School Profile

School Characteristics

        The Hill School is an independent, not-for-profit coeducational boarding
 school, for students in grades 9 through 12; a postgraduate year is also 
available.  Founded in 1851, The Hill in 1996-97 has an enrollment of 416 
students.  These students come from 34 states and 17 foreign countries.   
New students are admitted to all grades.
        Applicants are expected to take the Secondary School Admissions Test;
 to have a personal interview; and to complete a formal application which 
includes an essay, teacher recommendations, and a transcript.
        The current faculty includes 8O full-time members, 53 of whom hold 
degrees beyond the Bachelor's, and all but 8 of whom live on campus.  The 
academic year is divided into trimesters lasting ten weeks each.  Classes are
held six days a week, including Saturday morning.  In 1995-96 the average 
class size was 11 students.
        The Hill School is accredited by The Middle States Association of 
Colleges and Secondary Schools and licensed by the Pennsylvania 
Department of Education.  The Hill School is a member of the National 
Association for College Admission Counseling and complies with the NACAC
statement of "Principles of Good Practice."

Averages, Grading, and Class Rank

        All academic courses are weighted equally in computing a student's 
academic average.  An average of 2.68, or better, qualifies a student for 
honor roll; 3.34, or better, for high honors.  Students in performing arts 
courses may elect to study under "graded/credit" conditions, with 
performances evaluated by faculty juries.  Otherwise, such courses are 
ungraded.  Because our graduating classes are small, our programs 
rigorous, our range of grades narrow, and our students almost without 
exception enter competitive four-year colleges, we do not calculate class 
rank.
        Since we do not rank, we provide schools with a curriculum evaluation. 
 Listed below is a breakdown of those evaluations for the Class of 1996:

        Among the Most Demanding        22%
        Very Demanding                         29%
        Demanding                                 37%
        Above Average                            17%
        College Prep                                 6%

        Average GPA:    Class of 1996 - 2.82
                                  Class of 1997 - 3.00


Statistics

                       SAT I

        Middle 5O% range on the SAT for the Class of 1996 (including foreign 
students):
        Verbal = 52O-64O    Math = 56O-67O

        Middle 5O% range on the SAT for the Class of 1997 (as of May 1996;
including foreign students):
        Verbal = 513-63O    Math = 523-6OO

1996 Mean SAT II Subject Scores and number of students tested

  
                 Class of 1997 Mean ACT

  English     23         Math           24  
  Reading    25         Sci.Reas.    23
             COMPOSITE    24

Important Notes on Facilities, Programs, and 
Courses

Academic Facilities

   The academic facilities are both extensive and impressive including the John P. 
Ryan Library, which houses close to 38,000 volumes, over 150 current magazines
 and newspapers, and over 2,000 videotapes.  The library offers a variety of 
programs and services including an audio-visual center, on-line CD-ROM data 
base searching, 5 CD-ROM stations with over 70 CD programs interlibrary loan, 
internet access, and an on-line card catalogue.  The Widener Science Building, in 
which the biology, chemistry and physics divisions each occupy separate floors, 
offers students advanced facilities and ample laboratory space for their 
observations and experiments.  The Hill's language laboratory, an interactive 
computerized system, equipped with 24 student stations and a master console, 
helps students achieve spoken fluency in French,  Spanish, German, and Russian.  
The Center For The Arts opened during the 1989-90 academic year and houses a 
720-seat theatre, two floors of gallery space, traditional classroom space, music 
practice rooms, and an art studio.  The Center allows students to participate fully 
in all the arts, as both creative performers and educated audiences.

 
Independent Study

   Students of superior academic ability are allowed to pursue an Independent 
Study project in a specialized study area not covered by our curriculum.  Such 
projects are undertaken with the supervision of a faculty adviser and are approved 
and graded by the Academic Council of the faculty.  In seeking the approval of the 
Academic Council, students must submit a written proposal stating the project's 
purpose and detailing the documentation that the study will produce, as well as a 
schedule for the project completion.  Students are allowed to conduct Independent
Study projects during any two terms.  Sixth formers have the option of pursuing a 
year long "Honors" version of the project.

  
Athletics

    All Hill boys participate in a required athletics program each term.  The 
time committed to sports varies with the level of competition. Generally, boys 
in the intramural programs spend 6 hours per week in sports.  Interscholastic
"junior" and "junior varsity" teams commit 12 hours per week to training,  
while "varsity" athletes devote from 14 to 16 hours per week to their teams.

Advanced Placement and Honors Courses

   The Hill offers Honors courses, as well as Advanced Placement courses, 
in mathematics, English, the Humanities Program, the sciences, history, 
economics, foreign and classical languages, computer science, and art.  
Entrance to these sections is open to students only by invitation of the 
instructor and subsequent approval of the department.  All Honors and AP 
courses are so designated on The Hill School transcript.  Students enrolled 
in AP courses are not required by the school to take the AP exam at the 
end of the year, though most do.  Last year, of the 167 Advanced Placement
 Examinations taken by 93 Hill students, 65 earned the grade of "3" or higher.

   The Hill School is an associate member of the School Year Abroad 
Program (SYA), a program designed to foster language fluency and 
self-confidence. As participants in SYA, fifth formers can live and study for 
a year in Rennes, France or Barcelona, Spain.  As a member of  the English
Speaking Union, The Hill annually sends a graduating sixth former to spend 
a year in a British boarding school before attending college.  As part of the 
exchange program, The Hill usually hosts one or two British students.  
Faculty members of The Hill also regularly lead expeditions to Europe, the 
former Soviet Union, and sometimes to other areas of the world.  These trips
offer students the opportunity to experience a foreign language and culture 
with their own teachers as companions and guides.  Students have also 
participated recently in the Maine Coast Semester. These trips offer students
the opportunity to experience a foreign language and culture with their own 
teachers as companions and guides.  Students have also participated 
recently in the Maine Coast Semester.

Underform Writers Workshop

   This program is a course of studies for younger writers of fiction, drama, 
and poetry.  This class is self-paced and consists of weekly one-hour 
critiques and seminars on literary theory and practice.  The program is 
offered to a limited number of talented students from the second, third, and 
fourth forms.

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