The Hill at 100

The people of Pottstown, Pa. were really not much surprised by the obvious lack of success of the Rev. Matthew Meigs and his school upon the hill. He was an eccentric man and something of a recluse who liked to brood in his study for days without ever venturing forth. He had begun his school back in 1851 with only 25 boys, and when he retired 25 years later, he still had only 25. Pottstown was doubtful that The Hill would ever do much better.

The community was in for a surprise. Under Matthews' son John, the school began to flourish, and soon the sons of statesmen, bankers, and judges were trooping up the hill (among them: Army Secretary Frank Pace, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert A. Lovett, Pan American's Juan Trippe). Last week, as The Hill celebrated its 100th anniversary with 13 simultaneous alumni dinners in 13 cities, it had long since earned its reputation as one of the top boys' prep schools in the U.S.

The Hill now has 480 boys, a first-rate faculty of 60, a campus spread across 187 acres of sweeping lawns and collegiate-Gothic buildings overlooking the Schuylkill Valley. The man who has kept The Hill growing: James I. Wendell, a onetime Wesleyan track star who came to The Hill as an English instructor in 1913, has been headmaster since 1928.

How to Begin. For 23 years, Headmaster Wendell has led The Hill at a lively clip. To the school's solid classical curriculum he has added streamlined methods and equipment, from remedial reading classes to wire recorders for language teaching. He insists that each boy learn how to work with his hands, has put up a Hobby Building with tools for every craft. He has expanded the library, built a collection of art reproductions, slides and movies for courses in history and literature.

The school's students range from the sons of neighboring farmers to the son of the late General George S. Patton and the grandson of Elihu Root. Some parents pay as much as $6,000 a year; many pay almost nothing. Though 51% of boys get student aid, only a few staff men know who they are. All boys clean their rooms, wait on table, and tend the grounds.

Their day begins promptly at 7:30, when Headmaster Wendell arrives in the great dining hall to say grace before breakfast. By 8:50, the boys are swarming into classrooms for courses in. Cicero, chemistry, math, religion. They are not expected to have much trouble: the very first course a boy takes at The Hill is the one the headmaster started in "How to Study."

How to Succeed. When a boy still has trouble, however, Wendell trims his program somewhat ("We do not cut the boy to the cloth"). Nor does he insist that a boy go on to college if he is not qualified. Wendell's way of judging the success of a student is not by his marks, but by how well he competes with himself.

At 61, Wendell still rules with the air of a cultured coach, still inviting the new boys out for a Sunday picnic, still setting "surprise holidays" whenever his whim dictates, still keeping pace with The Hill's old motto--"Whatsoever things are true." But last week, Headmaster Wendell announced that he wanted to change his job. He thought a younger man should take over, so that he could devote his full time to building The Hill's financial future. His plans for the future are in line with everything he has always worked for--a still broader scholarship program, additional courses in art, music and the humanities, a full-fledged department of religion--"the keystone of any sound curriculum."

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