Groton School
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Groton School is a private boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts in the United States. Its most famous alumnus was President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was founded in 1884 by Endicott Peabody Sr. A writer has called it "an assembly line for Back Bay and Wall Street." Another has called it a "bastion of the elite." Each day at Groton ends with a formal handshake.
Groton borrows heavily from the English public school tradition; this is most prominent in the school year names (Form II to Form VI) and the prefect system. Another distinctive 'English' factor is its Anglican/Episcopalian affilitation.
Missing image Groton.png alt text |
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Headmaster | Richard B. Commons |
School type | Private |
Religious affiliation | Episcopal |
Founded | 1884 |
Location | Groton, Massachusetts |
Campus surroundings | Rural |
Sports teams | Fall: Cross country running and soccer for both boys and girls, football for boys, and field hockey for girls.
Winter: Squash, basketball, and hockey for both boys and girls. Spring: Lacrosse, crew, and tennis for both boys and girls, and baseball for boys. |
Mascot | Zebra |
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Campus
The school is organized into five "forms," (grades) 2 (eighth grade) through 6th form (12th grade.) Students generally enter the school in second or third form. They are housed in small dorms, which are run by (and named after) a faculty member who lives in an apartment attached to the dorm.
The campus grounds are beautiful, encompassing a river, forest, and meadows. Faculty dogs are often seen roaming the campus.
Students
Students at Groton excel at academics, as the school is highly selective. Students are given a great deal of academic work and personal attention in their courses. Most students find that their coursework in college is far easier than that they experienced in high school. As a result of the rigorous academics, students typically attend highly prestigious universities, with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton usually being the top choices.
Sports, Clubs, and Traditions
The school motto "Cui Servire est Regnare", loosely translated as "to serve is to rule", emphasizes the school's dedication to public service, and to raising students both intellectually and morally.
The school is a close-knit community. The faculty lives almost entirely on campus. Classes are very small, with a typical class ranging from 12-15 students. All students are required to participate in sports or theater. There are regularly scheduled sit-down dinners during the fall and spring terms, where students and faculty dress formally.
Notable alumni
Notable alumni of Groton School include:
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (President of the United States)
- Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (Son of President Teddy Roosevelt; Led the D-day assault on Utah Beach)
- Quentin Roosevelt (Theodore's brother; fought and died in World War I)
- McGeorge Bundy (National Security Advisor under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson)
- Francis Bator (Deputy National Security Advisor under President Johnson)
- William Bundy (McGeorge Bundy's brother; foreign affairs advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson]]
- Sam Waterston (Actor)
- Dean Acheson (Secretary of State under President Truman, presidential advisor to Johnson)
- W. Averell Harriman (former New York governor)
- Alexandra Paul (Star of Baywatch)
- Carter Brown (Late art historian)
- Peter Gammons (ESPN's Major League Baseball journalist; his father was formerly the school's organist)
- Ayi Kwei Armah (Ghanain novelist, short-story writer, essayist, considered one of Africa's most important writers)
- Paul Stewart (former NHL referee)
- Fuller Potter (Abstract-Expressionist Artist)
- Sumner Wells (WW II Undersecretary of State)
- Several members of the Roosevelt, Auchincloss, Sedgwick, and Harriman families
- Curtis Sittenfeld, author
External links
- Groton School website (http://www.groton.org)
- Groton School statistics (http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/18) provided by boardingschoolreview.com