Linden Hill School

Linden Hill School
Location
MA USA
Information
School type	Private, Boarding
Motto	Community, Loyalty, Responsibility, Integrity, Respect
Established	1961
Founder	George & Penny Hayes
Enrolment	25 as of 2012
Campus	Rural
Houses	formerly - Hayes Dorm, Bennett House, Haskell Hall
Color(s)	Green & Dark Blue
Song	Simple Gifts
Mascot	Lynx
Newspaper	Linden Hill Times
Website	http://www.lindenhs.org

The Linden Hill School was a boys' middle school in Northfield, Massachusetts that served students with dyslexia or other language-related learning disabilities. It opened in 1961, sold its campus property in 2012 and will re-open in the Fall of 2013 on its new campus in Wendell, MA. The school will expand the scope of its program to include traditional learners, with an emphasis on gaining knowledge and a more global perspective through language acquisition.

Program

From 1961 to 2012 Linden Hill School' served boys ages 9–16 of average to above average intelligence who had learning difficulties. Starting in the Fall of 2013, the school will also serve traditional learners.

History

In 1961 George and his wife Penny Hayes transformed their dream of a boarding school with an emphasis on reading and language acquisition into a reality. Hayes, a Kent school graduate and former teacher, was teaching at the Mount Hermon School for boys as the Director of Reading Development. (Mount Hermon would later merge with the Northfield School for girls to create Northfield Mount Hermon School). There was much discussion as to where this new school should be and worry that a suitable site might not be found. Their vision needed a comfortable living and learning space while being able to engage the boys in the outdoors. The Hayes’ prayers were answered when they received word from Mrs. Grace Bennett that she would part with her beautiful old dairy farm for a meager amount to support the cause. She respected the success that George Hayes had with her grandson, a student at Mount Hermon School. The early days of the school were a family affair with wife Penny keeping the books, and cooking meals, daughter Carolyn giving riding lessons and caring for the animals in the small farm, son George working the grounds after school and later on breaks from college all while George instructed students and fundraised. This tiny school with 30 boys set trends in education language based learning disabilities that many schools have modeled. George and Penny Hayes have since died, but their daughter, Carolyn, served as chair of the board of trustees from 2004-2007. Hit hard by recession, Linden Hill School sold its campus in 2012 to pay off its mortgage. Benefactors saw how the school had transformed the lives of so many young people over the past 50 years and felt that the world just wasn't the same without it. Therefore, they have joined the Board of Trustees and are working to reopen the school in September 2013. The new location is just 12 miles away from Northfield on a beautiful, forested campus in Wendell, Massachusetts. The school will expand its scope to include traditional learners who want to benefit from the LHS emphasis on language-based education to gain a deeper understanding of the world by studying the Chinese language and culture and helping young adults with dyslexia and other learning differences.

Campus

Linden Hill School is located on a beautiful, 15-acre forested campus just 12 miles from the original campus in Northfield. In addition to lots of purpose-built classrooms, the school building houses classrooms, an indoor basketball court with a climbing wall, a game room, a first aid room and, of course, a large kitchen and cafeteria. The dormitories have 50 single-occupancy rooms and spacious common rooms with kitchenettes.

External links

• Linden Hill School website
• Linden Hill at Boarding School Review