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Phillips Exeter Academy

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Phillips Exeter Academy
Location
Map
Exeter
,
NH

USA
Information
TypePrivate, boarding
MottoNon Sibi
(Not for One's Self)
Finis Origine Pendet
(The End Depends Upon the Beginning)
χαριτι Θεου
(By the Grace of God)
Religious affiliation(s)none
Established1781
Faculty191
Enrollment1043 total
835 boarding
208 day
Average class size12 students
Student to teacher ratio5:1
CampusTownship, 471 acres (1.9 km²)
126 buildings
Color(s)Red/Maroon and White/Gray
Athletics21 Interscholastic Sports
62 Interscholastic Teams
MascotLion Rampant
Websitewww.exeter.edu
The Academy Building

Phillips Exeter Academy (also called Exeter, Phillips Exeter, or PEA) is a co-educational independent boarding school for grades 9-12 (also offers a post-graduate year), located on 471.0 acres (1.9 km²) in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA, fifty miles north of Boston.

Exeter currently has an endowment of about $1 billion. This is the second-highest endowment of any American secondary school, behind the $6.8 billion endowment of Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii, and ahead of the $623 million endowment of its traditional rival, Phillips Academy.

A traditional, though informal, association existed between Exeter and Harvard University. However, similar to the relationship between Phillips Academy and Yale University, this traditional association has declined in recent years, and students now matriculate to a wide range of colleges and universities. Eighty percent of the students board, living in on-campus dormitories or houses, with the remaining twenty percent being day students from the surrounding communities. Phillips Exeter has been co-educational since 1970; in 1996 a new gender-inclusive Latin inscription Hic Quaerite Pueri Puellaeque Virtutem et Scientiam ("Here, boys and girls, seek goodness and knowledge") was added over the main entrance to the Academy Building to augment the original Huc Venite, Pueri, ut Viri Sitis ("Come here boys so that you may become men") to reflect the school's coeducational status.

Origins and philosophy

Dr. John Phillips, the school's founder

The Academy was established in 1781 by merchant Dr. John Phillips and his wife Elizabeth. John Phillips was the uncle of Samuel Phillips, Jr., who had founded Phillips Academy Andover in 1778. As a result of this relationship, the schools share a rivalry; the football teams have met nearly every year since 1878, making Exeter/Andover one of the oldest high school rivalries in the country. Like Andover's, Exeter's seal was designed by Paul Revere and features the symbols of bees, a beehive, and a sun. Also similar to Andover, the school's Latin mottoes are Finis Origine Pendet (meaning "the end depends upon the beginning,") and Non Sibi (meaning "Not for one's self"). Exeter has an additional motto: "χαριτι Θεου" -- "by the grace of God" in Greek. Exeter's Deed of Gift, written by John Phillips at the founding of the school, warns that "Though goodness without knowledge is weak and feeble, yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous." (this motto is also in the constitution of Phillips Academy Andover). The principal of the Academy usually speaks on this theme every year at the school's opening assembly.

Since a 1930 gift by the oil magnate and philanthropist Edward Harkness, the Academy's principal mode of instruction has been by discussion, "seminar style," around an oval table known as the "Harkness table." The completion of the Phelps Science Center in 2001 meant that all science classes, previously the only ones taught in a more conventional layout, could also be conducted around the same oval tables. Classes are small to encourage all students to participate. These "Harkness" classes feature heavily in both the school's identity and its day-to-day life. Almost all prep schools use this same learning technique, but only Exeter claims it as their own.

Currently, 31 different countries and five continents are represented in the student body of the Academy. In addition to the traditional year-long programs offered in China, Spain, Italy, and France through the School Year Abroad program, the Academy sponsors trimester-long programs in Stratford, England; Grenoble, France; St. Petersburg, Russia; Göttingen, Germany; and Cuernavaca, Mexico.

The campus is known for its modern library, designed by Louis Kahn. As of 2005, the Class of 1945 Library houses 145,000 volumes and has a shelf capacity of 250,000 volumes. It is the largest secondary-school library in the world.

Tuition

Tuition to Exeter for the 2006 - 2007 school year is $34,500 for boarding students and $26,600 for day students, not including optional and mandatory fees. Exeter offers need-based financial aid.

Summer school

Each Summer, Phillips Exeter plays host to 650 students embarking on an intensive five-week program of Academic Study. The Summer program accommodates a diverse student body typically derived from over 40 different states and dozens of foreign countries.

The summer school is divided into two programs of study: Upper School, which offers a wide variety of classes to students currently enrolled in High School entering grades ten through twelve as well as serving post grads; and Access Exeter, a program for students entering grades eight and nine, offers accelerated study in the arts, sciences and writing as well as serving as an introduction to the school itself. Access Exeter curriculum consists of five academic clusters; each cluster consists of three courses organized around a focused central theme.

In addition to intense academic study, the Summer School offers unique introductions to several defining characteristics of the school, including the residential prep school life, school facilities, and sports including squash and crew.

Notable alumni

Books or movies with portrayals of Exeter alumni, students, or staff

Many fictional characters are indicated to have graduated from Exeter. This is usually because of the connotations associated with the prestige and affluence associated with the school and its alumni. Also, in many cases, the author or writer is himself an Alumnus.

  • Tea and Sympathy - This play by Robert Anderson (later a movie as well) treats the inner struggles of an Exeter student.
  • A Separate Peace - This novel by John Knowles is set at "Devon," a thinly-veiled fictionalization of Exeter, in the summer of 1943.
  • Trading Places - Commodities trader Louis Winthorpe III, played by Dan Aykroyd, is mentioned to be an Exeter alumnus.
  • American Psycho - In the book by Bret Easton Ellis, Patrick Bateman, the main character, is mentioned to be an Exeter alumnus.
  • The Birdcage - Calista Flockhart plays an Exeter alumna.
  • Bringing Down the House - Kevin Lewis, the main character is mentioned to be an Exeter alumnus.
  • A Widow for One Year - In this novel by John Irving, the two main characters are Exeter alumni. Part of this book was later adapted for the movie The Door in the Floor.
  • A Prayer for Owen Meany - In this novel by John Irving, the protagonist/narrator, John Wheelwright, and his best friend, Owen Meany, are both day students at Gravesend Academy, modeled after Exeter. Owen writes a popular column in The Grave (modeled after The Exonian) called "The Voice," which is critical of the school administration and the Vietnam war, among other topics. Part of this book was later adapted for the movie Simon Birch, though none of the Exeter parts made it into the film.
  • The World According to Garp - In this novel by John Irving, the protagonist/narrator, T.S. Garp, is the illegitimate, only child of Jenny Fields, the school nurse at "Steering School," Irving's fictionalized name for Exeter. Young Garp grows up in Steering's infirmary, eventually attending the school and joining its wrestling team. The book was adapted into a screenplay for the film of the same name, starring Robin Williams and Glenn Close, and featuring a cameo by the author as a wrestling referee.
  • A Beautiful Mind - John Nash's roommate jokingly asks the future Nobel Laureate if he had been fortunate enough to go to Exeter or Andover.
  • The Skulls - Two of the main characters at Yale University are mentioned to have met while at Exeter.
  • The Emperor's Club - The school mottos of Exeter are used during the opening assembly. [Note: Exeter adopted the motto "Fines Origine Pendet" and "Non Sibi" after Paul Revere used them in the seal he designed for Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Despite this, however, it is safe to assume that if the school in the film alludes to either of the two real schools, it is more probably to Exeter as the school color of the school in the film is red, Exeter's school color, rather than blue, Andover's school color.]
  • The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons - the author, Dan Brown is an Exeter alumnus. The main character, Robert Langdon attended Exeter.
  • Six Degrees of Separation - Characters in the movie described as having attended Exeter and Andover.
  • The Rule of Four - one of the main four friends is an Exeter student.
  • Dharma and Greg - Greg is said to be an Exeter alumnus in this sitcom.
  • Cheaper by the Dozen 2 - One of Eugene Levy's character's ("Jimmy Martaugh") children is said to be "at Exeter" in this holiday film.
  • Bad Company (movie) - Chris Rock's character (Jake Hayes) reads the file of his twin separated at birth who went to Phillips Exeter, the U.S. Naval Academy, becomes a Rhodes Scholar and decides to work as a "clandestine agent" at the CIA.
  • The Prince of Tides - Dr. Lowenstein's son is a student at Exeter, at least in the movie, if not the novel.
  • The Door in the Floor - Character Eddie refers to himself as an "Upper" (Junior) at Exeter Academy.
  • The Hills - In this MTV television show, character Lauren's boss at Teen Vogue appears wearing a "Phillips Exeter" T-shirt underneath his blazer.
  • A Hope In The Unseen - It is mentioned that Cedric received a scholarship offer from Phillips Exeter Academy

Athletics

Exeter is known not only for its strong academic curriculum, but also for its competitive athletic teams. The school offers 65 interscholastic teams at the Varsity and Junior Varsity level as well as 27 intramural sports squads. Other various fitness classes are also offered. The Boys' Water Polo team has won twenty-two New England prep school championships. The boy's Cross Country team has won the past two championships as well. Boys' Swimming has won fifteen of the last New England championships, and the Cycling team is the defending champion. Wrestling has won the New England tournament thirteen times as well. Exeter is a fixture in New England championship tournaments in nearly all sports narrowly missing the championship in both Boys' and Girls' Soccer in 2005 and winning the New England Class A Championship in Football in 2003. The wrestling team has won more Class A and New England Prep School Wrestling Association titles than any other team, most recently winning the Class A tourney in 2003 and the New England tourney in 2001. It has also crowned a National Prep Wrestling champion, Rei Tanaka, in 1990. Both the Girls' and Boys' Ice Hockey teams have won New England Championships recently as well. Exeter is also known for a consistently strong and richly traditioned rowing program. In recent years the Boys' Crew took first and fourth place at the U.S. Rowing Junior National Championships in 1996 and 2002 respectively. The girls' recently took sixth place at the 2006 championships. The Boys' Crew was the first organized sport at Exeter and over its more than 100 years of competition has produced several Olympians, National Team members and numerous Division I rowers. The school's traditional athletic rival is Phillips Academy, and the annual Exeter-Andover Football game is always played with great passion. Other opponents on the sports fields include Deerfield Academy, Northfield Mount Hermon, Choate Rosemary Hall, Loomis Chaffee, Worcester Academy, and Cushing Academy.

Fall Interscholastic Sports

Winter Interscholastic Sports

Spring Interscholastic Sports

The athletics program utilizes many facilities including:

  • The George H. Love Gymnasium (Houses squash facilities with 12 international sized courts, two swimming pools, four basketball courts, a weight training room, sports science lab, gym offices, two hockey rinks, a training room, locker rooms, a dance studio, an indoor cage, wrestling room, gymnastics space, Cycling training room and visiting team locker rooms.)
  • 23 outdoor tennis courts
  • Ralph Lovshin Track (an outdoor, all-weather track)
  • Plimpton Playing Fields (room for all the Academy's Varsity and JV sports)
  • Phelps Stadium (Used for Football, Lacrosse and Field Hockey. To be converted into turf surface)
  • William G. Saltonstall Boathouse (Center of Crew on campus on the Squamscott River)
  • Amos Alonzo Stagg Baseball Diamond
  • Hilliard Lacrosse Field
  • Several miles of Cross Country and running trails
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