Williston Northampton School (simply referred to as Williston) 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 ...

co-educational 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 ...

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

and

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 ...

college-preparatory school 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 state school, public, Independent school, private independent or p ...

Easthampton, Massachusetts Easthampton is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The city is in the Pioneer Valley, near the five colleges in the college towns of Northampton and Amherst. The population was 16,211 at the 2020 census. History E ...

, United States. It was established in 1841.

History

The WillistonNorthamptonSchool Samuelwilliston

Williston Seminary was founded by

Samuel Williston Samuel Williston (September 24, 1861 – February 18, 1963) was an American lawyer and law professor who authored an influential treatise on contracts. Early life, education and family Williston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to a ...

(1795–1874), a wealthy button manufacturer, in February 1841; the school opened that December, with a dedication address by Mark Hopkins, president of nearby

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

. The idea of opening a new academy in the neighborhood had been in the air ever since the closing in 1834 of the

Round Hill School The Round Hill School for Boys was a short-lived experimental school in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was founded by George Bancroft and Joseph Cogswell in 1823. Though it failed as a viable venture — it closed in 1834 — it was an early effor ...

in nearby

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

. In its early days, there was no arrangement of studies by terms and the students were not classified. Luther Wright, its principal from 1841 to 1849, believed it was desirable to have his pupils study together in a single room under his direction. However, the school's student population grew rapidly and the one-room schoolhouse scheme was soon no longer practicable as more instructors and new buildings were added. By the 1850s, the schools campus was dominated by three large buildings: North Hall, Middle Hall and South Hall. For many years, the school was co-educational, with the students divided and taught separately in male and female departments, but in 1864, the female division was discontinued. The seminary comprised two faculties: classical and scientific. With the departure in 1863 of the school's second president, Josiah Clark, a classicist Greek and Latin scholar who had vigorously fought against the expansion of the English department, the school's curriculum began to be modernized. Samuel Williston remained the dominant influence in the school's growth until his death in 1874. In the late 19th century, the dual curricula had evolved into a more modern comprehensive course (e.g. with "scientific and preparatory departments"), and in 1924 the school was renamed Williston Academy. During the 1960s, Williston began to examine possibilities for coeducation and in 1971, merged with its longtime sister school, the Northampton School for Girls, to become the Williston Northampton School. Starting as a preparatory academy for those seeking the clergy, the school now has a core college preparatory curriculum.

Students and faculty

Williston Northampton encompasses the middle school (7th and 8th grade) and the upper school (9th-12th and

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

). The school had 486 students in the 2017-2018 academic year with 58.6 teachers on a

full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit of measurement that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often use ...

basis, and a

student–teacher ratio The student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers or staff in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that ...

of 8.3. Its boarding students come from 25 states and 30 countries around the world. International students come from

eastern Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

The campus

The campus is located in

, within view of Mount Tom. Many of the school's buildings and dorms are situated around the main quad. In 2017, construction began on a new dorm across from the main part of campus. The Schoolhouse, a former factory building remodeled in the 1950s to resemble the old schoolhouse building on the original Main Street campus, holds English and math classes and also contains administrative offices. In 1996, the former gymnasium, originally built in 1924, was transformed into the Reed Campus Center. In 2019, the athletic center was named the Sabina Cain Family Athletic Center. The Dodge Room is the setting for many guest speakers, including the school's Writers' Workshop series. After a fire destroyed the school's theater building in 1994, it was rebuilt adjacent to the science laboratories, Scott Hall. The Williston Theatre is a 250-seat performance space. The Robert Clapp Memorial Library is located near the center of the campus. The library has a 40,000+ collection. The Middle School is housed in the Whitaker-Bement Center. It was created in 1972 in honor of the Northampton School for Girls founders Sarah B. Whitaker and Dorothy M. Bement. The Phillips Stevens Chapel (1964) hosts both the weekly assembly in its traditional chapel and language classes in its basement.

Tuition

Tuition for the 2023-2024 academic year is $74,000 for boarding students, and $51,000 for day students. Tuition for the middle school is $41,000.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

, former football coach *

Barry Moser Barry Moser (born 1940) is an American visual artist and educator, known as a printmaker specializing in wood engravings, and an illustrator of numerous works of literature. He is also the owner and operator of the Pennyroyal Press, an engraving a ...

, visual artist

References

External links

*
Williston Seminary Alumni Records 1842-1874
{{Authority control Schools in Hampshire County, Massachusetts Boarding schools in Massachusetts Private middle schools in Massachusetts Private high schools in Massachusetts Private preparatory schools in Massachusetts Educational institutions established in 1841 1841 establishments in Massachusetts