One Day at America's Most Enduring Boarding School (Part 1)

For two consecutive years, the Phillips Exeter Academy has been named America's best boarding school.
Phillips Exeter is a strict selection school and has trained the most talented American powerhouses. The school's alumni include 19 governors, 5 US senators, 5 Olympic athletes, two Nobel Laureates, a US president, and even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Quora's founder. Adam D'Angelo.
Many millionaires and a few billionaires have come from the Exeter community and have contributed to the development of school donations of up to $ 1.15 billion - a higher donation than any boarding school. brain.

When John Phillips, a Harvard alumnus and resident of Exeter, New Hampshire, opened the academy in 1781, founded the philosophy of "the great and real business of living" to teach young people. More than two centuries later, the school was able to boast of the strength of its association with its commitment to unceasingly spread the good, and more specifically Harkness's unique teaching method. The method that schools around are trying to follow.
In the fall of 2014, I spent one day as a student at Phillips Exeter Academy, located in Exeter, New Hampshire, to find out what made it so unique.

Phillips Exeter Academy, also known as the most prestigious school in the United States, is also home to the Ivy League college entrance exam. Before going to school, I imagine this place will be like a typical old-school boarding school, with warm-hearted ladies dressing, daylighting on books and chattering about their accomplishments later. At night, they would sneak into the bushes to take medicine.

But everything is not the same as I imagined. Even after a day as a student, I did not want to leave again.

Of the applications submitted to Exeter each year, only 19% of students received. In the application, students must attach test scores, essays and letters of recommendation from the middle school principal. The flags in the figure represent the home country of the current student number, and the instruction pins. Marketing for the 2019 students.

I arrived at Exeter campus at 8 am, after a heavy rain of the night. The students are snoring sleep rushed out of the dormitory to arrive the first class of the day.

The first place I visited was McConnell Hall, a female dormitory located in the middle of the campus. Here, Jeanne Olivier was assigned to lead me on a tour. Olivier is currently the head of the school girl team representing the school, and is also a "hall proctor" - a leader similar to the supervisor, who links students and counselors, far.

There are many students choosing in single rooms. The larger the more you will be exchanged more beautiful room, the scene is more beautiful, but still in the same building. At the same time, you are also delayed.

Lecturers will be housed in private apartments on campus, or they will live in the neighborhood near the school for at least 10 years. Math teacher Gwynneth Coogan lives with her family in a private home after the McConaughlin girls and Cilley Halls, where she often invites the students to come to her house for dinner.

In particular, some teachers will stay and live as residents of the dorm, who are both mentors and mentors. They always know if you stay up late, whether you're exercising or not, and whether or not you're dating. If you have friends in the room at night, you must get their consent; The door must be open throughout the night and "always have at least 3 feet on the floor."

At 9:50 am the bell tower rings, signaling the beginning of the "conference". Twice a week, all 1,085 students gather at the Academy Building to share a cultural experience, usually with a speaker.

This time, the students heard statements from Milton Heath Jr.. of the 1945 course, recipient of the John Phillips Award. He reminisced about living in Wentworth Hall and sharing his way of preparing for student life at Harvard and Columbia Law.

The conference ended after the teacher announced that the next week's conference would feature the producer of "Breaking Bad," Stewart Lyons. The students poured into their classrooms. I noticed how you dress: Male in shirt and tie, women in all kinds of costumes. There are jeans too.

In the 300-level social-ethics class, teacher Russell Weatherspoon sat down at the table and asked, "Where do you want to start?" Within minutes, the students argued for themselves in quotes in social books. and religion, ask open-ended questions, and lead your discussion without any intervention from the teacher. There is no need for anyone to raise their hands in the classroom.

Since the 1930s, the school has established a teaching model called the Harkness Method, where students take responsibility for their own learning. There is nothing called teaching here. "We really just ask what they think about what's written in the book, then come back and make a conclusion," said Weatherspoon.

In any class, the instructor and 12 students will sit around an oval table, called the Harkness Table. Some teachers will choose to annotate the discussion as a chart so that they will know who is in charge of the discussion, and who are in need of extra help to find their own voice. myself.

Throughout the campus, there is also a Harkness Table. In the science lab Phelps Science Center also has a table, and the body of a big cat "cat" also ...

... and a humpback whale is "swimming" over there. Phillips Exeter students and teachers jointly extracted its skeleton as it drifted into Cape Cod beach in 2000.

This is a picture taken by students from Jelly Beans candy combined with glue shot in art studios, here is also indispensable Harkness Table.

In the music classroom there is also a Harkness Table, the students are standing around it to practice singing.
At 1pm, everyone gathered under the dining room. I joined a group of dynamic and open-minded students. You introduce yourself name, hometown, dormitory what, and that is just your general information.

Lunch is included in your tuition, so students enjoy buffets, with dishes from all over the country. Menu changes seasonally.
Through this lunch, I have the opportunity to talk more about the private lives of the students of Phillips Exeter Academy boarding school. See you in part 2 with interesting stories in the afternoon class.