Salisbury]] (William Webb),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Story – All Boys High School In CT |url=https://www.salisburyschool.org/our-story |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202082047/https://www.salisburyschool.org/our-story |archive-date=2023-12-02 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=[[Salisbury School]] |language=en-US}}</ref> and [[Brewster Academy|Brewster International]] (Craig Gemmell),<ref>{{Cite web |title=School Leadership |url=https://www.brewsteracademy.org/about/school-leadership |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223230308/https://www.brewsteracademy.org/about/school-leadership |archive-date=2024-02-23 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=[[Brewster Academy]]}}</ref> among others.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=Spring 2015 |title="Leadership Training" |url=https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/quarterly-spring-2015/18 |journal=Groton School Quarterly |volume=LXXVII |issue=2 |page=16 |via=Issuu}}</ref>

== Academics and reputation ==
[[File:Groton - interior.JPG|thumb|267x267px|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>{{Cite book |last=Felton |first=Keith Spencer |title=Indispensable Tools: A Principal Builds His High School |publisher=[[University Press of America]] |year=2001 |location=Lanham, MD |pages=420}}</ref>]]In 2024, ''[[Niche (company)|Niche]]'' ranked Groton as America's top private high school.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chatham |first=Zach |date=2024-09-30 |title=Niche Releases Annual Rankings of Best Schools and Districts for 2025 |url=https://www.niche.com/about/niche-releases-annual-rankings-of-best-schools-and-districts-for-2025/ |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=Niche |language=en}}</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>{{Cite web |title=Most Selective Private Schools (2024) |url=https://www.privateschoolreview.com/acceptance-rate-stats/national-data |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=www.privateschoolreview.com}}</ref>

=== Curriculum and test scores ===
The Form of 2023's average combined [[SAT]] score was 1490 and its average combined [[ACT (test)|ACT]] score was 33.5.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2024-01-17 |title=Fast Facts |url=https://www.groton.org/about/fast-facts |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117062457/https://www.groton.org/about/fast-facts |archive-date=2024-01-17 |access-date=2024-02-17 |website=Groton School}}</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>{{Cite web |title=Groton School Academic Policies and Course Catalog, 2023-24 |url=https://groton.myschoolapp.com/ftpimages/542/download/download_7537703.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126100737/https://groton.myschoolapp.com/ftpimages/542/download/download_7537703.pdf |archive-date=2024-01-26 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=Groton School |page=9}}</ref> Although not every academic department offers [[Advanced Placement]] classes,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore our Curriculum {{!}} English |url=https://www.groton.org/curriculum-detail?fromId=250870&LevelNum=951&DepartmentId=16964 |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Groton School}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore our Curriculum {{!}} History and Social Science |url=https://www.groton.org/curriculum-detail?fromId=250870&LevelNum=951&DepartmentId=16966 |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Groton School}}</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>{{Cite book |last1=Isaacson |first1=Walter |author-link1=Walter Isaacson |title=The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made |title-link=The Wise Men (book) |last2=Thomas |first2=Evan |author-link2=Evan Thomas |publisher=[[Simon and Schuster]] |year=1986 |location=New York |page=[https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Wise_Men/DgNl1_VlG0sC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=1932 60]}}</ref><ref name=":2" />{{rp||page=132}}

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 in the United States|student loans]] ([[Higher Education Act of 1965]]) and providing [[G.I. Bill]] funding for veterans.<ref>Karabel, p. 258.</ref><ref name=":15">{{Cite web |date=December 1999 |title=The Birth of a New Institution |url=http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/99_12/admissions.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016120418/http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/99_12/admissions.html |archive-date=2023-10-16 |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Yale Alumni Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Higher Education Act |url=https://www.lbjlibrary.org/news-and-press/media-kits/higher-education-act |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=LBJ Library |language=en}}</ref> ([[Stanford University|Stanford]], which accepted seven of every eight applicants in 1951, was rejecting four of every five by 1965.<ref>{{Cite web |date= 16 December 2011|title=At the Hands of the Radicals |url=https://stanfordmag.org/contents/at-the-hands-of-the-radicals |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030073122/https://stanfordmag.org/contents/at-the-hands-of-the-radicals |archive-date=2023-10-30 |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Stanford Magazine |language=en}}</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 Entrance Examination Board|College Boards]] (the predecessor to the SAT), and four were Groton alumni.<ref name=":2" />{{rp||page=138}} Third, even when Groton produced middling students, elite colleges were often willing to admit them anyway because of their parents' [[Legacy preferences|legacy status]], wealth, or connections.<ref name=":15" /><ref name=":92">{{Cite journal |last=Levine |first=Steven B. |date=October 1980 |title=The Rise of American Boarding Schools and the Development of a National Upper Class |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/800381 |journal=Social Problems |volume=28 |issue=1 |page=78 (calculating that 35% of the students in the class of 1906 were Harvard legacies, and 65% were Ivy League legacies) |doi=10.2307/800381 |jstor=800381 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lord |first=Ruth |title=Henry F. du Pont and Winterthur: A Daughter's Portrait |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=1999 |location=New Haven, CT |page=73}}</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 [[Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences|faculty dean]] at Harvard, a role which gave him oversight of undergraduate admissions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1996-09-17 |title=Former FAS Dean, Aide To Kennedy Dies at 77 |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1996/9/17/former-fas-dean-aide-to-kennedy/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216124145/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1996/9/17/former-fas-dean-aide-to-kennedy/ |archive-date=2023-12-16 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=[[The Harvard Crimson]]}}</ref> Although he became a Groton trustee in 1957,<ref name=":5" />{{rp||page=238}} 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">{{Cite book |last=Powell |first=Arthur G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yPtY48eA4NwC |title=Lessons from Privilege: The American Prep School Tradition |date=1996 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-52549-8 |page=144 |language=en}}</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 [[State school|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>{{Cite book |last=Goodenough |first=Erwin Ramsdell |title=Views from the Circle: Seventy-Five Years of Groton School |publisher=Groton School |year=1960 |page=342 |chapter=A Yale Professor and Groton Parent Looks at the School}}</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>{{Cite web |title=Matriculations {{!}} Groton School |url=https://www.groton.org/matriculations |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=www.groton.org}}</ref>

=== Related educational institutions ===
Groton has contributed to several other educational institutions.

In 1909, Bishop [[Charles Brent|Charles Henry Brent]] founded Baguio School (now [[Brent International School|Brent International School Baguio]]) in [[Baguio|Baguio, Philippines]] to educate the children of American colonial administrators, military personnel, missionaries, and businesspeople.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2020-02-25 |title=History |url=https://brentbaguio.edu.ph/history/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=Brent International School Baguio |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Student-Parent Handbook 2020-2021 |url=https://brentbaguio.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/StudentParentHandbook2021October-15-1.pdf |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=Brent International School Baguio}}</ref> The school's first headmaster was [[Remsen Brinckerhoff Ogilby|Remsen B. Ogilby]], a former Groton teacher,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1943-08-08 |title=Dr. Ogilby Drowns Saving a Servant |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/08/08/archives/dr-ogilby-drowns-saving-a-serwant-president-of-trinity-college.html |access-date=2024-03-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and Peabody lent the school Guy Ayrault, who became its first assistant headmaster.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Missionary District of the Philippine Islands |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhoB7WZx-B0C&pg=PA28 |title=Annual Report |date=1909 |publisher=[[Episcopal Church (United States)]] |pages=28–29 |language=en}}</ref> Peabody's son [[Malcolm E. Peabody|Malcolm]] '07 ran the school from 1911 to 1913.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1974-06-21 |title=Bishop Peabody, Led Synod Here |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/06/21/archives/bishop-peabody-led-synod-here-episcopalian-86-dead-aided-harvard.html |access-date=2024-03-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The school sought to be a "determinedly American institution" in Southeast Asia until the Philippines [[Treaty of Manila (1946)|gained their independence in 1946]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Graves |first=Ralph |date=1984-05-21 |title=In a U.S. School: A Homecoming |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,926489-1,00.html |access-date=2024-03-12 |magazine=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}}</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>{{Cite journal |last=Conant |first=Wallace B. |date= 1906|title=Groton: An Ancient Town and Its Famous Schools |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZbAVAAAAYAAJ |journal=New England Magazine |volume=33 |issue=1905–06 |page=478 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1kkrAAAAYAAJ |title=A Handbook of the Best Private Schools of the United States and Canada |date=1915 |publisher=P.E. Sargent |location=Boston|publication-date=1915 |page=33 |language=en}}</ref> Peabody did not want to increase the size of the school (which never exceeded 194 students during his tenure),<ref name=":24" />{{rp||page=218}} but also did not want to turn away too many parents.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kahn Jr. |first=E. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6pw5EAAAQBAJ |title=Jock: The Life and Times of John Hay Whitney |date=2021-07-22 |publisher=Plunkett Lake Press |edition=2021 |publication-date=1981 |language=en}}</ref> Accordingly, he raised over $200,000 from Groton donors to build a new school,<ref name=":24" />{{rp||page=|pages=307-11}} which, like Groton, would be Episcopal and small enough to be familial.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Brooks |url=https://www.brooksschool.org/about/about-brooks |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=Brooks School |language=en-US}}</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>{{Cite news |last=Thomas Jr. |first=Robert Mcg. |date=1997-10-09 |title=Frank Davis Ashburn, 94, School Headmaster |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/09/nyregion/frank-davis-ashburn-94-school-headmaster.html |access-date=2024-03-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</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>{{Cite web |last=Siarnacki |first=Anne |title=Epiphany School: successful innovation in urban education |url=https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2006/03/epiphany-school-successful-innovation-in-urban-education |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=The Tufts Daily |language=en}}</ref> The school was founded by John Finley '88,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Epiphany School looks ahead to a full year |url=https://www.diomass.org/diocesan-news/epiphany-school-looks-ahead-full-year |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts}}</ref> and Groton headmaster William Polk previously served on Epiphany's board.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Epiphany School Annual Report 2010 |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58e5219ed2b8572b0fa2c1c9/t/59f8aabb27ef2d6d7d927982/1509468866496/AR+2010.pdf |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=Epiphany School}}</ref> Epiphany's academic year is 11 months long,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gerwin |first=Carol |date=2000-04-01 |title=Five Ways to Reinvent Education |url=http://commonwealthbeacon.org/education/five-ways-to-reinvent-education/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=CommonWealth Beacon |language=en-US}}</ref> and the entire school relocates to Groton's campus in the summer.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-10-15 |title=Beyond the Circle with Days of Service |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail?pk=783979 |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref>

==Admissions and student body==

{{See also|List of Groton School alumni|Saint Grottlesex}}
=== Admission policies ===
After several years of acceptance rates around 12%,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-09-12 |title=Groton School's Commitment: A Focus on Affordability |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail?pk=771970 |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":19">{{Cite web |last1=Martin |first1=Emmie |last2=Loudenback |first2=Tanza |date=2016-02-19 |title=The 16 most selective boarding schools in America |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/most-selective-boarding-schools-in-america-2016-2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017121337/https://www.businessinsider.com/most-selective-boarding-schools-in-america-2016-2 |archive-date=2023-10-17 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=[[Business Insider]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kogler |first=Alex |date=2017-10-26 |title=How to Get into Groton |url=https://thecirclevoice.org/2557/features/how-to-get-into-groton/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=The Circle Voice}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-12 |title=A Warm Groton Embrace for Newly Admitted Students |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail?pk=941330 |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref> applications increased by 20% during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], driving the acceptance rate down to 9% in 2021 and 8% in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-04-11 |title=A Warm Welcome to Our Newest Grotonians, After an Admission Season Like No Other |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail-title?pk=1169706 |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=Spring 2022 |title=Placing Last: A Tuition Milestone Achieved |url=https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/groton_school_quarterly_spring_2022/51 |journal=Groton School Quarterly |volume=LXXXIII |issue=2 |page=3 |via=Issuu}}</ref>

Groton admits students on a [[Need-blind admission|need-blind basis]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Tuition and Financial Aid at Groton School, Massachusetts |url=https://www.groton.org/admission/tuition-and-affordability |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013015949/https://www.groton.org/admission/tuition-and-affordability |archive-date=2023-10-13 |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=Groton School}}</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>{{Cite web |title=Financial Aid |url=http://www.groton.org/admission/financial_aid |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121095528/http://www.groton.org/admission/financial_aid |archive-date=2012-01-21 |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=Groton School}}</ref> In 2018, the school announced that its admission rate was the same for both financial aid applicants and full-pay applicants.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-13 |title=GRAIN Reaches $50 Million Milestone |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail?pk=927671 |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</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>{{Cite web |last=Cratsley |first=Lily |date=2018-09-13 |title=Admissions Statistics for the 2018–19 School Year |url=https://thecirclevoice.org/3215/news/admissions-statistics-for-the-2018-19-school-year/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=The Circle Voice}}</ref>

=== Grade levels ===
At Groton, grades are known as [[Form (education)|Forms]], a term used in the United Kingdom and adopted by [[Endicott Peabody (educator)|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>{{Cite web |title=Enrollment Data (2022–23) – Groton School (01150815) |url=https://profiles.doe.mass.edu/profiles/student.aspx?orgcode=01150815&orgtypecode=11&&fycode=2023 |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=profiles.doe.mass.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Curriculum at Groton School |url=https://www.groton.org/academics/curriculum |access-date=2023-10-21 |website=Groton School}}</ref>

=== Student body ===
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="float:right;" ; text-align:right; font-size:80%;"
|+ style="font-size:90%" |Student body composition (2021–22)<ref name="nces">{{Cite web |title=Groton School |url=https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolName=groton&State=25&NumOfStudentsRange=more&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&HiGrade=-1&ID=A1902328 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022061947/https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolName=groton&State=25&NumOfStudentsRange=more&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&HiGrade=-1&ID=A1902328 |archive-date=2023-10-22 |access-date=2023-10-21 |website=[[National Center for Education Statistics]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Massachusetts |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/MA/PST045222 |access-date=2023-10-21 |website=[[United States Census Bureau]] |language=en}}</ref>
|-
! Race and ethnicity
! colspan="2" data-sort-type="number" |Groton
! colspan="2" data-sort-type="number" |Massachusetts
|-
| [[Non-Hispanic whites|White]]
|align=right| {{bartable|47.5|%|2||background:gray}}
|align=right| {{bartable|69.6|%|2||background:gray}}
|-
| [[Asian people|Asian]]
|align=right| {{bartable|23.5|%|2||background:purple}}
|align=right| {{bartable|7.7|%|2||background:purple}}
|-
| [[Black people|Black]]
|align=right| {{bartable|8.7|%|2||background:mediumblue}}
|align=right| {{bartable|9.5|%|2||background:mediumblue}}
|-
| [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic]]
|align=right| {{bartable|12.9|%|2||background:green}}
|align=right| {{bartable|13.1|%|2||background:green}}
|-
| [[Multiracial people|Multiracial]]
|align=right| {{bartable|7.4|%|2||background:red}}
|align=right| {{bartable|2.7|%|2||background:red}}
|}

When Groton was founded in 1884, American boarding schools primarily catered to [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestants]]. [[St. Paul's School (New Hampshire)|St. Paul's]] accepted only students with "sound Episcopal credentials,"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kolowrat |first=Ernest |title=Hotchkiss: A Chronicle of an American School |publisher=Hotchkiss School |year=1992 |page=73}}</ref> and in 1885 [[Phillips Academy|Andover]] admitted a Jew "[f]or the first time in twelve years."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allis, Jr. |first=Frederick S. |title=Youth from Every Quarter: A Bicentennial History of Phillips Academy, Andover |publisher=[[University Press of New England]] |year=1979 |location=Hanover, NH |page=288}}</ref> Although Groton was open to Jews and non-Episcopalian Christians (for example, the [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and the [[Jews|Jewish]] [[Otto Hermann Kahn|Otto Kahn]] both sent their sons to Groton<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Reifsnyder |first=Richard W. |date=2019-06-03 |title=The Practical Faith of Theodore Roosevelt: Presbyterian and Paternal Influences |url=https://www.history.pcusa.org/blog/2019/06/practical-faith-theodore-roosevelt-presbyterian-and-paternal-influences |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017195735/https://www.history.pcusa.org/blog/2019/06/practical-faith-theodore-roosevelt-presbyterian-and-paternal-influences |archive-date=2023-10-17 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=Presbyterian Historical Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1975-12-16 |title=Gilbert W. Kahn, Arts Patron and Investment Banker, Dead |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/16/archives/gilbert-w-kahn-arts-patron-and-investment-banker-dead.html |access-date=2023-10-20}}</ref>), the results were not substantially different.

In Groton's early years, most of its students came from wealthy families in [[New York (state)|New York]]; some others came from [[New England]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heckscher |first=August |title=St. Paul's: The Life of a New England School |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]] |year=1980 |edition=1st |location=New York |page=383 (note 37) (contrasting Groton with St. Paul's, which traditionally focused on educating Bostonians)}}</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 Club|Somerset]], the [[Knickerbocker Club|Knickerbocker]], the [[Philadelphia Club|Philadelphia]] or the [[Baltimore Country Club|Baltimore]] [[Gentlemen's clubs|Clubs]]. Among them was a goodly slice of the wealth of the nation."<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Biddle |first=George |title=Views from the Circle: Seventy-Five Years of Groton School |publisher=Groton School |year=1960 |page=126 |chapter=As I Remember Groton School}}</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 [[Student financial aid in the United States|financial aid]],<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Tuition and Financial Aid at Groton School, Massachusetts |url=https://www.groton.org/admission/tuition--financial-aid |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525012502/https://www.groton.org/admission/tuition--financial-aid |archive-date=2022-05-25 |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=Groton School}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Tuition and Financial Aid at Groton School, Massachusetts |url=https://www.groton.org/admission/tuition--financial-aid |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309063519/https://www.groton.org/admission/tuition--financial-aid |archive-date=2021-03-09 |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=Groton School}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Tuition and Financial Aid at Groton School, Massachusetts {{!}} Groton School |url=https://www.groton.org/admission/tuition--financial-aid |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530061639/https://www.groton.org/admission/tuition--financial-aid |archive-date=2020-05-30 |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=Groton School}}</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>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-31 |title=Groton School receives $2 million gift in support of GRAIN inclusion and affordability initiative |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail-title?pk=1363365&fromId=245736 |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref> All financial aid is distributed as grants (i.e., nothing needs to be paid back); the school discontinued student loans in 2007.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=May 2008 |title=Intimate and Diverse: The 2008 Financial Aid Initiative |url=https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/quarterly_2008_spring |journal=Groton School Quarterly |volume=LXX |issue=2 |page=32 |via=Issuu}}</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>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-10 |title=Groton Achieves Tuition Milestone: Lowest Among Peer Schools |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail-title?pk=1223964 |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</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 School|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">{{Cite web |title=Online Information Session - Scholarship Aid |url=https://apply.lawrenceville.org/share/recording?id=9f09f4aa-76c3-4200-a3be-044a49d19d5c |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=apply.lawrenceville.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Comprehensive Tuition for School Year 2023-24 |url=https://www.lawrenceville.org/admission/tuition-affordability |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327132429/https://www.lawrenceville.org/admission/tuition-affordability |archive-date=2023-03-27 |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=The Lawrenceville School}}</ref> Conversely, at [[Roxbury Latin School|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>{{Cite web |title=RL Facts |url=https://www.roxburylatin.org/about/facts/ |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=The Roxbury Latin School |language=en-US}}</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 in the United States|student financial aid]]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-05-09 |title=Groton School, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/42104265/202311329349303881/full |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}</ref>

== Governance ==

=== Organization ===
Groton is an [[Independent school|independent (private) school]] accredited by the [[New England Association of Schools and Colleges]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-03 |title=Groton School |url=https://www.neasc.org/institution/groton-school-0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030073120/https://www.neasc.org/institution/groton-school-0 |archive-date=2023-10-30 |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=[[New England Association of Schools and Colleges]] |language=en}}</ref> The school was initially organized as a [[charitable trust]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Commonwealth of Massachusetts |url=http://archive.org/details/actsresolvespass1893mass |title=An Act to Incorporate the Trustees of Groton School |date=1893-03-17 |publisher=Boston : Secretary of the Commonwealth |series=Acts 1893, ch. 94 |pages=753–54}}</ref> In 1893, the [[Massachusetts General Court|Massachusetts legislature]] passed an act reorganizing the school into a [[Nonprofit corporation|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>{{Cite web |date=1974-11-21 |title=Articles of Amendment (October 25, 1974) |url=https://corp.sec.state.ma.us/CorpWeb/CorpSearch/CorpSearchRedirector.aspx?Action=PDF&Path=CORP_DRIVE1/2014/0328/000559096/0025/201479697180_1.pdf |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth}}</ref> and to change the name of the legal entity from '''Trustees of Groton School''' to (simply) '''Groton School'''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-05-12 |title=Articles of Amendment (April 21, 2006) |url=https://corp.sec.state.ma.us/CorpWeb/CorpSearch/CorpSearchRedirector.aspx?Action=PDF&Path=CORP_DRIVE1/2006/0512/000167296/0001/200647884500_1.pdf |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth}}</ref>

=== External affiliations ===
Groton does not participate in either the [[Eight Schools Association]] or the [[Ten Schools Admissions Organization]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.8schools.org/ |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=[[Eight Schools Association]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-05 |title=Home – Ten Schools |url=https://www.tenschools.org/ |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=[[Ten Schools Admissions Organization]] |language=en-US}}</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 School (New Hampshire)|St. Paul's]], [[Phillips Academy|Andover]], and [[Phillips Exeter Academy|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 Academy|Deerfield]], and [[Hotchkiss School|Hotchkiss]] to create the Gateway to Prep Schools application portal.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-09-15 |title=Groton School Viewbook, 2016–17 |url=https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/viewbook-2016-17_updated |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=Groton School |page=65 |language=en |via=Issuu}}</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>{{Cite web |title=What Are Independent Private Schools? |url=https://parents.nais.org/learn/what-are-independent-private-schools/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925110100/https://parents.nais.org/learn/what-are-independent-private-schools/ |archive-date=2023-09-25 |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=[[National Association of Independent Schools]]}}</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">{{Cite web |title=Groton School to Use MassDevelopment Bond for Refinancing, Renovation |url=https://www.massdevelopment.com/news/groton-school-to-use-massdevelopment-bond-for-refinancing-renovation/ |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=[[Massachusetts Development Finance Agency]]}}</ref> [[Phillips Academy|Andover]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=$38 Million MassDevelopment Bond Supports Campus Improvement Projects at Philips Academy Andover |url=https://www.massdevelopment.com/news/38-million-massdevelopment-bond-supports-campus-improvement-projects-at-phi/ |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=[[Massachusetts Development Finance Agency]]}}</ref> [[Deerfield Academy|Deerfield]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Deerfield Academy Builds Arts, Music Spaces With $15 Million MassDevelopment Bond |url=https://www.massdevelopment.com/news/deerfield-academy-builds-arts-music-spaces-with-15-million-massdevelopment-/ |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=[[Massachusetts Development Finance Agency]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mysak |first=Joe |date=2023-08-17 |title=Deerfield Academy is raising $89 million to build a dining hall |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/08/17/metro/deerfield-academy-is-raising-89-million-build-dining-hall/ |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=[[Boston Globe]] |language=en-US}}</ref> [[St. Mark's School (Massachusetts)|St. Mark's]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=St. Mark's to Build New Residential Dormitory |url=https://www.massdevelopment.com/news/st-marks-to-build-new-residential-dormitory/ |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=[[Massachusetts Development Finance Agency]]}}</ref> and [[Noble and Greenough School|Nobles]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Noble and Greenough School Expands Historic "Castle" Thanks to MassDevelopment Bond |url=https://www.massdevelopment.com/news/noble-and-greenough-school-expands-historic-castle-thanks-to-massdevelopmen/ |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=[[Massachusetts Development Finance Agency]]}}</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==

{{wide image|Groton School.jpg|750px|Groton School, as viewed from the top of St. John's Chapel. Hundred House is on the left and the Schoolhouse is on the right.}}
Groton has a 480-acre campus,<ref name=":0" /> including academic buildings, dormitories, athletic fields, and undeveloped land for conservation.<ref name=":27">{{Cite web |title=Groton School {{!}} Virtual Campus Tour |url=https://uploads.myschoolcdn.com/542/uploads/2016/groton_virtualtour_v2/index.html |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=uploads.myschoolcdn.com}}</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>{{Cite web |last=Hojnicki |first=Carrie |date=2016-08-09 |title=9 Great Frederick Law Olmsted Designs That Aren't Central Park |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/frederick-law-olmsted-best-designs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030174939/https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/frederick-law-olmsted-best-designs |archive-date=2023-10-30 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=[[Architectural Digest]]}}</ref> The school's core buildings are arranged around a (mostly) circular lawn, and "The Circle" is the primary [[Metonymy|metonym]] for Groton's campus.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-09-08 |title=The Circle Comes to Life with New and Returning Students |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail?pk=674052 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226000557/https://www.groton.org/news-detail?pk=674052 |archive-date=2024-02-26 |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref> In 2018, ''[[Architectural Digest]]'' named Groton the most beautiful private high school campus in [[Massachusetts]].<ref name=":17">{{Cite web |last=Huber |first=Hannah |date=2018-03-29 |title=The Most Beautiful Private High School in Every State in America |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/most-beautiful-private-high-schools-in-america |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018123237/https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/most-beautiful-private-high-schools-in-america |archive-date=2023-10-18 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=[[Architectural Digest]] |language=en-US}}</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 [[Eton fives|Fives]] Court (1890), the Hundred House dormitory (1891), the Schoolhouse (1899),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Groton School Schoolhouse Addition & Renovation |url=https://www.csl-consulting.com/projects/private-k-12/groton-school/ |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=CSL Consulting |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Groton School Renovation |url=https://www.gorelco.com/project-portfolio/award-winning/groton-school-renovation-groton-ma/ |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Reilly Electrical Contractors, Inc. |language=en-US}}</ref> and the old gymnasium (1902), the latter of which is now the dining hall.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Groton School Dining Hall |url=https://analoguestudio.com/work/groton-school-dining-hall/ |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Analogue Studio}}</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), [[Richard Clipston Sturgis|R. Clipston Sturgis]] (Sturgis House and Gardner House), [[McKim, Mead & White]] (Norton House), and [[Henry Forbes Bigelow]] (Cutting House).<ref name=":35">{{Cite web |title=Historic Area Detail: GRO.E – Groton School |url=https://mhc-macris.net/details?mhcid=gro.e |access-date= |website=Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System |publisher=Secretary of the [[Commonwealth of Massachusetts]], [[William F. Galvin]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Theater |url=https://www.groton.org/arts/theater |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Groton School}}</ref> More recently, the school built a solar battery farm and a [[Net zero emissions|net-zero emissions]] faculty residence to improve energy efficiency on campus.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-31 |title=Powerful Changes at Groton's New Solar Farm |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail-title?pk=1136591 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Groton School – Solar + Storage |url=https://solardesign.com/portfolio/groton-school-solar-storage/ |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Solar Design Associates |language=en-US}}</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>{{Cite web |title=Facilities |url=https://www.groton.org/athletics/facilities |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Groton School}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Groton School Boathouse |url=https://schooldesigns.com/Projects/groton-school-boathouse/ |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=School Designs |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Groton School Boathouse |url=https://carrenterprises.com/portfolio/academic/groton-school-boathouse/ |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Carr Enterprises |date=March 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date= 31 December 2021|title=Groton dedicates Maqubela Track and Field Complex |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail-title?pk=1331847&fromId=245736 |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref><gallery>
File:Groton School gymnasium (new) – Peabody and Stearns.jpg|The Dining Hall (formerly the gymnasium).<ref name=":5" />{{rp||page=238|location=plate at pp. 110–111}}|alt=The Dining Hall (formerly the gymnasium).: 238, plate between pp. 110 & 111
File:LargestKnownRasterbation.jpg|A light-hearted, three-story [[Tiled printing|tiled poster]] that students mounted on the Chapel in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Huntington |first1=Robin |last2=Lee |first2=Amelia |date=2018-06-02 |title=A History of Senior Pranks |url=https://thecirclevoice.org/2858/features/a-history-of-senior-pranks/ |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=The Circle Voice}}</ref>
File:Hundred House, Groton School.jpg|Most Upper Schoolers (10th–12th grades) live in Hundred House, which originally housed 100 students.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kintrea |first=Frank |date=1980 |title="old Peabo" And The School |url=https://www.americanheritage.com/old-peabo-and-school |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017121337/https://www.americanheritage.com/old-peabo-and-school |archive-date=2023-10-17 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Gardner Mundy '59 |url=https://www.groton.org/list-detail?pk=104941 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017121341/https://www.groton.org/list-detail?pk=104941 |archive-date=2023-10-17 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref>
File:Brooks House, Groton School.jpg|Lower Schoolers (8th and 9th grades) and some Upper Schoolers live in Brooks House, Groton's original building.<ref name=":2" />{{rp||page=19}} |alt=Lower Schoolers (8th and 9th grades) and some Upper Schoolers live in Brooks House, Groton's original building.: 19
</gallery>

== Spiritual life ==

=== Chapel program ===
[[File:Saint John's Chapel, Groton School (3678124645).jpg|thumb|255x255px|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" />{{rp||page=9}} It was designed by [[Henry Vaughan (architect)|Henry Vaughan]], who also designed [[Washington National Cathedral]] and the New Chapel at St. Paul's School.<ref name=":212">{{Cite journal |last=Morgan |first=William |date=1973 |title=The Architecture of Henry Vaughan and the Episcopal Church |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42973374 |journal=Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=131–32 |issn=0018-2486 |jstor=42973374}}</ref> The Chapel replaced an earlier Vaughan design (now the Sacred Heart Church of Groton), which the school donated to the local [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] community.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Connor |first=Anne |date=2014-12-19 |title=New life for old Groton chapel |url=https://www.nashobavalleyvoice.com/ci_27169445/new-life-old-groton-chapel/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023105010/https://www.nashobavalleyvoice.com/2014/12/19/new-life-for-old-groton-chapel/ |archive-date=2023-10-23 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=Nashoba Valley Voice |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":22" />{{rp||page=11}}

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" />{{rp|pages=65–66}} In 1950, the school's pastoral responsibilities were transferred to its satellite church in [[Ayer, Massachusetts|Ayer]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Parish History |url=https://www.standrewsayer.org/home/history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223182141/https://www.standrewsayer.org/home/history |archive-date=2024-02-23 |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Ayer}}</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">{{Cite web |date=2004-05-26 |title=New organs |url=https://www.thediapason.com/new-organs-90 |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=www.thediapason.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ochse |first=Orpha |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/oa_monograph/chapter/2962578 |title=The History of the Organ in the United States |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1989 |location=Bloomington|pages=ch. 16}}</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">{{Cite web |title=Spiritual Life at Groton |url=https://www.groton.org/student-life/spiritual-life |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=Groton School}}</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>{{Cite book |last=Buckley Jr. |first=William F. |title=Nearer, My God: An Autobiography of Faith |publisher=Doubleday |year=1997 |location=New York|page=291}}</ref>

The school's Protestant liturgy and architecture reflect Endicott Peabody's [[low church]] tendencies.<ref name=":22" />{{rp||page=20}}<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=1939-06-26 |title=Education: Jack for Peabo |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,931339,00.html |access-date=2024-05-21 |magazine=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}}</ref> To this day, the Chapel does not have any [[pew]]s for students except in the [[Choir (architecture)|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>{{Cite book |last=McLachlan |first=James |title=American Boarding Schools: A Historical Study |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1970 |location=New York |page=268}}</ref> School chaplain Allison Read sits on the board of the [[National Association of Episcopal Schools]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Governing Board |url=https://www.episcopalschools.org/about-naes/the-board/ |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=National Association of Episcopal Schools |language=en-US}}</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 School|Kent]], and [[St. George's School (Rhode Island)|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>{{Cite web |title=Spiritual Life |url=https://www.kent-school.edu/community-life/spiritual-life |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=Kent School |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Spiritual Life |url=https://www.stgeorges.edu/communitylife/spiritual-life |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=St. George's School |language=en-US}}</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>{{Cite web |last=Shivdasani |first=Yumin |date=2018-10-20 |title=Buddhist Sangha Fails to Meet Student Needs |url=https://thecirclevoice.org/3274/opinions/buddhist-sangha-fails-to-meet-student-needs/ |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=The Circle Voice}}</ref>

=== Motto ===
Groton adopted its current motto, ''cui servire est regnare'', in 1902.<ref name=":26">{{Cite journal |last=Niles |first=John M. |date=Fall 2009 |title=Mottos and Motives: Cui servire est regnare |url=https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/quarterly_2009_fall/4 |journal=Groton School Quarterly |volume=LXXI |issue=3 |page=2 |via=Issuu}}</ref><ref name="Anglican Episcopal">{{cite journal |last1=Aldred |first1=Sam |title="The Gentleman's Burden": The Anglican Heritage of Episcopal Boarding Schools, 1880 – 1940: "Cui Servire Est Regnare" (To Serve is to Rule) – Groton School Motto |journal=Anglican and Episcopal History |date=2017 |volume=86 |issue=3 |pages=272–286 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26335970 |access-date=6 October 2025 |issn=0896-8039}}</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>{{Cite web |title=The Order for Morning Prayer |url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/order-morning-prayer |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=The Church of England |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Harkaway-Krieger |first=Kerilyn |date=2021-03-12 |title=Pandemic and Penitence: COVID-19 Has Re-Ordered What Matters Most |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/march-web-only/pandemic-and-penitence-covid-19-re-ordered-priorities.html |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=ChristianityToday.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title="...whose service is perfect freedom..." |url=https://stjosephsanglican.com/weekly-scribblings/f/whose-service-is-perfect-freedom |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=St Joseph's Anglican Church |language=en-US}}</ref> However, other sources, including the Catholic Church (''[[Lumen gentium]]''), have used the more straightforward translation "to serve [God] is to reign."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lumen gentium |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sleeper |first=Jim |date=2015-07-01 |title=Prep Schools, "Diversity," and Puritan Conscience |url=http://washingtonmonthly.com/2015/07/01/prep-schools-diversity-and-puritan-conscience/ |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=Washington Monthly |language=en-US}}</ref> The school acknowledges the validity of both translations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Awards |url=https://www.groton.org/alumni/awards |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=Groton School}}</ref>

The phrase ''cui servire est regnare'' was originally attributed to [[Augustine of Hippo|Saint Augustine]], and has been used in Christian liturgies since the 8th century at the latest ([[Gelasian Sacramentary]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Humphreys |first=Edward R. |url=https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qac3nlaRllM4_gd_6jq0hnh7PjQLJ-WIbaWu3V9onH9U2RsRptmTX44vbMmMB1yVYdlw_AEQ5Ip9Ni3ML3eNVBMNxRZLcaz9O_QRcWogaBj1lZsDlNd30phRluWC7o2Qbtl3YQNqt7Trwh3gIk_VcUxtFS1nvZg938mlLSXtZ7BGnX6cH6RcHoC8_ntSN-6KpmfOmEJhuBnQ2dTdbyhEb9UMog0X9P_-pm6qQ0PE-WDgtTnq-po70dL6WCCCfzju-DAtPzOrZjeKgzzsqQR5rVzPsmv8qA |title=Lessons on the Liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America |publisher=E. P. Dutton & Co. |year=1861 |location=Boston |pages=105–06}}</ref> The school adopted the motto after guest speaker [[Arthur C. A. Hall]], the [[Episcopal Diocese of Vermont|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 (New England)|Independent School League]] (ISL), a group of boarding and day schools in [[Greater Boston]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Independent School League |url=https://www.islsports.org/ |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=[[Independent School League (New England)|Independent School League]]}}</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">{{Cite web |title=Essential Understandings |url=https://www.islsports.org/page/2854 |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=Independent School League}}</ref> In addition, ISL schools may not recruit [[Postgraduate year|post-graduate students]],<ref name=":20" /> unlike the [[Founders League]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Truelian |date=2016-03-26 |title=Balancing Postgraduate Admissions Policy |url=https://thechoatenews.choate.edu/2016/03/26/balancing-postgraduate-admissions-policy/ |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=The Choate News |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Sports ===
Groton offers 47 teams in 22 interscholastic programs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Teams |url=https://www.groton.org/athletics/teams |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Groton School}}</ref>

{{columns-start|num=3}}
'''Fall athletic offerings'''
* [[Cross country running|Cross country]]
* [[Field hockey]] (girls)
* [[American football|Football]] (boys)
* [[Association football|Soccer]]
* [[Volleyball]] (girls)
{{column}}

'''Winter athletic offerings'''
* [[Basketball]]
* [[Ice hockey]]
* [[Squash (sport)|Squash]]
* [[Swimming (sport)|Swimming]]
{{column}}

'''Spring athletic offerings'''
* [[Baseball]] (boys)
* [[Rowing (sport)|Rowing]]
* [[Lacrosse]]
* [[Tennis]]
* [[Track and field]]
{{columns-end}}

[[File:Groton-school-football 1894 2.jpg|thumb|Photo of the 1894 football team, captained by [[Percy Haughton]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Athletic Hall of Fame |url=https://www.groton.org/athletics/athletic-hall-of-fame |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=Groton School}}</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">{{Cite web |title=Percy Haughton (1951) – Hall of Fame |url=https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=1276 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=[[National Football Foundation]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Huntington "Tack" Hardwick (1954) – Hall of Fame |url=https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=1284 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=[[National Football Foundation]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Gordon Brown (1954) – Hall of Fame |url=https://footballfoundation.org/honors/hall-of-fame/gordon-brown/2108 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=[[National Football Foundation]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Endicott Peabody (1973) – Hall of Fame |url=https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=1617 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=[[National Football Foundation]] |language=en}}</ref> In 1905, when several colleges (including [[Stanford Cardinal football|Stanford]], [[California Golden Bears football|California]], [[Northwestern Wildcats football|Northwestern]], and [[Duke Blue Devils football|Duke]]) dropped football citing player safety,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Klein |first=Christopher |date=2012-09-06 |title=How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football |url=https://www.history.com/news/how-teddy-roosevelt-saved-football |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=[[History (American TV network)|History]] |language=en}}</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 [[Down (gridiron football)|first down]], and the creation of the [[Neutral zone (gridiron football)|neutral zone]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Buford |first=Kate |date=2010-11-20 |title=A History of Dealing With Football's Dangers |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/sports/football/21thorpe.html |access-date=2023-10-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Beschloss |first=Michael |date=2014-08-01 |title=T.R.'s Son Inspired Him to Help Rescue Football |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/upshot/trs-son-inspired-him-to-help-rescue-football.html |access-date=2023-10-20}}</ref> The Groton football team won the ISL championship in 1997. [https://goprincetontigers.com/sports/football/roster/caleb-coleman/21250 Caleb Coleman] '20, [https://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/football/roster/robbie-long/11997 Robert Long] '21, and [https://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/football/roster/wilson-thors/12016 Wilson Thors] '21 are currently playing college football.
[[File:Groton Hockey 1911-1912.png|thumb|Photo of the 1912 ice hockey team, captained by sixth former Hasper (4th from right) and 1913 captain Taylor (2nd from right).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Feb 20, 1913, Boston Evening Transcript |page=14|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/735696218/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref>]]

The Groton boys' crew has won nine [[New England Interscholastic Rowing Association|New England championships]]<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |title=New England Interscholastic Rowing Association Championships |url=https://neirarowing.org/results-history.htm |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=[[New England Interscholastic Rowing Association]]}}</ref> and has produced five [[Olympic medal|Olympic gold medalists]] ([[Frederick Sheffield]] '20, [[Howard Kingsbury|Howard T. "Ox" Kingsbury]] '22, [[Donald Beer]] '53, [[Charles Grimes (rower)|Charles Grimes]] '53, and [[Emory Clark]] '56) one Olympic silver medalist ([[Seymour Cromwell|Seymour "Sy" Cromwell]] '52), one Olympic bronze medalist ([[Ted Patton]] '84) and thirteen Olympic rowers overall ([[James Lawrence (rower)|James Lawrence, Jr]] '25, Lawrence Terry '18, John Parker '85, [[Henry Nuzum]] '95, [[Liane Malcos]] '96 and [[Alexander Karwoski|Alex Karwoski]] '08).<ref>{{Cite news |date=1964-11-22 |title=Prep School Sports; Success in International Rowing Is Not New for Groton Alumni |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/11/22/archives/prep-school-sports-success-in-international-rowing-is-not-new-for.html |access-date=2024-04-19 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Karp |first1=Nina |last2=Kovriga |first2=Mimi |date=2022-02-15 |title=A Rich History of Groton Olympic Rowers |url=https://thecirclevoice.org/6013/features/a-rich-history-of-groton-olympic-rowers/ |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=The Circle Voice}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Olympedia – Main Page |url=https://www.olympedia.org/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=www.olympedia.org}}</ref> The younger Groton girls' crew has won four New England championships<ref name=":8" /> and has produced world champion [[Liane Malcos]] '96.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-09-01 |title=Grotonian Rows in Olympic Finals |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail?pk=833560 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref> Both teams send crews to the [[Henley Royal Regatta]] and [[Henley Women's Regatta]] with some regularity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Crew – Varsity Girls |url=https://www.groton.org/team-detail?fromId=245737&BlockId=1620780&Team=99058&SeasonLabel=2023+-+2024 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Groton School}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Crew – Varsity Boys |url=https://www.groton.org/team-detail?Team=99057 |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=Groton School}}</ref>

The Groton girls' tennis team won the ISL championship in 2023 and 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-28 |title=Groton Repeats as ISL Champions! |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail-title?pk=1287666 |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref> The Groton boys' tennis team won the ISL championship in 2018 and 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boys' Tennis – Independent School League |url=https://www.islsports.org/page/3127 |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=www.islsports.org}}</ref> Both the Groton girls' and boys' squash teams won the 2020 U.S. high school team division three national championship.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2020 HEAD U.S. High School Team Squash Championships – Boys III – Main Draw |url=https://clublocker.com/tournaments/10880/draws?divisionId=209&sectionId=1&viewMode=detailed&offset=0 |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=clublocker.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=2020 HEAD U.S. High School Team Squash Championships – Girls III - Main Draw |url=https://clublocker.com/tournaments/10880/draws?divisionId=217&sectionId=1&viewMode=detailed&offset=0 |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=clublocker.com}}</ref>

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

=== Rivalry (or rivalries) ===
Groton's sports rival is [[St. Mark's School (Massachusetts)|St. Mark's School]]. The two schools began playing in 1886 and contest the [[List of high school football rivalries more than 100 years old|fifth-oldest high school football rivalry]] in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moreno |first=Eric |title=The oldest high school football rivalries in the U.S. |url=https://blogs.usafootball.com/blog/6512/the-oldest-high-school-football-rivalries-in-the-u-s |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=blogs.usafootball.com}}</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" />{{rp||page=|pages=63-65}} It took on a friendlier tone when St. Mark's hired Peabody's deputy [[William Greenough Thayer]] as its new headmaster.<ref name=":2" />{{rp||page=104}}

Groton's crews have rowed against [[Noble and Greenough School]] since 1922.<ref>{{Cite web |title=High School/Scholastic: Groton: Boys 4+ vs. Nobles, May 16, 2015 – Rowing Regatta Results|url=https://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=6396162&cat=1 |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=row2k |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=Fall 2016 |title=Spring Sports |url=https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/quarterly-fall-2016/88 |journal=Groton School Quarterly |volume=LXXVIII |issue=3 |page=86 |via=Issuu}}</ref> This rivalry developed because historically, Groton and St. Mark's only played each other in football, baseball, and fives,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=Edward Tuck |title=Saint Mark's School: A Centennial History |publisher=Stinehour Press |year=1967 |location=Lunenberg, VT |pages=115–16}}</ref> although the schools now play in all sports.

Groton and [[St. Paul's School (New Hampshire)|St. Paul's School]] play each other in all sports and compete for a trophy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-11-02 |title=Groton-St. Paul's Tradition Blends Athletics, Service |url=https://www.groton.org/news-detail?pk=849955 |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref> Groton also plays its neighbor [[Lawrence Academy (Groton, Massachusetts)|Lawrence Academy]] in various sports, but because the ISL is split into different divisions for football and hockey, matchups are less frequent.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Standings – Fall 2022 Boys Varsity Football |url=https://www.isleague.org/g5-bin/client.cgi?G5genie=45&cwellOnly=1&school_id=&G5button=47&G5button=47&name_1685_2_2192_101_=Fall%202022%20Boys%20Varsity%20Football |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=[[Independent School League (New England)|Independent School League]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Standings – Winter 2021–22 Boys Varsity Ice Hockey – Keller Division |url=https://www.isleague.org/g5-bin/client.cgi?G5genie=45&cwellOnly=1&school_id=&G5button=47&G5button=47&name_4726_2_2192_98_=Winter%202021-22%20Boys%20Varsity%20Ice%20Hockey%20-%20Keller%20Division |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=[[Independent School League (New England)|Independent School League]]}}</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>{{Cite news |last=Shepard |first=Richard F. |date=1972-01-10 |title='Rector of Justin' In a Harder Time |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/01/10/archives/-rector-of-justin-in-a-harder-time.html |access-date=2023-10-12 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and Ault School in [[Curtis Sittenfeld]] '93's ''Prep''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=Felicia R. |date=2005-01-26 |title=Although She Wrote What She Knew, She Says She Isn't What She Wrote |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/books/although-she-wrote-what-she-knew-she-says-she-isnt-what-she-wrote.html |access-date=2023-10-12 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' has also speculated that Whooton School in [[J. D. Salinger|J.D. Salinger]]'s ''[[The Catcher in the Rye]]'' may have been based on Groton.<ref name=":14" />
* During [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] '00's presidential administration, which popularized the use of [[Fireside chats|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>{{Cite book |last=Burns |first=Joan Simpson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DI3WAAAAMAAJ |title=The Awkward Embrace: The Creative Artist and the Institution in America |date=1975 |publisher=Knopf |isbn=978-0-394-49563-7 |pages=26 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Baldwin |first=Leland Dewitt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XvRQAQAAMAAJ |title=Recent American History |date=1954 |publisher=American Book Company |pages=201 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1952-01-27 |title=Topics of the Times |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/112311179 |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=The New York Times |id={{ProQuest|112311179}} |language=en }}</ref> including [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]] (''[[Tender Is the Night|Tender is the Night]]'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fitzgerald |first=F. Scott |url=https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301261h.html |title=Tender is the Night |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1934 |quote=From above and behind the porter floated down a weary Groton voice. |via=[[Project Gutenberg]]}}</ref> The accent was soon linked to other Groton alumni, including [[Dean Acheson]] '12<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Joseph |date=1950 |title=Speech on Communists in the State Department |url=https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=1314 |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=University of Houston}}</ref> and [[W. Averell Harriman|Averell Harriman]] '09.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Heilbrunn |first=Jacob |date=1992-07-27 |title=The Playboy of the Western World |url= |magazine=New Republic |volume=207 |issue=5 |pages=53–59}}</ref> Some modern-day writers continue to use the term,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Evan |date=2000-08-13 |title=Bobby At The Brink |url=https://www.newsweek.com/bobby-brink-159013 |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Frum |first=David |date=2015-05-17 |title=Herman Wouk at 100: One of the Greatest American War Novelists |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/05/herman-wouk-at-100-one-of-the-greatest-american-war-novelists/393203/ |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</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>{{Cite news |last=Safire |first=William |date=1987-01-18 |title=On Language |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/18/magazine/on-language.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241202110413/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/18/magazine/on-language.html |archive-date=2024-12-02 |access-date=2024-12-11 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nosowitz |first=Dan |date=2016-10-27 |title=How a Fake British Accent Took Old Hollywood By Storm |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-a-fake-british-accent-took-old-hollywood-by-storm |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref>
* Groton was a minor filming location for [[Alexander Payne]]'s 2023 film ''[[The Holdovers]]'', standing in for the fictional Barton Academy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rathe |first=Adam |date=2023-11-04 |title=How The Holdovers Makes a Star of Boarding School |url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a45726766/the-holdovers-movie-filming-locations-alexander-payne-interview/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226002441/https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a45726766/the-holdovers-movie-filming-locations-alexander-payne-interview/ |archive-date=2024-02-26 |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=[[Town & Country (magazine)|Town & Country]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The production team shot footage in the chapel (although most of the chapel scenes were shot at [[Northfield Mount Hermon School|Northfield Mount Hermon]]) and outside Groton's boathouse on the Nashua River.<ref name=":18">{{Cite web |last=Moon |first=Ra |title=Where was The Holdovers filmed? The Barton School and all the locations |url=https://www.atlasofwonders.com/2023/11/where-was-the-holdovers-filmed.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226001250/https://www.atlasofwonders.com/2023/11/where-was-the-holdovers-filmed.html |archive-date=2024-02-26 |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Atlas of Wonders |language=en}}</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>{{Cite web |title=St John's Chapel – The Groton School – Groton MA – Stained Glass Windows |url=https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMKPN9_St_Johns_Chapel_The_Groton_School_Groton_MA |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=www.waymarking.com}}</ref>
* In the TV show ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'', [[Logan Huntzberger]] ([[Matt Czuchry]]) has a picture of [[Endicott Peabody (educator)|Endicott Peabody]] from his time at Groton. Both characters Logan and [[Christopher Hayden]] ([[David Sutcliffe]]) claim to have been kicked out of Groton.<ref>{{Cite news |title=s06e14 – You've Been Gilmored |language=en |work=TV Show Transcripts |url=https://tvshowtranscripts.ourboard.org/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=6446 |access-date=2022-11-29}}</ref>
* In [[Wendy Wasserstein]]'s play [[Third (play)|''Third'']], a college professor is assigned to teach a Groton alumnus who, despite his [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestants|WASPy]] name, attends the college on scholarship.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-10-27 |title="Third" Has Excellent Acting, Pat Plot |url=https://www.courant.com/2005/10/27/third-has-excellent-acting-pat-plot/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=[[Hartford Courant]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Verini |first=Bob |date=2007-09-20 |title=Third |url=https://variety.com/2007/legit/markets-festivals/third-2-1200556152/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
* In [[Robert Littell (author)|Robert Littell]]'s novel [[The Company (Littell novel)|''The Company'']], several CIA officers are alumni of Groton, including the main character's (fictional) son and his (non-fictional) boss [[Richard M. Bissell Jr.|Richard Bissell]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-11-22 |title=Bay of Pigs Was Career-Ender for State Man |url=https://www.courant.com/2003/11/22/bay-of-pigs-was-career-ender-for-state-man/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=[[Hartford Courant]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
* The school has been parodied in several ''[[The New Yorker]]'' cartoons.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Darrow Jr. |first=Whitney |author-link=Whitney Darrow Jr. |date=1942-06-13 |title=No, No, Darling! First Get His Ration Card |url=https://condenaststore.com/featured/no-no-darling-first-get-his-ration-card-whitney-darrow-jr.html |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=Conde Nast |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hokinson |first=Helen E. |author-link=Helen E. Hokinson |date=1941-04-19 |title=Are You Sure You Aren't Making A Mistake? |url=https://condenaststore.com/featured/are-you-sure-you-arent-making-a-mistake-helen-e-hokinson.html?product=art-print |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=Conde Nast |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Morgan |first=Wallace |date=1932-09-24 |title=Remember, Son |url=https://condenaststore.com/featured/remember-son-wallace-morgan.html |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=Conde Nast |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Ashburn, Frank D. (1st ed. 1944). [[iarchive:peabodyofgrotonp0000ashb|''Peabody of Groton'']]. New York: [[Coward McCann]].
* Fentons, John H. (Jun. 13, 1965). [https://archive.org/download/fentons-john-h.-groton-headmaster-ends-25-year-tenure-the-new-york-times-jun.-13-1965-p.-80/Fentons%2C%20John%20H.%20-%20Groton%20Headmaster%20Ends%2025-Year%20Tenure%20%28The%20New%20York%20Times%2C%20Jun.%2013%2C%201965%29%2C%20p.%2080.pdf "Groton Headmaster Ends 25-Year Tenure."] ''[[The New York Times]]'', p.&nbsp;80.
* [[Edwin Palmer Hoyt|Hoyt, Edwin P.]] (1968). [[iarchive:peabodyinfluence00hoyt 0|''The Peabody Influence: How a Great New England Family Helped to Build America'']]. New York: [[Dodd, Mead & Co.]]
* [[James McLachlan (scholar)|McLachlan, James]] (1979). [[iarchive:americanboarding0000mcla/page/242|"The Resurgence of the Gentleman: Groton and the Progressive Educational Ideal" (Chapter 9)]]. In: [[iarchive: americanboarding0000mcla|''American Boarding Schools: A Historical Study'']]. New York: [[Scribner's]], [[iarchive:americanboarding0000mcla/page/242|pp. 242–98]].
* {{cite news |last1=Gee |first1=Michael |title=Groton: Where have all the preppies gone? |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1982-03-16_11_11/page/n32/mode/1up |access-date=August 7, 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=March 16, 1982}}
* [[Peter W. Cookson, Jr.|Cookson, Peter W. (Jr)]], and Caroline Hodges Persell (1985). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=LMo1jbNuUMoC Preparing For Power: America's Elite Boarding Schools]''. New York: [[Basic Books]].

==External links==
* [http://www.groton.org School website]
* [https://twitter.com/GrotonSchool Twitter]
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/GrotonSchool YouTube]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/grotonschool/ Flickr]
* [https://vimeo.com/grotonschool Vimeo]
* [https://issuu.com/grotonschool Archives of the ''Groton School Quarterly'' (alumni magazine) and ''The Grotonian'' (literary magazine)]
* [https://www.boardingschools.com/school/groton-school/ The Association of Boarding Schools profile]

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[[Category:Groton School alumni]]
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[[Category:Episcopal schools in the United States]]
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[[Category:1884 establishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Boarding schools in Massachusetts]]
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[[Category:Private preparatory schools in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Education in Groton, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:High schools in Middlesex County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Groton, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Peabody and Stearns buildings]]