Walnut Hill School

Last updated
Walnut Hill School for the Arts
Location
Walnut Hill School
,
United States
Information
Type Private, boarding, arts
Motto Non Nobis Solum
"Not for ourselves alone"
Established1893
Head of SchoolEric Barber
Enrollment281
Campus30 acres (120,000 m2)
Color(s)  Red (historic)
  Purple (modern)
Tuition$75,790 (boarding)
$51,100 (day)
Website walnuthillarts.org

Walnut Hill School for the Arts is an independent boarding school and day school for the arts located in Natick, Massachusetts, United States. It is intended for student artists in grade 9-12. [1]

Contents

History and programs

Boarding school

Walnut Hill was founded in 1893 by Florence Bigelow and Charlotte Conant as a college preparatory school for women and a feeder school for Wellesley College. Even as a traditional private boarding school for girls, Walnut Hill's arts programs were strong. The school was home to acclaimed Fenway Studios artist and teacher Marion L. Pooke, class of 1901, and Pulitzer Prize–winning author and Poet Laureate Elizabeth Bishop, class of 1930. It became coeducational and arts-focused in the late 1970s in response to changes in the educational landscape. [1]

Majors

Students at Walnut Hill major in one of five arts disciplines: dance, music, theatre, visual art, and writing, film, and media arts. Writing, film and media arts classes include but are not limited to poetry, fiction, screenwriting, cinematography and darkroom photography. [2]

Boston Ballet

Boston Ballet School merged with the Walnut Hill dance program in 2020 rebranding the company as Boston Ballet's pre professional division at Walnut Hill. While this was beneficial for both organizations it was met with backlash by many members of the Walnut Hill community. [3]

Campus

Walnut Hill School campus Walnut hill school 20060329.jpg
Walnut Hill School campus

The Walnut Hill campus has thirteen buildings on 40 acres (16 ha). [4] Stowe, Eliot, Highland, Clark, New Cottage, Westerly, North House and Elizabeth Bishop Hall are the school's dorms. The campus also holds the Academic and Technology Center; the Delbridge Family Center for the Arts; the Dance Center; the Keiter Center for the Performing Arts; the Writing, Film, and Media Arts building; the Office of Admission; and the Head's House.

Eliot is the largest building on campus; its second and third floors serve as a dormitory. It contains Boswell Hall, the Keefe center, the dining hall, the student campus center and the school bookstore. Highland contains music practice rooms (both regular and soundproof), the Visual Art studios, Pooke Gallery, Amelia Hall and Highland Dormitory. Stowe, in addition to being a dormitory, is the location of the switchboard and many administrative offices, including the Head of School's office, external relations and facilities.

The Delbridge Family Center for the Arts is the most recent addition to the campus. It began construction in the 2015–2016 school year and was completed in July 2016. This structure includes a dance studio, a black box and a gallery.

Traditions

Mountain Day : This tradition takes place in October and serves as a community-building event for the senior class. The entire class ascends one of the most hiked mountains in the world, Mount Monadnock. This event gives the students a sense of accomplishment and class spirit. [5]

Tree Day: During the last week of the academic semester, the senior class, usually given the option to pick, will choose a tree to plant on campus and where they plant it. This is a way that students can leave remember their legacy at the school. [6]


Notable alumni

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerson College</span> Private university in Boston, Massachusetts

Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands. Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of oratory," the college offers more than three dozen degree and professional training programs specializing in the fields of arts and communication with a foundation in liberal arts studies. The college is one of the founding members of the ProArts Consortium, an association of six neighboring institutions in Boston dedicated to arts education at the collegiate level. Emerson is also notable for the college's namesake public opinion poll, Emerson College Polling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Reserve Academy</span> School in Hudson, Ohio, United States

Western Reserve Academy (WRA), or simply Reserve, is a private, midsized, coeducational boarding and day college preparatory school located in Hudson, Ohio, United States. A boarding school, Western Reserve Academy is largely a residential campus, with 280 of 390 students living on campus and the remainder attending as day students. Students from over 20 states and 15 countries attend.

George School is a private Quaker boarding and day high school located on a rural campus in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was founded at its present site in 1893, and has grown from a single building to over 20 academic, athletic, and residential buildings. Besides the usual college preparatory courses, including an International Baccalaureate program, the school features several distinct programs deriving from its Quaker heritage. These include community service requirements, an emphasis on social justice and environmental concerns, required art courses, and community-based decisionmaking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine Crest School</span> Private preparatory school with campuses in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida, United States

Pine Crest School is a private preparatory school with campuses in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida, United States. It was founded in Fort Lauderdale in 1934 by Mae McMillan, who also served as the school's first president. The Boca Raton campus, originally Boca Raton Academy, was absorbed by Pine Crest in 1991 and hosts students in pre-kindergarten through Grade 8. The Fort Lauderdale campus hosts students in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12.

Tring Park School or Tring Park School for the Performing Arts is an independent co-educational day and boarding school in Tring, Hertfordshire, England, offering academic and vocational courses in the Performing Arts for pupils aged 8–19. The school comprises a Prep School, a Lower School, a Middle School and a Sixth Form. Originally known as the Arts Educational School, Tring Park, it was founded as the sister school of the Arts Educational School, London. In 2009 it became independent of the London school and was renamed Tring Park School for the Performing Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Catalina School</span> Private, day and boarding school in Monterey, , California, United States

Santa Catalina School is a private school in California founded by Sister Margaret Thompson and the Dominican Order in 1950. Situated on a 36-acre hacienda-style campus, the Upper School is an all-girls boarding school that also accepts local students. The Lower and Middle School serves both boys and girls. Students are required to wear uniforms. The school emphasizes building a sense of community that challenges its students mentally and spiritually. Santa Catalina is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. In addition, the school is associated with the National Association of Independent Schools, the Association of Boarding Schools, National Catholic Educational Association, and the National Coalition of Girls' Schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Ballet</span> Boston-based ballet company

The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. It has been led by Violette Verdy (1980–1984), Bruce Marks (1985–1997), and Anna-Marie Holmes (1997–2000). Mikko Nissinen was appointed artistic director in September 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Forest Academy</span> School in Lake Forest, Illinois, United States

Lake Forest Academy is a co-educational college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9 through 12. The school is located on the North Shore in Lake Forest, Illinois, United States, about 30 miles north of Chicago. As of the 2019–2020 school year, the school enrolled 435 students, with the students coming from 13 states and 35 countries. This school is among the most selective boarding schools in the United States. The current head of school is Christopher O. Tennyson. The school is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS), and the Secondary School Admission Test Board (SSATB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mason Gross School of the Arts</span> School of performing and fine arts at Rutgers University (New Brunswick)

Mason Gross School of the Arts is the arts conservatory at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Mason Gross offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in art, design, dance, filmmaking, music, and theater. Mason Gross is highly selective in terms of admissions, with a low admission rate. It is named for Mason W. Gross, the sixteenth president of Rutgers.

Jean Paige Turco is an American actress, best known for her role as April O'Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. Other notable roles include Melanie Cortlandt on the ABC soap opera All My Children, Terri Lowell in the CBS series The Agency, Gail Emory in the CBS series American Gothic and appearances in NYPD Blue, Party of Five and Person of Interest. From 2014 to 2019 she starred as Abigail Griffin in the post-apocalyptic drama series, The 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Hansis</span> American actor (born 1981)

Van Hansis is an American actor. Hansis portrayed the rich Luke Snyder on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns from December 14, 2005 until the show's final episode September 17, 2010. The son of long running characters on the series, Luke is known for a gay romantic storyline cited as one of the first in American daytime television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westminster School (Connecticut)</span> Private, boarding, day school in Simsbury, Connecticut, United States

Westminster School is a private, coeducational college-preparatory, boarding and day school located in Simsbury, Connecticut accepting around 20% of applicants. The total student population is approximately 400, and includes pupils from 25 US states and 30 countries. It is also a member of the Founders League, an athletic league comprising ten college preparatory boarding schools in Connecticut and one in New York.

The South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities (SCGSAH) is a prestigious boarding school for the arts located in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1999 by Virginia Uldrick, the high school program provides pre-professional training in creative writing, dance, drama, film, music and visual arts to sophomores, juniors and seniors, in a master-apprentice, arts-centered community. The Governor's School also offers arts-intensive summer programs for 7th-through-11th-grade students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The McDonald College</span> School in Australia

The McDonald College is an independent co-educational specialist primary and secondary day and boarding school with speciality in the creative and performing arts, located in North Strathfield, an inner western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippi School of the Arts</span> Residential public high school in Brookhaven, Mississippi, United States

The Mississippi School of the Arts (MSA) is an upper high school of literary, visual, and performing arts on the historic Whitworth College Campus in Brookhaven, Mississippi, about sixty miles (100 km) south of Jackson, Mississippi. MSA teaches 11th and 12th grade students. The site has 6 buildings designated as Mississippi Landmarks, and the campus is also notable as being on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The renovation or construction of the campus facilities, as a historic site, are ongoing and rely upon additional funding to make capital improvements.

Fay School, founded in 1866 by the Fay sisters, is an independent, coeducational day and boarding school located in Southborough, Massachusetts.

Jovanna Huguet is a Canadian actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middlesex School</span> School in Concord, Massachusetts, United States

Middlesex School is a coeducational, non-sectarian, day and boarding independent secondary school for grades 9–12 located in Concord, Massachusetts. It was founded as an all-boys school in 1901 by a Roxbury Latin School alumnus, Frederick Winsor, who headed the school until 1937. Middlesex began admitting girls in 1974. The school is a member of the Independent School League and is one of five schools collectively known as St. Grottlesex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine High School for the Arts</span> Public arts high school in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

The Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA) is a specialized public high school in the Philippines offering arts-focused education established in 1978 by virtue of Presidential Decree 1287. An attached agency of the Department of Education, it consults with the Cultural Center of the Philippines for policy and program implementation of its arts program. Aside from the Basic Education curriculum prescribed by the government, it offers various specializations in the field of arts.

References

  1. 1 2 "Walnut Hill School for the Arts | Private Arts High School". www.walnuthillarts.org. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  2. "Writing, Film & Media Arts - Walnut Hill School for the Arts |". www.walnuthillarts.org. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  3. "Boston Ballet School and Walnut Hill Are Merging Their High School Pre-Professional Programs". Pointe Magazine. 2019-12-18. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  4. "Walnut Hill School". The Independent. Jul 6, 1914. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  5. "Traditions - Walnut Hill School for the Arts". www.walnuthillarts.org. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  6. "Traditions - Walnut Hill School for the Arts". www.walnuthillarts.org. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  7. "Van Hansis : Biography". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  8. "Judith Hoag". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  9. "Jovanna Huguet". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2014-02-24.

42°17′30″N71°20′48″W / 42.2918°N 71.3467°W / 42.2918; -71.3467