Belmont Hill School is an all-boys day and five-day boarding school in Belmont, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. The school enrolls approximately 470 boys in grades 7–12, separated into the Middle School (Forms I-III, or grades 7–9) and the Upper School (Forms IV-VI, or grades 10–12).
The school's rowing team has won five national championships, and its ice hockey team has produced two Olympic gold medalists and three Hobey Baker Award winners.
The school was founded in 1923 by a group of seven incorporators, including William H. Claflin Jr. and John W. Hallowell, who wanted their sons to attend a nearby day school.[1][2] (At the time, most of the major Boston day schools were to the south of Boston.) They appointed Middlesex School master Reginald Heber Howe as its first headmaster.[3] The school opened its doors in the fall of 1923 to 43 boys and four faculty, and grew rapidly, reaching 123 boys and 12 full-time faculty by 1926.[4] Howe initially intended to educate students in grades 3–12, but the school eliminated the lower grades over time and adopted the current six-year structure in 1961.[5] Author Munro Leaf taught at the school in the 1920s.[6]
Belmont Hill has been an all-boys school since its founding, although its articles of incorporation originally envisioned "a Country Day School for the education of boys and/or girls."[7] In 1973, the school adopted a sister-school relationship with Winsor School; the two schools share various extracurricular activities.[8] The school also holds joint social events with Dana Hall School and Newton Country Day School.[9]
The school was hit hard by the financial turmoil of the Great Depression, and enrollment fell to 96 by 1942.[10] The trustees tabled several proposals to merge with Rivers and Browne & Nichols in the 1940s, all of which proved unsuccessful.[11] America's entry into World War II, and the resulting increase in government spending, helped revive the school's fortunes.[12] Under headmaster Charles F. Hamilton (h. 1942–71), enrollment and Upper School day student tuition nearly quadrupled.[13] In 1970, the school's scholarship budget was $50,800, roughly equivalent to 22 full scholarships (6% of the student body).[14]
The school celebrated its centennial in 2023, paired with a fundraising campaign that seeks to raise $100–125 million.[15] The campus currently occupies 37 acres.[16]
In the 2023–24 school year, Belmont Hill educated 471 boys, 28% of whom were on financial aid.[17] The school maintains a small five-day boarding program for up to 27 local students who commute home on weekends.[18] It previously operated a traditional seven-day boarding program from 1923 to 1966.[19]
In the 2021–22 school year, the school reported that of its 463 students, 331 (71.5%) were white, 39 (8.4%) were multiracial, 35 (7.6%) were Asian, 32 (6.9%) were black, 25 (5.4%) were Hispanic, and 1 (0.2%) was Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.[20]
In 2023, the school admitted 30% of applicants.[17] Most students enter in grades 7 and 9 (50 and 20 students, respectively).[9]
In the 2023–24 school year, Belmont Hill charged boarding students $70,050 and day students $61,400.[21]
Belmont Hill provides need-based financial aid and commits to meet 100% of each admitted student's demonstrated financial aid. In the 2023–24 school year, 28% of students were on financial aid, and the average financial aid grant was $48,800 (79% of day student tuition).[21] A majority of financial aid students had household incomes between $50,000 and $200,000, and a plurality of financial aid students had household incomes between $150,000 and $200,000.[9]
Belmont Hill's financial endowment stood at $133 million as of the 2021–22 school year.[16] In its Internal Revenue Service filings for the 2021–22 school year, Belmont Hill reported total assets of $216.7 million, net assets of $175.9 million, investment holdings of $131.4 million, and cash holdings of $18.3 million. Belmont Hill also reported $27.7 million in program service expenses and $6.1 million in grants (primarily student financial aid).[22]
Belmont Hill has valued athletics since the school opened in 1923. Reginald Howe had previously coached the Harvard varsity crew, and he "employed as faculty young men, often just out of college, who had distinguished themselves athletically as well as academically."[23] As of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the school has educated 16 Olympians, including hockey gold medalists Bill and Bob Cleary.[24]
Today, Belmont Hill offers 16 interscholastic sports and 58 teams, and claims that "virtually all teachers are coaches."[25] The Jordan Athletic Center, opened in 2000, contains two basketball courts, a wrestling room, seven squash courts, a free weights and workout facility, and an Olympic-size hockey rink that converts into four tennis courts. The school also has three baseball fields, a grass soccer field, and two artificial turf fields used for football, lacrosse, and soccer.[26]
Belmont Hill's athletic teams compete in the Independent School League, a group of day and boarding schools in Greater Boston.[27]
The studio arts program covers drawing, painting, woodworking, digital photography, ceramics, mechanical drawing (architecture), and print development.[43]
The music program includes jazz and rock bands, an orchestra, and multiple singing groups. Students may take classes and lessons at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.[44]
Belmont Hill's student-run extracurricular organizations include a debate team, school newspaper (The Hill for the Middle School, The Panel for the Upper School), yearbook (The Sundial), and social sciences magazine (The Podium). Every other edition of The Panel is co-produced with Winsor students.[46]
Over 70% of the student body participates in voluntary clubs and service trips for community service. The school holds an annual week-long spring break trip to different regions throughout the United States, including California, Alabama, and Florida.[47]
Belmont Hill participates in a University of Pennsylvania-led research consortium to "systematically mobilize student insights and voices to improve school culture, policy and practice."[48]
^Duncan, p. 128 ("The 'war industry which stimulated Belmont Hill as much as any other was education. Boston and Cambridge colleges and universities held government contracts for the education of officers as well as for research projects. Many Belmont Hill boys were sons of professors. Others were sons of merchants, contractors, manufacturers and professional men, all of whom found the pinch of depression considerably relieved.").
^Duncan, pp. 122, 141, 170, 215 (enrollment rose from 96 in 1942 to 360 in 1970; Upper School tuition rose from $550 to $2,325).
