Milton Academy

Milton Academy
Location
Milton, Massachusetts
USA
Information
Type Independent School, boarding and day
Motto Dare to be True
Established 1798
Head of School Theodorick ("Todd") B. Bland
Faculty 127 (Upper School)
Grades 9–12 (Upper School)
K–8 (Lower School)
Enrollment 675 (Upper School)
50% boarding, 50% day

287 (Lower School)
967 (Total)
Average class size 14 students (Upper School)
Student to teacher ratio 5:1 (Upper School)
Campus Suburban, 125 acres (0.51 km2)
Color(s) Orange and Blue
        
Song Jerusalem
Athletics 25 Interscholastic sports
Team name Mustangs
Rival Noble and Greenough
Average SAT scores (2015) 1450
Endowment $254 million
Annual tuition Upper School
$59,560 (boarding)
$49,500 (day)
Website www.milton.edu

Milton Academy (also known as Milton) is a coeducational, independent preparatory, boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts consisting of a grade 9–12 Upper School and a grade K–8 Lower School. Boarding is offered starting in 9th grade.

Milton is a member of the Independent School League (ISL). Milton's historic athletic rival is Noble and Greenough.

History

The original Milton Academy was founded by a Massachusetts bill granting a charter in 1798, but operations ceased in 1866[1] with the opening of the public Milton High School; the institution, however, was re-established in 1884 on a new 100-acre site by John Murray Forbes, with the approval of the old board of trustees.[2]

Students and faculty

There are 670 Upper School students at Milton, half of whom live on campus. There are 127 faculty members in the Upper School, 78% of whom have postgraduate degrees, and 9% holding doctorates. It has an average class size of 14, and a female-to-male ratio of 50–50. There are 305 students in the Lower School (Kindergarten through Grade 8). The Middle School (Grades 6–8) and Lower School (Kindergarten through Grade 5) have 25 and 28 faculty members respectively.[3] Tuition is $39,000 per year for day students and $47,000 for boarding students.

Clubs and organizations

There are over 10 different publications on campus, including news and literary magazines. There are several music groups, including the Chamber Singers, Miltones, Chamber Orchestra, jazz combos and five a cappella groups—two all-female groups (Epic and Octet), an all-male group (Miltones), and two co-educational groups (3FU and Rezon8), which have performed throughout the United States, as well as Europe, Asia, and Africa.[4] Milton Academy is also home to a jazz program, focused on small combos, that tours South Africa every other year. Beatnik Café, an independently run exhibition of student performances (such as jazz, improvisational skits, poetry readings, and singing), occurs three times a year. Theatrical productions provide about ten plays each year. Two student choreographed Dance Concerts are put up each year, the larger one occurring in the winter.

Milton Academy has a number of student activity clubs. Cultural clubs at Milton include GASP (Gender And Sexuality Perspectives), Onyx (black student group), the Asian Society, Latino Association, JSU (Jewish-Student Union), Christian Fellowship, Caribbean Student Association, and Multiracial Experience Club.[5] Students at the academy can start their own clubs if they have a faculty sponsor. The Tibet Club - formerly the Milton Academy chapter of the Students for a Free Tibet - currently sponsors two Tibetan refugee children as part of a five-year commitment. Another club, Invisible Hand, is Milton's Capitalist Club. In addition to sponsoring weekly discussions pertaining to Capitalism and Economics, Invisible Hand has taken trips to Harvard Business School. Milton's Investment Club manages a $30,000 portion of the Academy's endowment. The Entrepreneurship Club brings in guest speakers to help facilitate discussions that teach students about creating, growing and managing non-for-profit and for-profit businesses. The Robotics Club participates in Vex Robotics competitions in the fall and winter.

Milton Academy has an Outdoor Program. Select students hold a weekly meeting and plan weekend trips for the student body. The trips consist of hiking, white water rafting, kayaking, paddle boarding, rock climbing, snow shoeing, sea kayaking, and various other activities. The Outdoor Program also offers an annual longer trip during spring break. The outdoor program has gone to Zion and Joshua Tree national parks, The White Mountains, Acadia National Park, and many other destinations throughout North America.

Milton Academy has an speech and debate team that competes in the Massachusetts Forensic League (MFL), National Catholic Forensic League (CFL or NCFL), and National Forensic League (NFL).

The school also has many political groups, including the M.A.S.A.P, Conservative Club, and F.L.L.A.G. (Forward-looking Liberal Action Group).

Semester and SYA Programs

Milton offers several off-campus programs. Some students take a school year abroad in France, Italy, Spain, or China; others go on semester programs such as Chewonki Semester School, The Mountain School, or CITYTerm. The semester programs offer an eye opening new way for students integrate themselves outside the Milton Community. As well as attending classes, students can explore either the coastal shores of Maine, the freshly cropped fields of Vermont, or the lively streets of New York City. They give students a whole new way to view schooling. The SYA programs allow students to immerse themselves into a whole new culture than that of the United States. Students stay with a host family and try to gt involved with their new communities in a new country.[6]

Athletics

Milton offers 15 interscholastic sports for both boys and girls each, as well as nine intramural teams.[7] Milton is a member of both the Independent School League and the New England Schools Sailing Association division of the Interscholastic Sailing Association. Since 1886, Milton's traditional rival has been the Noble and Greenough School of Dedham. Recently, the ultimate team was ranked seventh in the nation and the varsity football team "entered the 2005 season with the best ten-year record of all ISL prep programs". In the past five years, Milton has won 17 ISL Championships and most recently the boys' tennis team won New England's. The boys' tennis team has won four New England titles in a row.[8] The coed sailing team has won two national championships—one in team racing and one in fleet racing.[9] They have also won team racing worlds in 2015. Milton's boys' hockey team has had several players go on to successful professional careers, most notably 12-year NHLer Marty McInnis and current Boston Bruin Josh Hennessy.[10][11] In 2011, Milton's boys hockey team won the NEPSAC championship. The team featured two NHL draft picks: Patrick McNally and Rob O'Gara. In 2012, the Girls' Cross Country team placed 1st and the Boys' Cross Country team placed 2nd in the ISL, earning the team's highest finish in 25 years. In 2013 the Girls Track & Field team clinched the ISL title while the Boys did the same in 2015. The Boys' Varsity Soccer team earned a first round bid in the playoffs for the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council in 2013. In 2014 they went undefeated until a semi final elimination in the playoffs but returned to a perfect untied and unbeaten 22–0 season the following year, earning the ISL title, the New England Class A championship and the ISL Sportsmanship award.

Publications

Milton Academy maintains several publications using school facilities. The Milton Measure is the official biweekly publication of the school and is the oldest to be operating at the school. The Milton Paper, the school's independent newspaper, publishes weekly. La Voz ("The Voice"), the school's Spanish language student newspaper, is published quarterly and allows students to write in Spanish about issues that involve the Spanish-speaking community. MagusMabus (colloquially: Magus) is the school's art & literary magazine. It publishes two full issues a year as well as one smaller "maguette" which contains only poetry. In addition, the Magus hosts open mic nights called Beatnik Cafes. Milton students also publish Helix, a science magazine, which is released seasonally. Also published seasonally is Gaia, a publication aimed at educating the community about environmental issues.

Academic and student life facilities

Milton Academy offers a wide variety of student facilities, including performing arts and athletic facilities. The Ruth King Theatre was provided as a gift of novelist Stephen King in memory of his mother and is a 20th century adaptation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The school is home to Ayer Observatory, featuring a 12-foot dome housing a five-inch refractor and a nine-inch reflector. Milton's new visual arts center, completed in the fall of 2011, features the Academy's acclaimed Nesto Gallery, where several famous Boston-area and national artists have displayed their works.

Residential facilities

Approximately half of the Upper School student body consists of boarders. There are eight dorms, four girls dorms (Robbins, Hathaway, Hallowell, and Millet) and four boys dorms (Forbes, Goodwin, Wolcott, and Norris). Each of Milton's residential "houses" has unique traditions, such as holiday caroling, pumpkin carving, "wills night", Rain Soccer on East Campus before dinner on rainy days, barbecues, dodgeball, and dorm bowling to help foster friendship and support within the house. House sizes range from 30 to 48 students, and students live in the same house for their entire time at Milton.

Controversies

In February 2017, the academy announced the results of a nine-month sexual misconduct investigation by T&M Protection Resources. The firm interviewed 60 alumni, parents, current and former staff and came to the conclusion that four former employees had engaged in illegal sexual conduct with students in the 1970s and 80s. The most egregious abuse came from a drama teacher named Reynold Buono who had abused at least 12 male students before being terminated by the school in 1987.[12]

On June 27, 2018, Buono was arraigned in Norfolk Superior Court on three counts of rape of a child and three counts of rape of a child with force. The District Attorney allege the rape happened while Buono was teaching at the school between 1975 to 1987. Buono was terminated in 1987 after admitting to molesting a student and had been living in southeast Asia.[13]

In 2005, the school expelled five members of the boys varsity hockey team for receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old female student in a school locker room. After an investigation, two of the students who were 16 at the time of the alleged incidents were charged with statutory rape. Both accepted plea deals and received no jail time.[14][15]

These incidents have been the source for several works, including a non-fiction book and fictional Lifetime television movie, both entitled Restless Virgins.[16]

In 2014, the head of school of Milton Academy and the Milton Police Chief confirmed the existence of an investigation of the sending of racially charged hate letters to a black Milton Academy staff member. "I believe this was perpetrated from the inside," Milton Police Chief Richard G. Wells Jr. said in an interview.[17] In addition to the Police, out-of-state investigation agencies were brought into the investigation.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

References

  1. ↑ "Milton Academy, 1930, Historical Sketch" Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  2. ↑ Hale, Richard Walden (1948). Milton Academy, 1798–1948. The Academy. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  3. ↑ Milton Academy Quick Facts Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Arts at Milton Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Student Clubs and Organizations Archived 2006-12-17 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Milton Academy Semester Programs Archived 2011-09-03 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Milton Athletics Archived 2011-09-02 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Milton Academy Archived 2006-09-03 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ Inter-Scholastic Sailing Association (ISSA) Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ NHL
  11. ↑ NHL
  12. ↑ Saltzman, Jonathan (2017-02-21). "Milton Academy discloses sexual misconduct by former employees". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  13. ↑ Smyth, Sean; Crimaldi, Laura (2018-06-27). "Ex-Milton Academy teacher accused of rape is back in US". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  14. ↑ "Milton Academy rocked by expulsions". Archived from the original on March 18, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Charges put spotlight back on Milton Academy scandal". Archived from the original on June 30, 2006.
  16. ↑ Leddy, Chuck (2007-09-13). "'Restless Virgins' explores sex subculture at exclusive prep school". The Boston Globe.
  17. ↑ https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/10/milton-academy-responds-hateful-letters-that-targeted-black-staff-members/glVgvPm9LQp6ZH6lreV62K/story.html
  18. ↑ http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20068027,00.html
  19. ↑ http://www.miltonacademy.info/annualreport/?page_id=495
  20. ↑ http://www.thedailybeast.com/contributors/john-avlon.html
  21. ↑ Paul Anthony Theis, Edmund Lee Henshaw, Who's Who in American Politics, Volume 2, 1991, page 1657
  22. ↑ "The rise and fall of Twitter's most infamous right-wing troll". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
  23. ↑ http://www.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?archive_id=957284771&page_id=5727092131&page_url=//www.muralmusicarts.org/about/team.php&page_last_updated=2011-09-01T15:52:35&firstName=Jidenna&lastName=Mobisson
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