Everything about Hopkins School totally explained
:
For the Minnesota school, see Hopkins Senior High School. For the university, see Johns Hopkins University.
The
Hopkins School (or
Hopkins Grammar School) is a
co-educational,
private day school, located in
New Haven,
Connecticut.
Founded in 1660, Hopkins School is the seventh-oldest educational institution in the
United States and the fifth-oldest
secondary school in continuous operation in North America, younger than the
Boston Latin School,
Roxbury Latin School, Collegiate School, and
Hartford Public High School. Hopkins was founded "for the breeding up of hopeful youths" with funds from
Edward Hopkins' estate to fulfill
John Davenport's wishes to bring a
grammar school to New Haven. After more than 250 years within the city, the school moved to its current campus on a hill overlooking New Haven in 1926. Hopkins has been coeducational since merging with Day Prospect Hill in 1972.
Hopkins is divided into three separate schools. The
Junior school consists of the
7th and
8th grades. The
high school is divided into the Middle (
9th and
10th grade) and Upper (
11th and
12th grade) schools. Most new students enter Hopkins in either the 7th or 9th grade. Despite a
$60,000,000
endowment, Hopkins' tuition has increased substantially over recent years to fund new programs. Tuition is set at $25,600 for the 2006–07 school year. Approximately 18% of the students receive some degree of financial aid. A work scholar program is scheduled to be phased out beginning in 2008-09.
History
Founding
John Davenport, a founder of the
New Haven Colony, was an early proponent of education in the colony.
Grammar schools of the time generally prepared young men for college, but the
Puritan colony was too far from England for its citizens to attend the existing English schools. Graduate
Henry Murphy had laid out plans for the new campus in 1922, and designed the original building Baldwin Hall in 1925. The school opened at the new premises, the present campus, in 1926. Baldwin Hall was the only building, but the campus expanded greatly over the next century. Hopkins had begun to refer to itself without "Grammar School" in the casual name by 1935, Heath Commons was designed by the S/L/A/M collaborative. It was completed in 2003 and won a Connecticut Design Award in 2005. Heath houses the kitchens and dining hall, multipurpose rooms, and advisors' offices.
The Walter Camp Athletic Center is named after alumnus
Walter Camp, who is credited with inventing American football and later was Yale's football coach. The Athletic Center has two floors of gyms, a pool, a
trainer, and coaches office. The first floor is comprised largely of three standard-sized
basketball courts. Dividers between these courts are removed and the united room is used for all-school assemblies. The second floor includes smaller weight rooms and training areas including the wrestling room. The Old Gym is a large one-room gym with a high roof. Before the Camp Athletic Center, this was the main athletic facility at Hopkins and is now used mostly for
fencing team practices, an indoor
ropes course, and storage. Currently, it's the temporary shelter for the library while the renovations are taking place.
Where the soccer fields presently lie, a new Junior School quad is scheduled to be built in 2010.
Academics
Applicants to Hopkins undergo a series of standardized tests, and upon
matriculation, testing is done to place students at the appropriate level of instruction in
mathematics and
languages. Hopkins' academics are broken into
departments including
English, mathematics,
science,
history,
arts, language, and
computer science. Each of the three class levels — Lower, Middle, and Upper — has a different level of choice in classes.
The Arts Department is made up of student organizations and academic classes in studio and performance art. A number of student groups feature performing arts;
a cappella groups such as the Harmonaires, Triple Trio, and Spirens; theater groups such as the Hopkins Drama Association; and a variety of
choral and instrumental performance groups. A gallery room in Baldwin holds shows of student and teacher art.
The English department is the only department in which Hopkins requires a student have at least one class in every semester. Upper-class students have two required semester classes: a college-prep writing course and a
Shakespeare-centered course. The history department core is the Atlantic Communities series that focus on Europe, the Americas, and West Africa between 1450 and modern times. In addition, elective courses go into detail on subjects such as political science, regional studies, philosophy and ethics. Advanced Placement courses are offered in United States History, European History, and Human Geography. The language department is divided into two subdepartments: the Classics, which teaches
Greek and Latin; and Modern Languages, which teaches all other languages (
French,
Spanish,
Chinese, and
Italian are currently offered). Summerbridge is a community service program meant to further the education of children from poor families. Over 20% of families in New Haven are below the poverty line.
Athletics
Hopkins' athletics function under a trimester system, with students taking an athletic for each of the fall, winter, and spring seasons. Students may choose to participate in a
team sport if they make the team, an intramural sport, or an independent sport where the student participates in a school-approved athletic activity such as
martial arts lessons. Seniors may also take one season off and not take any athletic for that season. Sports offered at Hopkins vary depending on the season and include
cross country,
soccer,
water polo,
football,
field hockey,
volleyball,
basketball,
fencing,
track (both outdoor and indoor),
swimming/
diving,
wrestling,
squash,
golf,
lacrosse,
tennis,
baseball, and
softball. Hopkins is a member of the
New England Preparatory School Athletic Council. and the Fairchester Athletic Association. Although Hopkins competes with many schools in sporting events, a
rivalry has developed with nearby
Hamden Hall.
Notable people
Further Information
Get more info on 'Hopkins School'.
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