Buckingham Browne & Nichols

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Buckingham Browne & Nichols
Once two separate schools, the two schools have reformed into one great school. The mascot is the knight, a symbol of courage.
Image:Bbnlogo.png
Address 80 Gerry's Landing Road
Town Cambridge, Massachusetts
Country U.S.
Browne & Nichols established 1883, by George H. Browne & Edgar H. Nichols[1]
The Buckingham School established 1889
Buckingham Browne & Nichols merger 1974
Conference Independent School League
Type Private Coeducational
Religious Affiliation Secular
Grades Pre-K to 12 (on three campuses)
Enrollment 957 [1]
Student-to-Teacher Ratio 4:1 [2]
Nickname BB&N
Mascot Knight
Colors Blue & Gold
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 $35.4 million [3]
Website www.bbns.org
Email School Directory

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.[2] The School is a member of the G20 Schools group.

Contents

[edit] 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. Boston Magazine ranked BB&N # 5 in the top 25 best high schools in 2006 for greater Boston.[4] BB&N achieved # 3 out of 61 private schools ranked in the 2004 Boston Magazine survey. The school has moreover produced two out of the 27 Presidential Scholars from Massachusetts since the inception of the program in 1964. [5]

Edwin H Baker Pratt was headmaster of Browne & Nichols from 1959 - 1968.

[edit] 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 52-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. [6]

[edit] The Vanguard

BB&N's award-winning newspaper, the Vanguard.
BB&N's award-winning newspaper, the Vanguard.

The official newspaper of BB&N is The Vanguard, which is often awarded recognition [7],[8] including a gold medal from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.[9] 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.

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.

[edit] Athletics

BB&N's Nicholas Athletic Center from the side, showing about half of its length. Also visible is the tent erected by the school in preparation for its Upper School graduation.
BB&N's Nicholas Athletic Center from the side, showing about half of its length. Also visible is the tent erected by the school in preparation for its Upper School graduation.
The entrance to the Nicholas Athletic Center.
The entrance to the Nicholas Athletic Center.

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.

[edit] Rowing

The name of the school's rowing, 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. [3][4] 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."[5]

[edit] 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.

[edit] Tennis

In 2004, the boys' tennis team won the New England Class B Tournament[10] and in 2005, the tennis team won the ISL Championship. The tennis team finished second in the New England Class B Tournament in 2007.[11]

[edit] Soccer

An interior view of the Nicholas Athletic Center.
An interior view of the Nicholas Athletic Center.

In 2004, the boys' soccer team 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Browne & Nichols

[edit] Buckingham

[edit] BB&N

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ed. Patterson, Homer L. Patterson's College and School Directory of the United States and Canada. Chicago: American Educational Company, 1908. Page 104.
  2. ^ Buckingham Browne & Nichols. Buckingham Browne & Nichols (2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
  3. ^ "Columbia Beaten by English Crew ... Browne & Nichols Wins.", Special Cable to the New York Times, The New York Times, July 6, 1929. p 9.
  4. ^ "BOSTON PREPS CAPTURE CUP IN HENLEY REGATTA.", The Chicago Daily Tribune Chicago, Ill.: Jul 7, 1929. ; p. A4
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ Robert Fiske's Biography
  7. ^ BOSTON BALLET ANNOUNCES NEW APPOINTMENTS. The Boston Globe. Boston, Mass.: Aug 16, 1989. p 81.

[edit] External links


Members of the Independent School League, New England
Belmont Hill School | Buckingham Browne & Nichols | Brooks School | The Governor's Academy | Groton School | Lawrence Academy at Groton | Middlesex School | Milton Academy | Noble and Greenough School | Rivers School | Roxbury Latin School | St. George's School | St. Mark's School | St. Paul's School | St. Sebastian's School | Thayer Academy