Linden Hall School for Girls is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: **Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where hor ...

and

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

for girls in grades 6–12 located in

Lititz, Pennsylvania Lititz is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Lancaster. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 9,370. History Lititz was ...

. The school was founded in 1746 and is the oldest girls' boarding and day school in continuous operation in the United States.

History

Linden Hall traces its history to November 1746, when a Moravian congregation was established in Lititz. The congregation's original building was a "Gemeinhaus," a log structure that could serve as a combined chapel, schoolhouse, and parsonage. The school educated both boys and girls. As of 1758, it reportedly enrolled "70 to 77 children." Brethren's and Sisters' Houses were built by the Moravian congregation between 1758 and 1761 to separate the activities and education of the community's unmarried men and women. The original Gemeinhaus building was taken down in 1766. For the next few years, girls' schooling occurred in the Sisters' House, while boys' schooling was closely associated with the Brethren's House. Church diaries from this period mention that girls from Moravian families in

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

(several miles from Lititz) were enrolling in the school and boarding with local families. The local Moravian congregation was a country congregation whose members lived on scattered farms, so it is likely that some of their daughters boarded at the school or nearby due to its distance from their homes. In May 1769, the cornerstone was laid for a new building for the girls' school to accommodate a growing student body. This building, now named Stengel Hall, is still standing as of 2020. The school's first recorded non-Moravian boarding student, Margaret "Peggy" Marvel of Baltimore, Maryland, was enrolled in 1794. The school's name was changed from Lititz Seminary to Linden Hall in 1883. The new name referred to plantings of

basswood ''Tilia americana'' is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to ...

(linden) trees on the campus. The

John Beck's Boys Academy Lititz Academy for Boys was a nineteenth century boarding school in the Moravian village of Lititz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It drew students from throughout the eastern U.S. and even from Canada, the Caribbean and Europe. In total, 2,32 ...

, now defunct, also was related to the Moravian church schools established in Lititz in the 1700s.. Note: Article content attributed to the ''Bethlehem (Pennsylvania) Times'', 23 August 1909. Linden Hall added a

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

, Linden Hall Junior College, in 1935. Its offerings included a secretarial program. The school discontinued the Junior College in 1961. The school's weekly chapel services are held in the Lititz Moravian Church and incorporate "readings, commentaries, and music that represent many of the major philosophies and religions" along with the "School's Moravian heritage".

Curriculum

Linden Hall's curriculum is aimed at college preparation. Extracurricular activity offerings include an equestrian program. Team sports include soccer, tennis, volleyball, riding, cross country, golf, basketball, archery, and dance. A cooperative program with Warwick High School enables Linden Hall students to participate in field hockey, lacrosse, swimming, track and field, softball, and bowling teams. Upper school students can participate in an aviation program through which they can earn a pilot's license.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Boarding schools in Pennsylvania Girls' schools in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1746 Lititz, Pennsylvania 1740s establishments in Pennsylvania Preparatory schools in Pennsylvania Private high schools in Pennsylvania