Now At

Latest news, events, and happenings

  • Circle Voice
  • What's Cooking at Groton?
  • Shop Groton
  • Give Online
  • Groton Inducts Members into Athletic Hall of Fame
    Groton, Massachusetts and Cooperstown, New York may be more than 200 miles apart, but they just got a little bit closer.

    Peter Gammons ’63, a baseball writer honored in Cooperstown’s National Baseball Hall of Fame, was inducted into Groton’s Athletic Hall of Fame during Reunion Weekend, along with several other standout athletes from the Groton community. Besides Gammons, the honorees included sailing Olympian Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar ’98, platform tennis champion Gordon Gray ’51, lacrosse star Gillian Thomson ’88, ice hockey player Stephen Maturo ’93, and the members of the undefeated 1983 girls ice hockey team.

    Formmates and visitors enthusiastically feted the new inductees and, earlier in the day, cheered Gammons as he threw out the first pitch in Saturday's varsity baseball game (a lucky start to a 5-1 win). Gammons made his name in sports through media, first writing for Groton’s Third Form Weekly, and eventually writing for or appearing on-air for the Boston Globe, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and the Major League Baseball Network. He was voted National Sportswriter of the Year three times by the National Association of Writers and Broadcasters and voted into its Hall of Fame in 2010. He received the C.C. Johnson Spink Award and honored in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. Of his gloried career, Gammons proudly points to a 1994 article about Jake Congleton’s final game as Groton School’s head football coach as one of his most important stories.

    The other inductees have gloried athletic careers as well, though not behind the scenes. Gordon Gray ’51 played varsity baseball for four years at Princeton, but also was a national men's platform tennis champion from 1969 to 1971, and a mixed doubles champion from 1966 to 1968. He was inducted into the National Platform Tennis Hall of Fame in 1996. At Groton, Gray played offensive and defensive left end on the undefeated, record-breaking 1950 football team. Then Coach Larry Noble called Gray the best end in his 20 years of coaching. Gray also captained the basketball team, played left field on the baseball team, and captained the tennis team. He was awarded the Reginald Fincke, Jr. Medal, awarded to a Sixth Former for perseverance, courage, and unselfish sportsmanship.
    More >
  • Athletes of the Week
    Congratulations to all the students named Athletes of the Week so far during spring term. Coaches nominate players who have contributed significantly to their teams, on or off the court or field.
    More >
  • The Bard Appears in Groton's Chapel
    English teacher John Capen reunited his 2011-12 Fifth Form English class in the Chapel to stage Tom Stoppard's Dogg's Hamlet, a 12-minute version of Shakespeare's tragedy, followed by a two-minute encore.

    The event, during Tuesday morning's regular Chapel time, was a surprise to all but the ensemble of players and a few guardian angels, including the Reverend Beth Humphrey, who helped with costumes; Director of Choral Music Chris Hampson, who provided sound and organ accompaniment; and Brandt Belknap and Laurie Sales, who brought a few dramatic flourishes from the Theater Department.
    More >
  • A Negative Turns Positive in Weekend Debate
    Fifth Formers Schuyler Colloredo-Mansfeld and Evan Long achieved a positive outcome with their negative argument last Sunday, when they earned a first-place trophy in the advanced division at the Belmont Hill School Invitational Debate Tournament.

    Schuyler and Evan argued against this resolution: Germany, Japan, India, and Brazil should be added as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, with associated veto power.  Besides their first-place team finish, Evan placed first (with 77 points) and Schuyler second (with 72) among the individual speakers arguing the negative side in the advanced division.

    Thirteen students from Groton competed, advised by faculty members Steve Marchand and Rebecca Stanton with advice from alumnus Michael Gnozzio '03.
     
     
     
  • Surprise! It's a Holiday!
    Headmaster Rick Commons donned the traditional green jacket this morning at Roll Call, eliciting whoops and frenzy from students who recognized Groton’s symbol for Surprise Holiday.
    More >
  • Groton School Gathers in Reflection, Prayer for Victims of Boston Tragedy
    Groton School honored and prayed for the victims of yesterday’s Boston Marathon tragedy, standing in solidarity with the city of Boston and the nation during today's morning Chapel service.
     
    “Remembering the tragic events in Boston yesterday, let us pray for all those affected,” began the Reverend Beth Humphrey. “We pray for those who have died. We pray for those who are injured. We pray for those who are anxious and confused.”
    More >
  • Spelling Bee Puts Contestants in a
    Q-U-A-N-D-A-R-Y
    After several rounds including words like “bellwether,” the infamous “Chihuahua,” and “demitasse,” Third Former Varsha Harish won Groton’s 30th annual spelling bee.
    More >
  • Berklee Jazz Musicians Perform, Collaborate with Students
    The Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra performed a breathtaking concert on Sunday, showcasing some of the best emerging jazz talent in the world. But from a Groton perspective, some of the most exciting work happened before the concert, when the Berklee College of Music students worked directly with our own jazz musicians.
    More >
  • A Soccer Ball that Generates Electricity: Groton Kicks Around the Idea
    Julia Silverman ’06 introduced Groton School to the Soccket—a soccer ball that generates electricity—during an all-School lecture last night.
     
    Kicking the Soccket for 30 minutes generates three hours of electricity. To residents of remote villages, that can mean studying by a light, listening to music, running a water purifier or small refrigerator, charging a phone, or using other small electronic devices. The need is extreme: one in five people worldwide, according to Silverman, live without electricity.
     
    While conducting research in Tanzania as an undergraduate, Silverman noticed that soccer was a fervent passion, and that energy needs were neglected. Those two observations, seemingly unrelated, would become inextricably entwined.
     
    In the Campbell Performing Arts Center, Silverman projected a photo of tangled wires protruding from a pole as she discussed energy in the developing world. “It’s unavailable, it’s unreliable, and it’s unsafe,” she said. Those who dare to tap into that maze of wires risk electrocution. Those who don’t may face other energy-related risks: reading by a kerosene lamp for one night, she explained, causes the lung damage of 40 cigarettes. 
     
    The Soccket, originally developed by Silverman and three partners, might not exist if their group midterm project at Harvard hadn’t received a failing grade. The students, doubled with determination, took to heart the professor’s criticism that they had not thought sufficiently about people’s existing behaviors. Almost everywhere in the world, kicking a ball—or something resembling a ball—was an existing behavior, they realized, a behavior that could be tapped.
     
    More >
  • Groton Choir Performs at St. Paul's Cathedral, Other Venues during UK Trip
    Forty-nine members of the Groton School Choir performed in some of the United Kingdom’s grandest cathedrals over spring break, during a School trip that included Evensong services and master classes, as well as traditional Scottish breakfasts and sightseeing.

    Flying to London and heading immediately to Edinburgh, Scotland, students lifted voices first at St. Mary’s Cathedral there, then at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow. In England, they performed at the renowned St. Paul’s Cathedral, a 17th-century masterpiece by British architect Sir Christopher Wren. Alumni, parents, and other members of the extended Groton family who were in England attended the concert and a reception afterward. The Groton choir joined with St. Paul's young boy choristers to perform Stanford’s “Beati Quorum Via,” a baccalaureate tradition at Groton. At St. Paul's, Groton students also got a special behind-the-scenes tour, which included a glimpse of a staircase used in the Harry Potter movies.

    After St. Paul's, the choir next sang at Christ Church at Oxford University, where Groton Director of Choral Music Christopher Hampson was an organ scholar. The group also sang at King’s College in Cambridge, which Hampson called “the most amazing acoustic space I’ve ever been in.” In another trip highlight, Groton students rehearsed a piece for their spring concert with its composer, Andrew Gant.

    Learn more about the experience on the trip blog.

    Please note that the organ recital scheduled for April 21 at Groton School, featuring St. Paul's Cathedral organist Simon Johnson, has been cancelled. Mr. Johnson's schedule has changed because he will be playing the organ at Margaret Thatcher's funeral.
     
  • Groton School Welcomes New Students
    Congratulations to the 138 talented students admitted to Groton School this year!

    Letters of acceptance went out on March 10, headed to students all over America and the world. Applicants were admitted from 21 American states and the District of Columbia, and from all around the globe—from Switzerland to China, from Mexico to Morocco. Groton admitted approximately 12 percent of the applicants in an extraordinarily impressive pool.

    "Our decisons were effectively need-blind this year, "said Director of Admission Ian Gracey. "No decisions were altered for fear that our financial aid budget would be insufficient. We also saw growth in the percentage of accepted students who are coming to us from public schools."

    Groton hopes to see all of its newly admitted students back on campus for Revisit Days, April 1-2 and April 4-5.
    More >
  • "Lacrosse Heron" Wins Student Scholastic Art Award
    Yanni Cho ’16 has been awarded a Gold Key, the highest distinction, in the regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

    More >
  • See More News