Chandeliers descend from classroom ceilings. The library has two fireplaces. Downstairs in the foyer, students huddle on one side of the room as they practice a play. On the other side, members of a six-piece jazz band sit in leather chairs, working to harmonize their riffs.
To the casual observer, this may not look like the typical high school experience. But for those at the Newman School, it's just another day.
"This is definitely different from your typical high school," said Lea Petrovic, a 17-year-old senior from Dedham. "Very few people know about this place. It's a small community. But there is a family environment here. We do things together as a school and not just as a class."
Founded in 1945, the Newman School, on Marlborough Street in the Back Bay, has transformed from an all-boys postgraduate school into a coeducational school serving 210 students in grades 9 through 12. Consisting of two converted five-story town houses, Newman provides a setting for students to embark on an intimate educational experience that can be described as both rigorous and eclectic.
Newman's location provides perhaps the school's most unique aspect. Situated in the heart of Boston, students have easy access to the city to enhance their education. Suffolk University and Emmanuel College work with Newman to provide a dual-enrollment program for qualified seniors. Additionally, institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts and the Boston Public Library, of which Newman's library is a part, are within walking distance.
"Being in this particular part of the city keeps us from being introverted," said J. Harry Lynch, the son of one of the school's founders and the headmaster since 1985. "We draw kids from all over Boston and from the suburbs. Each neighborhood of Boston has its unique flavor, and for someone to come into the Back Bay and to be able to study in this neighborhood, that's a unique experience."
Newman attracts students not only from Boston and its suburbs, but from all over the globe. In the 2006-2007 school year, the institution had 38 international students. This year's students hail from such countries as China, Italy, Kazakhstan, and Spain.
"We have such a unique mix of kids here," said James Dudley, a history teacher who is in his fifth year at Newman. "There are kids from Europe. There are kids from down the street; kids from Dorchester and Roxbury. The nature of this school creates an organic diversity, and that is the essence of America."
Dudley also is an assistant basketball and baseball coach for Newman, whose growing athletic department draws a majority of the student body.
With no gymnasium, Newman's sports teams use athletic facilities across the city. The baseball team plays at Puopolo Field in the North End. The basketball teams have their games at Basketball City, right next to the TD Banknorth Garden. The cross-country teams run along the Esplanade, while the crew teams use the MIT boathouse.
"Basically, the city is our gymnasium," said Michael McHale, a 17-year-old Brighton resident who is a member of the baseball and cross-country teams.
Athletic teams help enhance the intimate atmosphere provided by Newman, along with countless individual examples of camaraderie. A history teacher played flag football with his students just before the Thanksgiving break, while another teacher loaned her coat to a shivering student on a cold day. The entire student body meets for a daily morning meeting inside the school's foyer, and nearly every two weeks the students are treated to an in-school concert.
"Our motto is 'Let heart speak to heart,' and we try to create real personal dimension here," said Daniel Ohman, Newman's dean of studies who has been with the school for 12 years.
Admission to the school is based on criteria that include an entrance exam, transcripts, demonstration of good character, reference letters, and an interview.
Compared with other private schools in the Boston area, Newman offers a bargain price. For the 2007-2008 school year, tuition at Newman cost $12,400 ($19,500 for postgraduate and international students), compared with $25,849 at Boston University Academy, $27,405 (including lunch) at the Commonwealth School, and $29,000 at the Winsor School.
"We don't measure success by getting into an Ivy League school," Lynch said.
"We just want our students to take themselves seriously here and to do the same when they get to college."
Recent graduates of Newman have gone on to matriculate at colleges all over the world, including the California Institute of Technology, Harvard, the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and schools in Japan.
Course offerings at Newman provide students with the opportunity to study beyond the typical high school curriculum. While the school offers traditional classes and a variety of advanced-placement courses, students also may study in fields such as creative writing, the history of Boston, and art gallery methods.
In addition, students are given two "flex periods" a week, allowing them to engage in traditional activities such as the yearbook and prom committees, or unconventional options such as tae kwon do or a painting class that incorporates the sounds of Bob Dylan.
After-school activities include a robotics club and opportunities to work on the school's literary journal and its weekly newspaper, Cardinal Crier. And it's not unusual to see Newman alumni make the trip to visit their old school.
"I don't dread going to school in the morning," Petrovic said. "It's like leaving my house to go to my other home."
