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| Address | 80 Gerry's Landing Road | |
| Town | Cambridge, Massachusetts | |
| Country | U.S. | |
| Browne & Nichols established | 1883 | |
| The Buckingham School established | 1889 | |
| Merger | 1974 | |
| Conference | Independent School League | |
| Type | Private Coeducational | |
| Religious Affiliation | Secular | |
| Grades | Pre-K to 12 (on three campuses) | |
| Enrollment | 987 [1] | |
| Student-to-Teacher Ratio | 4:1 [2] | |
| Accreditation | NEASC [3] | |
| Nickname | BB&N | |
| Mascot | Knight | |
| Colors | Blue & Yellow | |
| Motto | Honestas, Litterae, Comitas ("Honor, Scholarship, and Kindness") (there is a debate if the motto states 'Honor' or 'Honesty') | |
| Song | Jerusalem | |
| Newspaper | The Vanguard | |
| Yearbook | The Perspective | |
| Endowment | $51.2 million [4] | |
| Website | www.bbns.org | |
| [5] | ||
Buckingham Browne and Nichols School, often referred to as BB&N, is a private school located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by the Charles River. The school educates students from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade. It was established by a merge of two independent schools, the Buckingham School founded in 1889 and Browne & Nichols which was founded in 1883.[1] The School is a member of the G20 Schools group.
Contents |
History
Browne & Nichols School, founded in 1883, merged with Buckingham School, founded in 1889 to form BB&N in 1974. Since the merger, BB&N has been located on three campuses in the heart of Cambridge. The Upper School, grades 9-12, is located at 80 Gerry's Landing Road. The Middle School, grades 7-8, is on Sparks Street, and the Lower School, grades pre-K-6, is on Buckingham Street. BB&N achieved # 5 out of 25 top ranked public/private schools in 2006. Boston Magazine ranked BB&N # 5 in the top 57 best private high schools in 2009 for greater Boston.[6] The school has produced two out of the 27 Presidential Scholars from Massachusetts since the inception of the program in 1964. [7]
Bivouac
The "Bivouac", a two-week-long camping trip at the school's property in Harrisville, New Hampshire, at the beginning of each freshmen year is a 56-year tradition. The freshman class is bussed up to the Bivouac location (the former Camp Marienfeld) near Mount Monadnock. Students cook over open fires, bathe in a lake, build latrines, and participate in nature hikes and ropes courses, while getting to know their classmates. [8]. The original Bivouac was at a site in Maine made available to B&N through a faculty member, Gibby Graves.
The Vanguard
The official newspaper of BB&N is The Vanguard, which is often awarded recognition [9],[10] including a gold medal from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.[11] It was founded in 1973 by John Decker. Published monthly (eight issues/year), the paper is entirely student-run. The editor at large of The New Republic, Peter Beinart, is a former Vanguard writer, Mindy Kaling was the comedic back page columnist for two years, and former Harvard Crimson President and current Wall St. Journal contributor Lauren Schuker served as Editorials Editor. The Vanguard has featured interviews with Bill Clinton, Howard Dean and Sylvia Poggioli, who is also an alumna of the school. Stephen Burgard, director of the Northeastern Univ. School of Journalism, was among the staffers for the paper's B&N predecessor, The B&N News.
Repeating monthly features include Notable Quotables, Horns & Halos, Readers Respond, Day by Day, and Versus. The paper features on- and off-campus news, features, arts, sports, cartoons, editorials, photos, and columns.
Athletics
Participation in sports is mandatory at BB&N, though students can obtain waivers under some circumstances. A member of the Independent School League, the school has a traditional rivalry with the Belmont Hill School.
Rowing
The name of the school's rowing team, the Knights, has its origins in a 1920s Boston Globe article which referred to the team, undefeated against the likes of Harvard, MIT and Kent School, as "the Black Knights of the Charles" - a reference to the rowing team of the United States Military Academy, the "Black Knights of the Hudson."[citation needed] In addition to taking the team name, Browne & Nichols also took black and white as its colors after the article. Buckingham School's colors, blue and gold, were made official school colors after the merger. Currently, the men's rowing team of BB&N still retains its historic black and white colors, contrary to the colors of other existing teams. The Browne and Nichols crew program is one of the oldest high school crew programs in the nation, with a reputation for a high level of competition and speed. The school was the first American schoolboy crew to win the Henley Royal Regatta in Henley-on-Thames, England, winning the Thames Challenge Cup in 1929. [2][3] The Washington Post commented:
"The Thames Challenge Cup, prize of England's famous rowing tournament, was captured today by eight young oarsmen from the Browne and Nichols School...The American boys, after each victory, gave a fine display of school spirit and overflowing "pep" which added to their already great popularity on the river...Their success was the more impressive when it is considered that the average age of the oarsmen is younger than the average of their defeated rivals. The boys will be received by the American Ambassador at London Monday and then will begin an educational tour of England."[4]
Baseball
Over the years, one of BB&N's most successful sports has been baseball. The team has won multiple ISL titles and there are many college baseball rosters with former BB&N baseball players. Probably BB&N's most well known alum for his athletics, Zak Farkes, is currently in the Boston Red Sox minor league organization at Single A Greenville, SC. MLB pitcher Rich Hill trained on BB&N facilities during the summer of 2006, and ESPN's Peter Gammons credited his training there with his improved performance (and specifically change up) the following season.
Golf
The Golf team has made a resurgence in the last few years and even won their first ISL Kingman Tournament title in 2008. The team has also produced 3 individual ISL Kingman Tournament champions in the last five years.
Tennis
In 2004, the boys' tennis team won the New England Class B Tournament[12] and in 2005, the tennis team won the ISL Championship. The tennis team finished second in the New England Class B Tournament in 2007.[13]
Soccer
In 2004, the boys' soccer team, led by head coach Jesse Sarzana, won the New England Class A Championship. The soccer team won the first outright ISL title in school history in 2007 on their way to a class A finals appearance.
Football
Since 2006, the varsity football team has a combined record of 23-2. In 2006, they won the NEPSAC Class B Super Bowl by defeating previously undefeated Canterbury, 22-8. They were 8-1 the following season but were not invited to a bowl game due to their presence in the Class B and Class D bowls in two of the previous three years. In 2008, BB&N responded with a perfect 8-0 season, and went on to win the NEPSAC Class A Super Bowl and ISL Title by defeating Lawrence Academy, 20-13. As a result, they finished the season ranked 4th nationally in prep school polls.[5] "It is a tradition of excellence" -The Boston Globe. The Knights went 7-0 in the 2009 campaign before hosting a rematch with Lawrence Academy, 7-0 at the time also, for the ISL Championship. The Spartans were able to avenge the previous year's defeat to the BB&N Knights, prevailing 28-26 to capture the ISL title and qualify for placement into the 2009 NEPSAC Class A Bowl Game. This win derailed BB&N's hopes of repeating as ISL Champions and completing back-to-back undefeated seasons.
Fencing
BB&N also offers fencing. Led currently by fearless captains Mark Borreliz, Wilson Ho, and Bianca Jambekhar, the fledgling team has overcome many hardships in recent years, including poor coaching, blackmail, and lack of interest on the part of students and the athletics department. Nonetheless, the team remains afloat, competing against other NEPSAC schools.
Other Sports
In 2004, the varsity sailing team was undefeated in the regular season and the football team made an appearance in the class finals. In the past four years, BB&N wrestling has had 6 league champions, 4 league runner-ups, and multiple league placers, and has had multiple representatives at the national tournament and New England tournament.
Skiing and Track Controversy
After the 2008-2009 school year, the school ended the skiing and track programs. This caused quite a stir when, shortly after the end of the winter season, an illustration appeared in the Vanguard stating (truthfully) that the ski team placed far better in post-season competitions.
Notable alumni
Browne & Nichols
- Horace Bright, class of 1913, investor
- Robert Bradford[6], class of 1924, Governor of Massachusetts
- John Moors Cabot, class of 1920, U.S. Ambassador to five nations, Georgetown University professor
- Thomas Hopkinson Eliot, class of 1924, congressman from Massachusetts and chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, prominent politician and major figure behind the Social Security Act [14]
- Paul C. Sheeline, class of 1938, president of Intercontinental Hotels
- Richard A. Smith, class of 1942, president of General Cinemas, later CEO of Harcourt General
- Charles Colson, class of 1949, chief counsel to President Richard Nixon, Watergate indictee
- Anthony Perkins, class of 1950, actor most famous for Psycho, Equus, and Friendly Persuasion
- Anton Kuerti, class of 1952, pianist
- Damon Mezzacappa, class of 1954, founder of Mezzacappa Management & Vice-Chair Lazard Freres
- Benjamin Bradlee Jr., class of 1966, Boston Globe journalist
- Jeffrey Lurie, class of 1969, owner of Philadelphia Eagles
- Andy Pratt (singer-songwriter), class of 1969, rock music singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
- Nam Pyo Suh, president of KAIST
- Alexander Vershbow, class of 1970, former Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, former Ambassador to Russia, former Ambassador to NATO [15]
- Patrick Sullivan, class of 1971, former general manager of New England Patriots
- Gardner Cox, painter
- Peter Haskell, actor
- Steve Banks, class of 1974, Attorney-in-Chief of The Legal Aid Society
Buckingham
- Ellen Goodman, class of 1959, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
- Sylvia Poggioli, Class of 1964, NPR European Correspondent
BB&N
- John G. Simon, class of 1980, venture capitalist, founder of UroMed, Rhodes Scholar
- Abigail Johnson, class of 1980, Fidelity Investments, 5th wealthiest woman in the world in 2006
- Michael Moynihan, class of 1987, author
- Peter Beinart, class of 1989, editor of New Republic & Rhodes Scholar
- Jennifer Gelfand, class of 1989, celebrated ballerina [16][7]
- Brian Donovan, class of 1996, comedian and head writer of Fair Game on NPR
- Mindy Kaling, class of 1997, actress and writer on NBC's The Office and the acclaimed play Matt and Ben
- Courtney Kennedy, class of 1997, US National Hockey Team Player
- Ari Graynor, class of 2001, actress
- Loren Galler-Rabinowitz, class of 2004, noted American figure skater
- James Axelrod, class of 2009, certified baller
References
- ^ "Buckingham Browne & Nichols". Buckingham Browne & Nichols. 2008. http://www.bbns.org/ab_mission.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
- ^ "Columbia Beaten by English Crew ... Browne & Nichols Wins.", Special Cable to the New York Times, The New York Times, July 6, 1929. p 9.
- ^ "BOSTON PREPS CAPTURE CUP IN HENLEY REGATTA.", The Chicago Daily Tribune Chicago, Ill.: Jul 7, 1929. ; p. A4
- ^ "THAMES BOAT FEATURE TO U.S. LADS; Brown-Nichols School Wins Challenge Cup in Upset.", The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Jul 7, 1929. ; p. M16.
- ^ http://www.maxpreps.com/prep-schools/football/state_sport.aspx?state=ps&gendersport=boys,football&urpath=,national
- ^ Robert Fiske's Biography
- ^ BOSTON BALLET ANNOUNCES NEW APPOINTMENTS. The Boston Globe. Boston, Mass.: Aug 16, 1989. p 81.
External links
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