<p>I'm a current freshman at NMH so if anyone has questions about this amazing school feel free to post in this thread or send me a PM. </p>
<p>-hellosunshine</p>
<p>1) Is it geographically isolated? Are there places to eat out at, etc?
2) Are the academics challenging? Are the teachers enthusiastic and inspiring?
3) What is the boarder/day mix?
4) Are the teachers available? Do they live on campus?
5) Is it lonely on weekends?
6) Are there a lot of internationals?
7) Do kids go there as their first choice or because they did not get into HADES?
8) Is it a warm, nurturing, caring, non cut throat environment?
9) Is the food good?
10) Are the facilities, dorms , classrooms nice?</p>
<p>What's it like if you're not athletic?</p>
<p>How do people like the block class schedule? How do they prevent you from not having a core class, like math for a very long period of time?</p>
<p>bump (10 char)</p>
<p>hellosunshine is probably visiting family during the break. My soon is a student at NMh and I will try to answer. I'm sure keylyme can help out too.</p>
<p>1) Is it geographically isolated? Are there places to eat out at, etc? Although we joke that it is the middle of nowhere, there are actually retaurants, movies and the best chinese restaurant within 10 minutes. It's an easy drive because everything is off of 91.</p>
<p>2) Are the academics challenging? Are the teachers enthusiastic and inspiring?
My son was a top student at a rigurous day school. He is working hard, but he is enjoying it. The teachers are passionate about their subjects. I have been amazed during the parent's weekend at what the kids have accomplished.</p>
<p>3) What is the boarder/day mix? I don't know this, but I do know that day students are integrated into the dorms.</p>
<p>4) Are the teachers available? Do they live on campus? They have always been available for my son. I believe that most live on campus.</p>
<p>5) Is it lonely on weekends? I wish!!! My son can't wait to go back to school. We are boring!!! It cracks me up.</p>
<p>6) Are there a lot of internationals? d/k</p>
<p>7) Do kids go there as their first choice or because they did not get into HADES? It was my son's first choice. He wanted a strong academic enviroment but did not like the cut throat feel of some of the other schools. (I made him visit a lot) Most of his friends chose NMH because they really liked the school. </p>
<p>8) Is it a warm, nurturing, caring, non cut throat environment? I just answered that one. Everyone is encouraged to do their best but no one is stabbing you in the back. Also homework is reasonable. We know people with 5-6 hours of homework a night. How do you enjoy hs??</p>
<p>9) Is the food good? I liked it. My son likes some things better tha others, but like all the schools you can always make a sandwich ( I love the mac and cheese)</p>
<p>10) Are the facilities, dorms , classrooms nice? Everything that I have seen has been nice. I think that BS in general have pretty similiar campuses. (except E/A)</p>
<p>Now to the class schedules... My son was concerned about this. It is a non issue. He was commenting this weekend that he thinks he is learning so much more because he is focused on 3 subjects at a time instead of try to do 5 or 6 all at once. He thinks this is an incredible program. He is in advanced math and the material comes back very quickly.</p>
<p>Hope that helps! Going to NMH was the best decision that my son ever made...</p>
<p>Warriorboy, thank you so very much! What year is your son in? Are single rooms available to freshmen? Sounds like your son loves it!</p>
<p>My son is home on spring break and, while he loathes message boards, he has agreed to answer these questions. His words are in quotations. My comments are not.</p>
<p>1) Is it geographically isolated? Are there places to eat out at, etc?
"You can go out to eat and the movies if you take a cab (to Greenfield, MA). Nothing really within walking distance." The location is rural, but because the school is right off I91, it is a quick drive to Keene, NH (1/2 hour north), Brattleboro, VT (15" north), Springfield, MA (1 hour south). There are often bus trips to the mall in Holyoke, MA (1/2 hour) on weekends.</p>
<p>2) Are the academics challenging? Are the teachers enthusiastic and inspiring? "Yes" to both. "It depends on the class, some are more challenging than others, but all are challenging. I have about 5 hours of homework a day.(Sophomore - 3 honors courses). Freshman year was 'not as bad as people say'. You can get most of it done during study hall. I had about 2 1/1-3 hours a night." (He was in three honors classes this year).</p>
<p>3) What is the boarder/day mix? Approx. 75% boarding/25% day</p>
<p>4) Are the teachers available? Do they live on campus? "Yes, most live on campus." They are readily available and eager to help.</p>
<p>5) Is it lonely on weekends? "No. Not if you have friends" (Sorry, my son's answer). He tends to come home a lot on w/e as we live an hour away and he is involved in club athletics which brings him home frequently. The school does sponsor many activities on w/e as well. </p>
<p>6) Are there a lot of internationals? I think it is about 20% international....mostly Asians, but an assortment of other countries as well.</p>
<p>7) Do kids go there as their first choice or because they did not get into HADES?
"It's a combination. Obviously some people come because they didn't get in to another school, others got in to HADES schools and chose NMH instead because they liked it better. It's like any other school, people choose where to go."
NMH attracts a different crew than the HADES schools, I would say. There doesn't seem to be as much concern with prestige. NMH was my son's top choice even though he was qualified to go to a so-called "elite tier" school. His brother also chose it over Exeter and SPS. I think most of the kids who go there chose to go. </p>
<p>8) Is it a warm, nurturing, caring, non cut throat environment?
"Yes, definitely." That was one of the big differences my husband and I noticed when we toured the HADES with my older son. Everyone at NMH was so warm and welcoming, and it was not an act to draw in students. The people there are truly down-to-earth good and caring folks. </p>
<p>9) Is the food good? "Freshman 15" says my son. So, yeah. Truly, whenever we have eaten there (frequently!), their is a large selection of food, along with the standard pizza and pasta which is always available for the picky eaters. The deserts are phenomenal and homemade on the premises. Many of the fruits and vegetables are locally grown and the ice cream is made at a local creamery with milk from NMH's own cows. </p>
<p>10) Are the facilities, dorms , classrooms nice?
"Yes". For the most part, yes. I think the math/science building could use a redo. The campus is undergoing a major overhaul and the new arts building is second to none. A new admissions building is nearing completion and additions were recently added to some of the dorms. A new running track was installed in ?2001 and three turf field were just completed this year. All of the walkways/roads were resurfaced and reconfigured to make a more pedestrian friendly campus. A new/updated gymnasium and pool is on the slate as well (I don't know if the economic downturn will have an effect on the timetable for this and other projects).</p>
<p>What's it like if you're not athletic?
"It's not any different. You don't have to be an athlete, but you do have the opportunity to try something new and be on a team" (as it is required once a school year). "You're not looked down upon or judged if you're not an athlete. It's just as valued to be in dance or music. To each his own."</p>
<p>How do people like the block class schedule? How do they prevent you from not having a core class, like math for a very long period of time?
"I like it. You have more time to focus on each subject. It does make it harder, though, with languages and math (to have a semester off). The teachers do spend some time on review at the beginning of the course, but you have to be able to remember the basic concepts."</p>
<p>*There are no single rooms for freshman. Freshman live in two separate dorms (one for boys and one for girls....?they might be expanding my son says). Only student leaders can have singles. You have the opportunity to be a student leader as a senior.</p>
<p>Wow, keylyme! You are the best! Is the freshman 15 a gain or a loss?????</p>
<p>Son says, "Eating food = weight gain". The food is delicious and people tend to overeat.</p>
<p>I'm an upperclassman who has been at NMH for more than three years as a boarder. Here are my unadulterated answers to the questions:</p>
<p>1) Is it geographically isolated? Are there places to eat out at, etc?</p>
<p>NMH is isolated compared with Andover, Exeter, Loomis, and Choate. Compared with, Hotchkiss, Deerfield, and St. Pauls, it's not. Greenfield is about 25 minutes away, and there are things to do there (including eating at the best Chinese food restaurant I've ever eaten at). Does this bother me? No. In fact I like the isolation. It's a personal preference. But whatever your preference is, NMH's location is accommodating-- because it's just far enough that you feel isolated, but if you need to see civilization, Greenfield is right next door.</p>
<p>2) Are the academics challenging? Are the teachers enthusiastic and inspiring?</p>
<p>The academics are not as "challenging" as, say, HADES. I'm in all APs and Honors classes, and I can manage to do 2 hours of homework per night. I also procrastinate a lot, so I'm not a great example since there isn't any more than 2 hours for me to do homework when I finally get around to it.</p>
<p>The older teachers are better than the newer, younger, less experienced teachers that NMH has been hiring recently. The mood on campus among faculty is rather moribund because layoffs were announced last month, and the bite is still fresh in everybody's minds. So are faculty members enthusiastic and inspiring? Some are, some aren't. Right now most aren't. Don't get me wrong, though. I'm well connected and am personal friends with many faculty members, so I feel the pain many of them are going through. Professionalism among the faculty is high-- most of the time.</p>
<p>3) What is the boarder/day mix?</p>
<p>Boarders are the predominant beast.</p>
<p>4) Are the teachers available? Do they live on campus?</p>
<p>Yes, most are. If a faculty member doesn't live on campus, then s/he most probably has a "duty night" (when a faculty member monitors a dorm during study hall) during the week when you can go and talk them him/her.</p>
<p>5) Is it lonely on weekends?</p>
<p>It's totally up to you.</p>
<p>6) Are there a lot of internationals?</p>
<p>The international kids are almost all from Asia. Supposedly there are kids from 20 or so different countries. However, I don't feel that at all. It feels like everybody's either from America, Korea, or China.</p>
<p>7) Do kids go there as their first choice or because they did not get into HADES?</p>
<p>Many kids come to NMH because it was their safety. A minority, I would say, turn down HADES for NMH.</p>
<p>8) Is it a warm, nurturing, caring, non cut throat environment?</p>
<p>Yes</p>
<p>9) Is the food good?</p>
<p>The food has gotten worse this year. Perhaps the dining hall is cutting back on good food because of the financial situation. I don't know. Parents always say the food is good, but my tongue tells me otherwise.</p>
<p>10) Are the facilities, dorms , classrooms nice?</p>
<p>No, not compared with the facilities at HADES. NMH has terrible facilities. Even the new Rhodes Arts Center is disappointed in this respect. I'm in a musical ensemble, and my conductor has mentioned that the building was poorly designed. I agree. It's bland and unsophisticated. It gets old quickly, and I don't enjoy spending time in it. In fact, I would rather spend time in the permanent-temporary Cutler Science Center, which is literally falling apart-- just because it's a real building, whereas the Rhodes Arts Center is a byproduct of "new education," the idea that we students are not real people. I'm only sore about this because the $30 million price tag is incredibly high for a building that is incredibly mediocre. The money could have been put to better use.</p>
<p>Lego, thanks for your candid comments.</p>
<p>1) Is it geographically isolated? Are there places to eat out at, etc?</p>
<pre><code> take a cab to greenfield for thai etc. but I am always surprised (but should not be) to see a student pause to look out over the mist rising from the river below. The hills and river put on an ever changing show.
</code></pre>
<p>2) Are the academics challenging? </p>
<p>There are six different levels of Chemistry - its as challenging as you want to make it. Grade inflation does not exist at NMH. C=work done correctly as assigned; B=above and beyond; A=ALL work done extraordinarily all the time. College Counseling staff person told me that NMH has not had a 4.0 in two years. You have to work your butt off for good (b) grades. </p>
<p>Are the teachers enthusiastic and inspiring?
Two rounds of staff redundancies is making folk a bit uneasy. The school is open and straightforward and public. It announced in Marach that in Senior teachers would be moving out of the recently expanded administrative positions to take on additional teaching and other responsibilities. Inherent in that decision was that many younger, less experienced teachers were advised back in January that their contracts would not be renewed. The early notification gave them a leg up on job hunting. The school went through a down sizing 5 years ago, and now is doing a bit of realignment. There definitely is some tension and a bit of sadness as students bid some favorites goodbye. But I'll take fine tuning the curriculum and staff over "we're perfect and there is no need to improve" any day. </p>
<p>3) What is the boarder/day mix? 25% ish</p>
<p>4) Are the teachers available? VERT</p>
<p>Do they live on campus? THose who do not are very available informally and on duty at specific places at specific times.</p>
<p>5) Is it lonely on weekends?</p>
<p>6) Are there a lot of internationals? 117 internationals from 23 countries in 2008-2009. but sadly the Asians (84) don't tend to mix. Which can be a problem in the upper level math and science classes that they dominate - but this year seems better then last. </p>
<p>7) Do kids go there as their first choice or because they did not get into HADES?
Turned down DA due to professors who seemed to think they were perfection. Much prefer the humor and level-headedness of NMH.</p>
<p>8) Is it a warm, nurturing, caring, non cut throat environment?
Yes - lots of mutual support between students. Teachers don't seem to encourage a lot of proof reading of each others work but on-line folders for each class are active in the evening, "what approach did you use in problem six," or "is there a typo in 4." Often with teacher chiming in. Lots of mutual support on through the ever-present online system. Many day students stay on campus until 10, for support and access to study groups.</p>
<p>9) Is the food good?
gone down hill this year, but still good. There have been some strange combination, like pasta casserole with layers of rice (new cook??). But the sandwich bar and salad bar is always incredible. </p>
<p>10) Are the facilities, dorms , classrooms nice?
Yes, they are nice. Science building needs refreshing and a new heating system. It can't be torn down do to something about the materials it is made of. But the science teaching is top notch; each of D's science teachers has been inspirational. New Head of Faculty (from Milton) just ended the combined freshman algebra/physics "get everyone on the same page" class to allow greater flexibility for students to move ahead in to advanced math and science. The science building may be worn, but the science department is hot!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the teachers love teaching in the module classrooms, and are resisting moving into the other permanent classroom scattered about campus. </p>
<p>What if you are not an Athlete?
There are large numbers of arty or other who are not so interested in sports. The PE offerings, in lieu of sports, are broad and have a growing following. </p>
<p>The arts department has broad offering, but unfortunately the music department seems to be limited to the small number who are in year long audition groups. Few music offerings unless you are elite - but I suspect that will be changing next year.</p>
<p>Thank you, toadstool. Have there been reports of hazing, as there have been at Miss Porter's and Groton????</p>
<p>I haven't witnessed any hazing in my time at NMH, however there was a national incident of hazing at NMH back in 2003. After the campus merger, hazing hasn't been an issue.</p>
<p>for anyone who is a senior, do the PGs mix in well with the senior class?</p>
<p>PGs and the other classes do get along. PGs are mixed up within the housing system, so it's hard for them to form their own bubble.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for these candid comments. Can anyone--either students or parents--talk about any drug issues. Apparently years ago NMH had a lot of drug use, but I am sensing that it is not a big issue (or not any bigger than it is in any other high school).</p>
<p>Drugs are not a big issue at NMH. I'd say it's less of an issue at NMH than at most prep schools.</p>
<p>On drugs: ditto Lego8's view. From the Imo/gamer/artsy side NMH has little or no drugs. Couldn't say from the jock/prep side?</p>