Middlesex School

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Middlesex School is an independent preparatory school for grades 9 - 12 located in Concord, Massachusetts, USA. It was founded in 1901 by Frederick Winsor, who headed the school until 1937. Formerly an all-boys' school, Middlesex became coeducational in 1974.

The school was named for the county Middlesex in which it stands, mentioned in the poem "Paul Revere's Ride": "So, Revere’s cry of alarm / To every Middlesex village and farm, / A cry of defiance and not of fear".

From the school's earliest days, Middlesex enjoyed a close affiliation with Harvard University, and for many years the majority of Middlesex graduates attended Harvard. Today, the largest numbers of graduates of the last four years now attend Brown University, Harvard University, Cornell University, and Tufts University.

Middlesex is a member of the Independent School League.

Contents 1 History 2 Plaques 3 Campus 4 Athletics 5 Music and drama 6 Heads of School 7 Estabrook Woods Controversy 8 Notable alumni 9 Popular culture 10 Notes 11 External links

[edit] History

From its inception, Middlesex was intended to be different from the other academies and "church schools" of the day. Frederick Winsor, a Roxbury Latin School alumnus who founded Middlesex in 1901, wanted the school to be non-denominational, where students from different religious backgrounds could learn. From the very beginning, his mission was "to find the promise that lies hidden" in every student.

The design for Middlesex's campus was created by the sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, arguably the greatest landscape architect of the 19th century and the designer of New York's Central Park, Boston's Emerald Necklace and Stanford University. The school's main buildings, which surround The Circle, were designed by noted Boston firm, Peabody & Stearns. Completed in 2003, The Clay Centennial Center is the newest addition to The Circle. The building hosts science and math classrooms as well as an observatory with an 18-inch (460 mm) research grade telescope.

One of Winsor's greatest achievements was the creation of the National Scholarship Program, the first of its kind at any secondary school. These scholarships brought students from across the country and made Middlesex a truly national institution. This broad representation continues today, with current Middlesex students representing 27 states and 11 foreign countries.

[edit] Plaques

Among Middlesex's many traditions, one has remained virtually unchanged: every member of Class I (senior) since the first graduating class of 1904 has carved a plaque, which is displayed permanently on a wall of one of the school's main buildings. Students have always been given great latitude in the subject matter of their carvings. Common subjects include students' places of origin, favorite sports, interests in music, and meaningful experiences. The process is time intensive, usually taking between 20 and 30 hours. Carving a plaque is a graduation requirement, and more than a few students over the years have spent the night before Commencement applying the final coat of varnish to their plaques.

[edit] Campus

Most of the major campus buildings face The Circle, the School’s most enduring and familiar feature. It was exacted as part of the original campus design by the Olmsted Brothers.

• Eliot Hall - The main academic and administration building, in which most English, history, and foreign language classes are held. Eliot also houses the Terry Room, a social space for students and waiting room for prospective applicants.
• Clay Centennial Center - Completed in 2003, it houses state-of-the art laboratories and most science and math classes classrooms. The observatory features a Centurion18, an eighteen-inch, reflective optic, research-grade telescope, accompanied by a rooftop observation deck with seven computer-controlled telescopes.
• Ware Hall - the School’s dining hall and administration building. The main dining room features flags from every nation represented by a Middlesex student. Ware also houses the Cruz Health Center and the school store. The Student Center (or, “Stu-Fac,” as it is called) is a lounge where students congregate between classes and after study hours.
• Memorial Chapel - A non-denominational chapel, originally dedicated to the Middlesex graduates who had died during World War I, though later rededicated to also honor those graduates who had given their lives in World War II. Renovated in 2003, the Chapel also features a choral practice space and a new pipe organ. The school congregates here to receive a speech by a different senior each week.
• Warburg Library - Contains more than 37,000 volumes and 100 periodicals. The library is a popular place among students to study throughout the day and during evening study hours. Ongoing exhibits, book talks, and film festivals are held in the Library throughout the year. Students can also borrow DVDs and videos from the Library’s collection.
• Cornelius Ayer Wood ’13 Arts Building - home to Middlesex’s 408-seat theatre, where drama productions and biweekly all-school assemblies are held. The building also features two drawing studios, space for set-building, pottery and photography studios, black box theatre, exhibition gallery, and a woodworking studio, where students carve their plaques.
• Orr Gymnasium - Houses a fitness center, wrestling room, dance studio, eight international squash courts, three recreational squash courts, Pratt Rink and Atkins Cage, which features two basketball courts. In the Spring, Pratt Rink is converted into four indoor tennis courts. The Middlesex Athletic Hall of Fame is also here.
• Athletic Fields - Among the finest among secondary schools in the northeast. They are meticulously cared for, and are of such high quality that they have often been used by Boston-area college teams as well as several countries’ national teams, including the U.S. men's soccer team. All of the fields are contiguous so that spectators can move easily from one contest to another on game days.
• Bateman’s Pond - Body of water that stretches half a mile from end to end. The crews’ lower boats use the pond for their practices. Student also use the pond for swimming, fishing, and canoeing. Walking trails and bike paths surround the pond and extend into Estabrook Woods.

There are four boys’ dorms and five girls’ dorms. Two or three faculty members live with their families in apartments within the buildings. All dorm rooms are wired for telephone and internet access, and each dorm has a common room equipped with a television and DVD player.

Boys' Houses Bryant-Paine (B.P.) Clay Atkins (Formerly East) Robert Winsor (R.W.)

Girls' Houses Hallowell Higginson Kravis LeBaron Briggs (L.B.) Peabody

[edit] Athletics

Athletics have always been a defining characteristic of Middlesex. In the earliest years, faculty often suited up for games alongside the students. For the better part of six decades, the athletic offerings were simple: nearly all of the boys played football in the fall, ice hockey in the winter, and had a choice of baseball or crew in the spring. Over the years, more sports were added and the roster has grown considerably. Middlesex now fields 24 varsity teams.

Underclassmen are required to play three seasons of competitive sport each year. Although upperclassmen's requirements are progressively more lenient, students still participate beyond the minimum sporting requirement.

A founding member of the sixteen-school Independent School League (ISL), Middlesex boasts an unusually successful record for a school of its size. In the 2005-2006 academic year alone, football, girls' cross country, and girls' crew won New England championships; golf and boys' lacrosse won Independent School League championships; and boys' soccer, boys' hockey, and girls' field hockey each advanced to play in the postseason. In recent years, Middlesex athletes have earned Boston Globe All-Scholastic, All-New England, and All-America honors. Many graduates go on to play at Division I and Division III colleges. In the fall of 2007 senior Henry Harding became the first Middlesex student ever to win the Boys' New England Cross Country Championship.

St. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island is Middlesex's traditional rival. Three times a year athletes from the visiting school travel two hours by bus to compete against rival teams. The schools alternate each year to host the games, which conclude each regular, athletic season.

Fall Season Cross-Country (|) Field Hockey Football Soccer (|)

Winter Season Alpine Skiing (*) Basketball (|) Dance (*) Ice Hockey (|) Squash (|) Wrestling

Spring Season Baseball Crew (|) Golf (*) Lacrosse (|) Softball Tennis (|) Track (*)

(*) -- Denotes Co-ed teams (|) -- Denotes separate boys and girls teams

[edit] Music and drama

For nearly 50 years, Middlesex was renowned for its performances of Gilbert & Sullivan musicals. The youngest boys in the school were cast in the female roles. Today, the school performs at least one major drama and one musical each year. Between major productions, students direct and perform one-act plays. In addition, underclassmen are required to take a semester-long drama course. Recent graduates have attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and Carnegie-Mellon University's prestigious acting program.

Almost one sixth of the student body sings in one of the choruses. The Chapel Chorus, which does not require its members to audition, is the school's largest vocal group. The smaller male group, Bateman's Bullfrogs, and female group, MxOlydians, audition members from the larger Chapel Chorus, and together constitute the Small Chorus. Middlesex a cappella groups typically participate in the Wick Choral Festival each February and produce a CD of their work each year.

The Middlesex Jazz Orchestra plays jazz of various eras and composes its own pieces, which are then played at school functions. Work is recorded and produced on a CD each year.

Freedom of Speech is a student-run club that organizes regular concerts of mostly contemporary music featuring students.

"Rank by Rank" (Hymn 26) is the school's official hymn. However, "Jerusalem" (Hymn 110), in spite of its obvious religious undertones, is the school's preferred hymn. It is sung at the conclusion of nearly every chapel meeting.

Middlesex School also is the site for Middlesex School Summer Arts (MSSA), a summer arts camp for children ages 9-16.

Recent Theatrical Productions

• The Seagull (Fall 2004)
• Into the Woods (Spring 2005)
• A Flea in Her Ear (Fall 2005)
• Bat Boy (Spring 2006)
• Les Liaisons dangereuses (Fall 2006)
• Les Miserables (Spring 2007)
• Our Town (Fall 2007)
• City of Angels (Spring 2008)

[edit] Heads of School

In its century-long history, Middlesex has been led by only five individuals. Frederick Winsor, founded the School in 1901 and served as Head until 1937. Winsor was followed by Lawrence "Monk" Terry, who headed the school until 1964. David Sheldon was a member of the Middlesex faculty when he was tapped to be the third Head. Under Sheldon's stewardship, the School became coeducational (in 1974) and began admitting students of color. Deirdre Ling became the first female Head in 1990. During her tenure, Middlesex constructed a number of new facilities, added a non-Western language (Chinese) to the curriculum, wired the campus for the Internet, and celebrated the School's centennial. In 2003, Kathleen C. Giles became the fifth Head.

[edit] Estabrook Woods Controversy

The Estabrook Woods

The Estabrook Woods is a wild tract of more than 1,200 acres (4.9 km²) of woodland, hills, ledge, and swamp two miles (3 km) north of the Town of Concord.^[1] It is the largest contiguous and undeveloped woodland within thirty miles of Boston.^[2] However, the woods have a history of human disturbance dating back to the Algonquin Native Americans who used controlled burning to clear tracts of land.^[3] Later, colonists cleared much of Estabrook for agriculture and pastures, although vegetation has since rejuvenated.^[4]

Henry David Thoreau is intimately associated with this area, which he called Easterbrooks Country. In his October 20, 1857 journal entry, one of several on the woodland, he writes: “What a wild and rich domain that Easterbrooks Country! Not a cultivated, hardly a cultivatable field in it, and yet it delights all natural persons.”^[5] The woods are also home to the Estabrook Road, which Minutemen used at the start of the Revolutionary War.^[6]

Though accessible to the public, most of Estabrook is privately owned by Harvard University (672 acres) and Middlesex School (180 acres).

The Controversy

In the early 1990s, Middlesex announced plans to develop Parcel A, a 40 acre tract in Estabrook, half of which is protected wetland. Over the course of 15 years, Concord residents and a group of Middlesex students and alumni have resisted efforts by the school to develop this land. Middlesex argues that the campus needs more athletic fields and tennis courts to compete favorably with rival schools. The school currently has four indoor courts and no outdoor courts for six tennis teams, which typically have 60 to 65 members.^[7] Middlesex says that the fields are needed to ensure that three field hockey teams do not have to practice on the same field at the same time.^[8]

Middlesex Graduates for Estabrook and Common Sense, a student group, counter that the intrinsic value of Estabrook outweighs the benefits of developing the land. In particular, they point to a 1963 article in the Middlesex Alumni Bulletin in which then-president Lawrence "Monk" Terry considers the educational resources that the Estabrook Woods offers, especially for biology students.^[9] Furthermore, according to a 2000 survey conducted by Common Sense, most Middlesex students oppose the project.^[10]

In June 2005, after a $1 million process to gain approval, Middlesex began construction in Estabrook, to be completed in 2007.^[11] It will include 8 tennis courts, 2 artificial turf fields, sports shelter, and waterless toilets and will be connected to the main campus by a 300-foot (91 m) bridge over protected wetlands. In all, roughly 11 acres will be developed.^[12]

Middlesex trustees previously turned down a $4.5 million offer to fund a joint environmental studies program in Estabrook with Harvard University. Middlesex felt that their share of the offer ($1.8 million) would not be sufficient to fund the program.^[13]

In 2017, a conservation restriction on Parcel B (another 40 acre tract of land) will expire. Middlesex has not announced plans to develop Parcel B.^[14]

[edit] Notable alumni

• Conrad Aiken - Pulitzer Prize-winning author, poet ("Silent Snow, Secret Snow")
• Steve Carell - Actor, screenwriter (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine, The Office)
• Joseph S. Clark - U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, Mayor of Philadelphia
• Phillip Dunne - Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, film director (David and Bathsheba)
• Matthew Von Ertfelda - Runner-up contestant, Survivor: The Amazon
• James L. Halperin - Numismatist, author (The Truth Machine)
• Martin R. Hoffmann - U.S. Secretary of the Army
• Chris Van Hollen - U.S. Congressman from Maryland
• William Hurt - Academy Award-winning actor (Kiss of the Spider Woman)
• Peter Parker- the first Protestant medical missionary to Chin
• Joseph Kahn - Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
• Anthony Lake - National Security Advisor in the Clinton Administration
• Mills Lane - Judge, boxing referee, and television personality
• Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. - U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, candidate for Vice President of the United States in 1960

• John Davis Lodge - Governor of Connecticut, ambassador to Spain, Argentina, and Switzerland
• Bill Middendorf - U.S. diplomat, U.S. Secretary of the Navy
• Robin Moore - Writer ("Ballad of the Green Berets"), co-creator of the comic strip, Tales of the Green Beret
• Arden Myrin - Comedian, actress
• Bill Richardson - Governor of New Mexico, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, U.S. Secretary of Energy, 2008 presidential candidate
• Bret Stephens - Writer and Editorialist
• Cass Sunstein - Professor at the University of Chicago Law School, author
• Gabriel Traversari- TV personality, actor
• William Weld - Governor of Massachusetts

[edit] Popular culture

• Between 1975 and 1977 the positions of Secretary of the Army and Secretary of the Navy were both held by Middlesex alumni.
• School Ties (1992), starring Brendan Fraser, Chris O'Donnell, and Matt Damon, was filmed at Middlesex.
• Featured in The Official Preppy Handbook by Lisa Birnbach
• One of five elite boarding schools collectively known as St. Grottlesex
• A member of the Morehead-Cain Scholarship program
• Ranked #2 private high school in greater-Boston area, behind Phillips Academy, Andover, by Boston Magazine (September 2006)^[15]

Members of the Independent School League, New England

Belmont Hill School | Buckingham Browne & Nichols | Brooks School | The Governor's Academy | Groton School | Lawrence Academy at Groton | Middlesex School | Milton Academy | Noble and Greenough School | Rivers School | Roxbury Latin School | St. George's School | St. Mark's School | St. Paul's School | St. Sebastian's School | Thayer Academy

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Middlesex School Website
• Middlesex School Admissions Video on SchoolFair.tv
• Profile on Boarding School Review.com
• Biography of Frederick Winsor
• Middlesex Graduates for Estabrook Homepage
• Two Middlesex Alumnae Protest Development of Estabrook
• Boston Magazine ranks area-high schools for September 2006 issue
• Middlesex School Summer Arts Website