Traditions
Morning Assembly: Every morning Noble's students begin the day with an all-school assembly. Every other week in an 'long assembly' that takes place on a Wednesday, distinguished speakers or performers visit the school and address the audience, normally followed by an informal meeting with especially interested students. The Nobles Dictionary (1975): "Assembly: daily re-enactment of the Tower of Babel."
Christmas Carol: Every year before the winter break, the sixies (first year middle-schoolers) put on a rendition of Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol.
"Power of Light" Along with the "Christmas Carol" part of the sixie students perform the "Power of Light" a story about two Jewish children escaping from the Nazis in World War Two.
The Nobleman: The Nobleman is the school newspaper, run mostly by first class students.
Castle Secret Passageways: There are rumored to be many secret passages in the Castle. When the building served as the boys' dormitory, many would sneak out in the night to explore the building. The legend that surrounds this tradition is that there is a passageway that has never been found by anyone, but is supposed to extend from the castle, underground, to the other side of the Charles River. The student who finds this passage is supposed to be granted free tuition to the school until they graduate.
Rivalry: The Noble and Greenough School has a rivalry with Milton Academy (also a member of the ISL) which becomes most prominent every fall during Nobles/Milton Weekend. Athletic teams from both schools play each other on the same campus (alternating yearly) creating a festive and heated environment. Courtesy of the 1975 Nobles Dictionary, "Milton: Nobles' satanic alter-ego." ... "Milton Game: the fame that determines the success of the season, as well as the fund drive." The Nobles/Milton football game is one of the oldest annual rivalries in the nation, beginning in 1886. The rivalry continues at the graduate level. Beginning in 1984, the graduate soccer teams from the two schools have met on the same afternoon as the school varsity teams play. As far as is known, this is the only rivalry of this nature that endures to present time.
The Classics: The school was started as a preparatory school for Harvard University. At the time one of the requirements for admission to Harvard was a thorough knowledge of Latin and Greek. Therefore the students at Noble and Greenough primarily studied the Classics. This is still reflected in the middle school where it is required to take Latin in the seventh grade via a hybrid English-Latin class called English Via Latin.
Wiggins Papers: Students of the junior class submit a portfolio of writing every year in expository, creative, and personal narrative styles. The most impressive are chosen for the Wiggins Prize.
Senior Projects: In the spring of their senior year, students have the option of dropping classes to provide time for the undertaking of a project of their own design.
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Famous quotes containing the word traditions:
“And all the great traditions of the Past
They saw reflected in the coming time.
And thus forever with reverted look
The mystic volume of the world they read,
Spelling it backward, like a Hebrew book,
Till life became a Legend of the Dead.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)
“I think a Person who is thus terrifyed [sic] with the Imagination of Ghosts and Spectres much more reasonable, than one who contrary to the Reports of all Historians sacred and profane, ancient and modern, and to the Traditions of all Nations, thinks the Appearance of Spirits fabulous and groundless.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)