Noble and Greenough School
The Noble and Greenough School, commonly known as Nobles, is a coeducational, nonsectarian day and five-day boarding school in Dedham, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. It educates 638 boys and girls in grades 7–12. The school's 187-acre (0.76 km2) campus borders the Charles River.[2]
Noble and Greenough School
1866
George Washington Copp Noble
Catherine J. Hall
139
638
Navy blue and white
Bulldog
The Nobleman
The school's list of notable alumni includes Harvard University president A. Lawrence Lowell, Nobel laureate George Minot, and two governors of Massachusetts. In addition, Nobles previously operated an elementary school, which educated U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
History[edit]
Founding and move to Dedham[edit]
In 1866, Washington University in St. Louis Latin professor George Washington Copp Noble returned to Boston and founded Noble's Classical School as an all-boys college-preparatory school.[3][4] He renamed the school to Noble & Greenough School in 1892, when his son-in-law James Greenough joined the faculty.[5] The school was originally a for-profit entity run by the Noble family, but in 1913, after Greenough's death, a coalition of Nobles alumni purchased the school from Noble and reorganized the school as a nonprofit corporation under the control of a board of trustees.[6][7]
Nobles historically drew most of its students from "the fashionable families of Greater Boston";[8] sociologist Digby Baltzell called it "Proper Boston's most exclusive day school."[9] The school primarily catered to members of the Episcopal Church; a 1954 alumnus recalled that when he was at Nobles, there were only two non-Episcopalian students.[10] (A Unitarian, John Richardson '04, served as president of the Nobles board from 1921 to 1964.[11])
Finances[edit]
Tuition and financial aid[edit]
In the 2023–24 school year, Nobles charged boarding students $66,100 and day students $60,100.[48]
Nobles provides need-based financial aid and commits to meet 100% of each admitted student's demonstrated financial need.[48] In the 2023–24 school year, 30% of students were on financial aid,[38] and the average aid grant was $44,935 (75% of day student tuition).[48]
Endowment and expenses[edit]
In its Internal Revenue Service filings for the 2021–22 school year, Nobles reported total assets of $328.0 million, net assets of $270.6 million, investment holdings of $191.7 million, and cash holdings of $22.8 million. Nobles also reported $46.2 million in program service expenses and $9.1 million in grants (primarily student financial aid).[49]