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Groton School is a
private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
,
college-preparatory A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...
,
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and
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...
located in
Groton, Massachusetts Groton is a town in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 11,315 at the 2020 census. An affluent bedroom community roughly 45 miles from Boston, Groton has a ...
, United States. It is affiliated with the Episcopal tradition. Groton enrolls about 380 boys and girls from the eighth through twelfth grades, dubbed Forms II–VI in the British fashion. Its $475 million endowment enables the school to admit students on a need-blind basis. Typically, 40–44% of students are on financial aid. Students with family incomes under $150,000 attend for free. The school admitted 8% of applicants in 2022. Its list of notable alumni includes U.S. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
and Nobel laureate John B. Goodenough.


History


The Peabody era, 1884–1940

Groton School was founded in 1884 by Endicott Peabody, an Episcopal priest. Peabody was backed by
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
president Charles Eliot and affluent figures of the time, such as Peabody's father Samuel Peabody, Phillips Brooks, William Lawrence,
William Crowninshield Endicott William Crowninshield Endicott (November 19, 1826 – May 6, 1900) was an American politician and Secretary of War in the first administration of President Grover Cleveland (1885–1889). Early life Endicott was born in Salem, Massachusetts ...
, and
J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. As the head of the banking firm that ...
. The school also enjoyed the patronage of the
Roosevelt family The Roosevelt family is an American political family from New York whose members have included two United States presidents, a First Lady, and various merchants, bankers, politicians, inventors, clergymen, artists, and socialites. The progeny ...
, as
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
was one of Peabody's close friends. Peabody served as headmaster for 56 years. A proponent of "
muscular Christianity Muscular Christianity is a religious movement that originated in England in the mid-19th century, characterized by a belief in patriotic duty, discipline, self-sacrifice, masculinity, and the moral and physical beauty of Athletics (physical cultur ...
," he instituted a
Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...
n educational system that included cold showers and dormitory cubicles instead of individual bedrooms. He successfully attracted the children of wealthy families, whom he hoped to toughen up through this program of "corrective salutary deprivation." Under Peabody, Groton sought to inspire its students to serve the public good, rather than enter professional life. In peacetime, many graduates were involved in public affairs, but the alumni typically gravitated to business, finance, law, or similar professional positions. 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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
; 24 died and another 36 were wounded, at a time when the graduating class contained roughly 27 students. Roughly 700 alumni served in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, with 31 deaths. Peabody also expected his students to "be ready for advanced courses at the universities." He sought to improve the academic qualities of the student body, introducing competitive entrance examinations and a scholarship program in 1907. (One such scholarship student, Henry Chauncey '23, went on to popularize the Scholastic Aptitude Test with American universities.) Since even
Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...
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 The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...
to Harvard after Peabody arranged for a Groton donor to subsidize the cost, and Peabody gave the 1940 valedictorian John B. Goodenough a tutoring job to help make ends meet after the latter was admitted to
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
.


The Crocker era, 1940–65

Peabody was succeeded by John Crocker '18, the Episcopal chaplain at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
. Crocker's 25-year tenure overlapped with the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement. In September 1951, Groton accepted its first
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
student. In April 1965, Crocker and his wife—accompanied by 85 Groton students—marched with
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
during a civil rights demonstration in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. (Four years earlier, Southern authorities had arrested Crocker's son John Jr. '42 during the
Freedom Rides Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions '' Morgan v. Virginia' ...
, leading to the Supreme Court case '' Pierson v. Ray''.) Crocker also significantly expanded the school's financial aid program; by his retirement in 1965 approximately 30% of Groton students were on scholarship.


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). These years were marked by disputes over how (if at all) to implement
co-education Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
at Groton. Honea proposed either merging with a girls' school or formalizing a sister-school relationship with
Concord Academy Concord Academy (also known as CA) is a coeducational, Independent school, independent University-preparatory school, college-preparatory school for boarding and day students in Concord, Massachusetts. CA educates approximately 400 students in ...
, a well-regarded girls' school twenty miles away. (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.) 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. After Wright reached Groton's mandatory retirement age, the school tapped Cox to implement the plan. Groton welcomed its first female students in 1975. Applications tripled, and today, Groton's student body is evenly split between boys and girls. 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. 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. 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). In recent years the school has focused on broadening affordability. In 2008, Groton,
Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...
, and
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
began offering free tuition to families with household incomes below a certain threshold, initially set at $75,000. From 2014 to 2018, the school conducted a $74 million fundraising campaign that allowed it to begin admitting students on a need-blind basis. In the spring of 1999, the Middlesex County District Attorney began investigating the claims of three Groton seniors, who alleged that they, and other students, had been sexually abused by other students in dormitories in 1996 and 1997. 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. In the fall of 2006, as part of the settlement, the school published a full apology to the boy who first alleged the abuse in 1999. Members of the Groton community continue to play a notable role in the secondary school community. At present, former Groton masters are the heads of school at Cranbrook (Aimeclaire Roche, also president of the national Heads and Principals Association), St. Paul's (Kathleen Giles), Roxbury Latin (Sam Schaffer), Dana Hall (Katherine Bradley),
Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
(William Webb), and Brewster International (Craig Gemmell), among others.


Academics and reputation

In 2024, '' Niche'' ranked Groton as America's top private high school. However, a small school like Groton is particularly vulnerable to short-term fluctuations in the ''Niche'' ranking formula; in 2020 the school was ranked #33. The school's small size also helps it record low admission rates. In 2016, ''
Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...
'' ranked Groton as the most selective boarding school in the United States. In 2024, the website Private School Review repeated this ranking, although it did not say whether it confirmed this information with Groton.


Curriculum and test scores

The Form of 2023's average combined
SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...
score was 1490 and its average combined ACT score was 33.5. The school's 4:1 student-teacher ratio 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. Although not every academic department offers
Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...
classes, Groton students took 2,582 AP exams (approximately 6.5 per student) from 2018 to 2022 and passed 93% of them.


Role as feeder school

Groton has historically served as a feeder school for
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
. From 1906 to 1932, 405 Groton students applied to Harvard and 402 were accepted. There were at least three major reasons for this level of success. First, even
Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...
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 A student loan is a type of loan designed to help students pay for post-secondary education and the associated fees, such as tuition, books and supplies, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in the fact that the interest ...
(
Higher Education Act of 1965 The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) () was legislation signed into Law of the United States, United States law on November 8, 1965, as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda. Johnson chose Texas State University (t ...
) and providing
G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...
funding for veterans. (
Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...
, which accepted seven of every eight applicants in 1951, was rejecting four of every five by 1965.) Second, Groton students often performed well on college entrance examinations. From 1906 to 1934, only six students received perfect scores on the English component of the College Boards (the predecessor to the SAT), and four were Groton alumni. Third, even when Groton produced middling students, elite colleges were often willing to admit them anyway because of their parents' legacy status, wealth, or connections. One especially rich Groton boy did so poorly in school that Endicott Peabody threatened to ban him from applying to Harvard. Despite "appalling" scores on his entrance exams, Harvard admitted him anyway. (In those days, a student did not actually have to pass his entrance exams to be admitted.) In 1953,
McGeorge Bundy McGeorge "Mac" Bundy (March 30, 1919 – September 16, 1996) was an American academic who served as the U.S. National Security Advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 through 1966. He was president of the Ford Fou ...
'36 became the faculty dean at Harvard, a role which gave him oversight of undergraduate admissions. Although he became a Groton trustee in 1957, he believed that the college entrance exams of the time were doing a poor job of identifying the most talented students, and concluded that " e untrained boy of real brilliance is more valuable to arvardthan the dull boy who has been intensely trained." 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. The share of prep school graduates at Harvard declined from 57% of the freshman class in 1941 to 32% in 1980. These changes were not confined to Harvard. In 1960, Groton's 75th anniversary book accurately warned that prep school students were now "challenged ... by boys who come from public schools all over the country. As one
ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...
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.'" From 2019 to 2023, the ten most common destinations for Groton graduates (in order) were
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
,
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
,
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
,
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
,
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
,
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
,
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
,
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
,
Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
, and
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
.


Related educational institutions

Groton has contributed to several other educational institutions. In 1909, Bishop Charles Henry Brent founded Baguio School (now Brent International School Baguio) in Baguio, Philippines to educate the children of American colonial administrators, military personnel, missionaries, and businesspeople. The school's first headmaster was Remsen B. Ogilby, a former Groton teacher, and Peabody lent the school Guy Ayrault, who became its first assistant headmaster. Peabody's son Malcolm '07 ran the school from 1911 to 1913. The school sought to be a "determinedly American institution" in Southeast Asia until the Philippines gained their independence in 1946. In 1926, Peabody founded Brooks School in
North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European colonizati ...
. Groton was heavily oversubscribed, and the introduction of competitive examinations in 1907 had not meaningfully trimmed the waitlist. Peabody did not want to increase the size of the school (which never exceeded 194 students during his tenure), but also did not want to turn away too many parents. Accordingly, he raised over $200,000 from Groton donors to build a new school, which, like Groton, would be Episcopal and small enough to be familial. 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." Groton currently supports Epiphany School, an academically intensive, tuition-free, lottery-admission Episcopal middle school for at-risk youth in the Boston area. The school was founded by John Finley '88, and Groton headmaster William Polk previously served on Epiphany's board. Epiphany's academic year is 11 months long, and the entire school relocates to Groton's campus in the summer.


Admissions and student body


Admission policies

Groton's acceptance rate normally hovers around 12%. Applications increased by 20% during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, driving the acceptance rate down to 9% in 2021 and 8% in 2022. Since then, the school has not published its acceptance rate. Groton admits students on a need-blind basis. 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. In 2018, the school announced that its admission rate was the same for both financial aid applicants and full-pay applicants. 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.


Grade levels

At Groton, grades are known as Forms, a term used in the United Kingdom and adopted by Endicott Peabody from his time at
Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...
. 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.


Student body

When Groton was founded in 1884, American boarding schools primarily catered to
White Anglo-Saxon Protestants In the United States, White Anglo-Saxon Protestants or Wealthy Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASP) is a sociological term which is often used to describe white Protestant Americans of English, or more broadly British, descent who are generally par ...
. St. Paul's accepted only students with "sound Episcopal credentials," and in 1885
Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...
admitted a Jew " r the first time in twelve years." Although Groton was open to Jews and non-Episcopalian Christians (for example, the
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
and the
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
Otto Kahn both sent their sons to Groton), the results were not substantially different. In Groton's early years, most of its students came from wealthy families in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
; some others came from
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
. A 1902 graduate recognized that " nety-five percent of these boys came from what they considered the aristocracy of America. Their fathers belonged to the
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
, the Knickerbocker, the
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
or the
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
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. Among them was a goodly slice of the wealth of the nation." Accordingly, schools like Groton considered it their mission "to make virtuous and brave those who, through the accident of birth, would someday exercise great power and influence." 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 Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
and
New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
. In addition, 7% of the student body were international students; they came from 25 countries.


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. Typically, 40–44% of students are on financial aid, which covers, on average, $46,519 for boarding students and $32,371 for day students. Since 2008, Groton has guaranteed free tuition for families with incomes under a certain threshold. In 2024, the school raised the threshold from $80,000 to $150,000. All financial aid is distributed as grants (i.e., nothing needs to be paid back); the school discontinued student loans in 2007. 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. However, after financial aid is taken into consideration, other boarding schools may still offer competitive tuition packages once a student is admitted. For example, at Lawrenceville, boarding tuition for 2023–24 was $76,080 (roughly $16,000 more than Groton), but the average aid grant for boarding students that year was around $60,000 (roughly $13,000 more than Groton). Conversely, at Roxbury Latin, an all-boys day school with a similar frontline tuition policy, tuition for 2024–25 was $40,600 ($6,820 less than Groton) while the average aid grant was $27,348 ($8,811 less than Groton).


Endowment and expenses

Groton's financial endowment stands at $475 million. In its
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
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 Student financial aid (or student financial support, or student aid) is financial support given to individuals who are furthering their education. Student financial aid can come in a number of forms, including scholarships, Grant (money), grants, ...
).


Governance


Organization

Groton is an independent (private) school accredited by the
New England Association of Schools and Colleges The New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. (NEASC ) is an American educational organization that accredits private and public secondary schools (high schools and technical/career institutions), primarily in New England. It also ...
. The school was initially organized as a charitable trust. In 1893, the Massachusetts legislature passed an act reorganizing the school into a
non-profit corporation A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation ma ...
governed by a board of trustees. The Articles of Incorporation have been amended only twice since 1893: to enable girls to attend Groton, and to change the name of the legal entity from Trustees of Groton School to (simply) Groton School.


External affiliations

Groton does not participate in either the Eight Schools Association or the Ten Schools Admissions Organization. Outside of athletics, Groton has collaborated with other independent schools on a primarily ''ad hoc'' basis. For example, after the
Kent State shootings The Kent State shootings (also known as the Kent State massacre or May 4 massacre"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years before (Ma ...
, Groton, St. Paul's,
Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...
, and
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
held an emergency meeting to discuss how boarding schools should respond to growing student unrest. Groton also worked with St. Paul's, Andover, Deerfield, and Hotchkiss to create the Gateway to Prep Schools application portal. The current headmaster, Temba Maqubela, sits on the board of the Heads and Principals Association.


Funding

As an independent school, Groton is not dependent on public funding. 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,
Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...
, Deerfield, St. Mark's, and
Nobles Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...
. 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.


Campus

Groton has a 480-acre campus, including academic buildings, dormitories, athletic fields, and undeveloped land for conservation. The campus layout and landscape was designed by
Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...
, who also designed
Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and many other educational institutions. The school's core buildings are arranged around a (mostly) circular lawn, and "The Circle" is the primary
metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "wikt:suit, suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such ...
for Groton's campus. In 2018, ''
Architectural Digest ''Architectural Digest'' (stylized in all caps) is an American monthly magazine founded in 1920. Its principal subjects are interior design and landscaping, rather than pure external architecture. The magazine is published by Condé Nast ...
'' named Groton the most beautiful private high school campus in
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. The earliest surviving buildings on campus surround the Circle. Most of them were designed by Peabody & Stearns between 1884 and 1902. These buildings include the Brooks House dormitory (1884), the Fives Court (1890), the Hundred House dormitory (1891), the Schoolhouse (1899), and the old gymnasium (1902), the latter of which is now the dining hall. The present Chapel was consecrated in 1900. Other architects who worked at Groton include Graham Gund (Campbell Performing Arts Center), R. Clipston Sturgis (Sturgis House and Gardner House),
McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...
(Norton House), and Henry Forbes Bigelow (Cutting House). More recently, the school built a solar battery farm and a
net-zero emissions Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...
faculty residence to improve energy efficiency on campus. 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 The Nashua River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 is a tributary of the Merrimack River in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the United States. It ...
, a track and field complex, and 18 tennis courts. File:Groton School gymnasium (new) – Peabody and Stearns.jpg, The Dining Hall (formerly the gymnasium)., alt=The Dining Hall (formerly the gymnasium).: 238, plate between pp. 110 & 111 File:LargestKnownRasterbation.jpg, A light-hearted, three-story tiled poster that students mounted on the Chapel in 2008. File:Hundred House, Groton School.jpg, Most Upper Schoolers (10th–12th grades) live in Hundred House, which originally housed 100 students. File:Brooks House, Groton School.jpg, Lower Schoolers (8th and 9th grades) and some Upper Schoolers live in Brooks House, Groton's original building. , alt=Lower Schoolers (8th and 9th grades) and some Upper Schoolers live in Brooks House, Groton's original building.: 19


Spiritual life


Chapel program

St. John's Chapel opened in 1900. It was the gift of William Amory Gardner, one of the school's original teachers. It was designed by
Henry Vaughan Henry Vaughan (17 April 1621 – 23 April 1695) was a Welsh metaphysical poet, author and translator writing in English, and a medical physician. His religious poetry appeared in ''Silex Scintillans'' in 1650, with a second part in 1655.''Oxfo ...
, who also designed
Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Wa ...
and the New Chapel at St. Paul's School. The Chapel replaced an earlier Vaughan design (now the Sacred Heart Church of Groton), which the school donated to the local
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
community. The Chapel's large size reflects the school's dual role as high school and parish church (cf.
Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...
). 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. In 1950, the school's pastoral responsibilities were transferred to its satellite church in Ayer. The Chapel's
Aeolian-Skinner Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts was an American builder of a large number of pipe organs from its inception as the Skinner Organ Company in 1901 until its closure in 1972. Key figures were Ernest M. Skinner (1866–1 ...
pipe organ (b. 1935) was designed by G. Donald Harrison, and was one of the first American organs designed to play
Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Classical music, Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance music, Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Class ...
. Over the next few decades, Harrison used the organ as a "laboratory" for the American Classic organ style. Since 1929, the school has hosted an annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, based on the version at
King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...
.


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. According to Catholic commentator
William F. Buckley Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American conservative writer, public intellectual, political commentator and novelist. Born in New York City, Buckley spoke Spanish as his ...
, 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." The school's Protestant liturgy and architecture reflect Endicott Peabody's
low church In Anglican Christianity, the term ''low church'' refers to those who give little emphasis to ritual, often having an emphasis on preaching, individual salvation, and personal conversion. The term is most often used in a liturgical sense, denot ...
tendencies. To this day, the Chapel does not have any pews for students except in the
choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
. One scholar has suggested that the relative lack of ritual at Sunday services helped attract non-Episcopalian students to the school. School chaplain Allison Read sits on the board of the
National Association of Episcopal Schools The National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES) is a membership organization, serving the approximately 1200 pre-collegiate schools and early childhood education programs in the United States. Membership is restricted to schools owned, opera ...
. 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 Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, and St. George's were the only schools in the study that required students to attend a sectarian religious service on the weekend. Since then, Kent has dropped its requirement, and St. George's moved its mandatory service to Thursdays. 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."


Motto

Groton adopted its current motto, ''cui servire est regnare'', in 1902. Its proper English translation has been debated over the years. The Anglican Communion still uses
Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a theologian, leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He is honoured as a Oxford Martyrs, martyr ...
's translation "in whose od'sservice is perfect freedom" from the original Anglican
Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...
. However, other sources, including the Catholic Church (''
Lumen gentium , the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, is one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council. This dogmatic constitution was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on 21 November 1964, following approval by the assembled bishops by a vote of 2 ...
''), have used the more straightforward translation "to serve odis to reign." The school acknowledges the validity of both translations. The phrase ''cui servire est regnare'' was originally attributed to
Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...
, and has been used in Christian liturgies since the 8th century at the latest (
Gelasian Sacramentary The so-called Gelasian Sacramentary (Latin: ''Sacramentarium Gelasianum'') is a book of Christianity, Christian liturgy, containing the priest's part in celebrating the Eucharist. It is the second oldest western liturgical book that has survived: ...
). The school adopted the motto after guest speaker Arthur C. A. Hall, the bishop of Vermont, used the term in a sermon on campus.


Athletics

Groton's sports teams compete in the Independent School League (ISL), a group of boarding and day schools in
Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most s ...
. ISL schools may only award financial aid based on a family's ability to pay; as such, they do not offer athletic scholarships. In addition, ISL schools may not recruit post-graduate students, unlike the
Founders League The Founders League is an American athletic league comprising a number of college preparatory schools. Founded in 1984, it consists of ten schools in Connecticut and one from eastern New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state ...
.


Sports

Groton offers 47 teams in 22 interscholastic programs. Fall athletic offerings * Cross country *
Field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
(girls) *
Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
(boys) *
Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
*
Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
(girls) Winter athletic offerings *
Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
*
Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
* Squash *
Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
Spring athletic offerings *
Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
(boys) *
Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...
*
Lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...
*
Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
*
Track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
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 The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...
. In 1905, when several colleges (including
Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, Northwestern, and
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
) dropped football citing player safety, Endicott Peabody persuaded
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
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 In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The legal and widespread use of the forward pass distinguishes grid ...
, the rule requiring 10 yards for a first down, and the creation of the neutral zone. The Groton football team won the ISL championship in 1997
Caleb Coleman
'20
Robert Long
'21, an
Wilson Thors
'21 are currently playing college football. The Groton boys' crew has won nine New England championships and has produced five Olympic gold medalists ( Frederick Sheffield '20, Howard T. "Ox" Kingsbury '22, Donald Beer '53, Charles Grimes '53, and Emory Clark '56) one Olympic silver medalist ( Seymour "Sy" Cromwell '52), one Olympic bronze medalist ( Ted Patton '84) and thirteen Olympic rowers overall ( James Lawrence, Jr '25, Lawrence Terry '18, John Parker '85, Henry Nuzum '95, Liane Malcos '96 and Alex Karwoski '08). The younger Groton girls' crew has won four New England championships and has produced world champion Liane Malcos '96. Both teams send crews to the
Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...
and Henley Women's Regatta with some regularity. The Groton girls' tennis team won the ISL championship in 2023 and 2024. The Groton boys' tennis team won the ISL championship in 2018 and 2022. Both the Groton girls' and boys' squash teams won the 2020 U.S. high school team division three national championship. Groton alumni have produced two International Six Metre class Sailing Olympic gold medalists ( James Hopkins Smith Jr. '27, John Adams Morgan '49).


Rivalry (or rivalries)

Groton's sports rival is St. Mark's School. The two schools began playing in 1886 and contest the fifth-oldest high school football rivalry in the United States. 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. It took on a friendlier tone when St. Mark's hired Peabody's deputy William Greenough Thayer as its new headmaster. Groton's crews have rowed against
Noble and Greenough School The Noble and Greenough School, commonly known as Nobles, is a coeducational, nonsectarian day and five-day boarding school in Dedham, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. It educates 638 boys and girls in grades 7–12. The school's campus border ...
since 1922. This rivalry developed because historically, Groton and St. Mark's only played each other in football, baseball, and fives, although the schools now play in all sports. Groton and St. Paul's School play each other in all sports and compete for a trophy. Groton also plays its neighbor Lawrence Academy in various sports, but because the ISL is split into different divisions for football and hockey, matchups are less frequent.


In popular culture

* The school has inspired (to some extent) several novels, such as the boarding schools Justin Martyr in
Louis Auchincloss Louis Stanton Auchincloss (; September 27, 1917 – January 26, 2010)Holcomb B. Noble and Charles McGrath''The New York Times''. Retrieved on January 27, 2010. was an American lawyer, novelist, historian, and essayist. He is best known as a novel ...
'35's '' The Rector of Justin'' and Ault School in Curtis Sittenfeld '93's ''Prep''. The ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' has also speculated that Whooton School in J.D. Salinger's ''
The Catcher in the Rye ''The Catcher in the Rye'' is the only novel by American author J. D. Salinger. It was partially published in serial form in 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its theme ...
'' may have been based on Groton. * During
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
'00's presidential administration, which popularized the use of radio broadcasts in politics, Roosevelt's distinctive
Northeastern elite accent A Northeastern elite accent is any of the related American English accents used by members of the wealthy Northeastern elite born in the 19th century and early 20th century, which share significant features with Eastern New England English and Rec ...
(sometimes described as a transatlantic accent) led various writers to hypothesize the existence of a "Groton accent" or "Groton voice," including F. Scott Fitzgerald ('' Tender is the Night''). The accent was soon linked to other Groton alumni, including
Dean Acheson Dean Gooderham Acheson ( ; April 11, 1893October 12, 1971) was an American politician and lawyer. As the 51st United States Secretary of State, U.S. Secretary of State, he set the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration from 1949 to ...
'12 and
Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986) was an American politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was a founder of Harriman & Co. which merged with the older Brown Brothers to form the Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. investment ...
'09. Some modern-day writers continue to use the term, but other researchers, including
William Safire William Lewis Safire (; Safir; December 17, 1929 – September 27, 2009Safire, William (1986). ''Take My Word for It: More on Language.'' Times Books. . p. 185.) was an American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He ...
, have suggested that this form of "boarding school lockjaw" was taught by a wider range of Northeastern prep schools. * Groton was a minor filming location for
Alexander Payne Constantine Alexander Payne (born February 10, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is noted for his satire, satirical depictions of contemporary American society. Payne has received List of awards and nominations rec ...
's 2023 film '' The Holdovers'', standing in for the fictional Barton Academy. The production team shot footage in the chapel (although most of the chapel scenes were shot at Northfield Mount Hermon) and outside Groton's boathouse on the Nashua River. 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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. * In the TV show ''
Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The show debuted October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagship series for the network. The show ran fo ...
'', Logan Huntzberger ( Matt Czuchry) has a picture of Endicott Peabody from his time at Groton. Both characters Logan and Christopher Hayden ( David Sutcliffe) claim to have been kicked out of Groton. * In
Wendy Wasserstein Wendy Wasserstein (October 18, 1950 – January 30, 2006) was an American playwright. She was an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. She received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1989 ...
's play ''Third'', a college professor is assigned to teach a Groton alumnus who, despite his WASPy name, attends the college on scholarship. * In Robert Littell's novel ''The Company'', several CIA officers are alumni of Groton, including the main character's (fictional) son and his (non-fictional) boss Richard Bissell. * The school has been parodied in several ''
New Yorker New Yorker may refer to: * A resident of New York: ** A resident of New York City and its suburbs *** List of people from New York City ** A resident of the New York (state), State of New York *** Demographics of New York (state) * ''The New Yor ...
'' cartoons.


References


Further reading

* Ashburn, Frank D. (1st ed. 1944). ''Peabody of Groton''. New York: Coward McCann. * Fentons, John H. (Jun. 13, 1965)
"Groton Headmaster Ends 25-Year Tenure."
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', p. 80. * Hoyt, Edwin P. (1968). ''The Peabody Influence: How a Great New England Family Helped to Build America''. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. * McLachlan, James (1979). "The Resurgence of the Gentleman: Groton and the Progressive Educational Ideal" (Chapter 9). In: ''American Boarding Schools: A Historical Study''. New York:
Scribner's Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City that has published several notable American authors, including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjo ...
, pp. 242–98. * * Cookson, Peter W. (Jr), and Caroline Hodges Persell (1985).
Preparing For Power: America's Elite Boarding Schools
'. New York:
Basic Books Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York City, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and his ...
.


External links


School website

Twitter

YouTube

Flickr

Vimeo

Archives of the ''Groton School Quarterly'' (alumni magazine) and ''The Grotonian'' (literary magazine)

The Association of Boarding Schools profile
{{Peabody & Stearns Groton School alumni Co-educational boarding schools Episcopal schools in the United States Educational institutions established in 1884 Need-blind educational institutions Independent School League 1884 establishments in Massachusetts Boarding schools in Massachusetts Private high schools in Massachusetts Private middle schools in Massachusetts Private preparatory schools in Massachusetts Education in Groton, Massachusetts High schools in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Groton, Massachusetts Peabody and Stearns buildings