Hillside School

Principal Zhan's Review: Hillside focuses on a structured yet nurturing environment. It boasts a low student-teacher ratio, offering personalized attention and a broad curriculum, including support for ESL students and those with mild learning differences.
The school emphasizes a holistic education, has an excellent track record for placement into top American high schools, and is complemented by a wide range of sports and extracurricular activities.
In terms of cultural heritage, the school consistently uses "Shades of Blue" to monitor and measure students' progress. Students who perform well and exceed the "Shades of Blue" standards can also receive the school's weekly and semesterly "Bull Awards."
Regarding academic development, the school's tutoring center provides support for students in key academic areas, with courses including mathematics, language fundamentals, and social skills. Tutoring sessions utilize an ultra-small class model of 2-4 students, enabling professional teachers to tailor teaching plans to students' unique strengths and challenges. The school offers 4 levels of ESL courses, from beginner to advanced.
In terms of community building, Hillside places great importance on children's service to society. It requires students to participate in community service activities. Children can choose their service projects or even design their own community service content, which, of course, is a significant help for their future applications to American high schools.
For emotional support, the mission of the Hillside Health Center is to provide students with professional care, counseling services, and health education, while also facilitating their access to comprehensive medical care within the broader community, safeguarding their health in all aspects.

Hillside was founded in 1901 when two sisters established a self-sufficient school for boys with a farm at its core. What was once the backbone of the school, the farm now serves as a diverse, organic working farm that is a window into our food system. Boys have the opportunity to learn a wide range of practical skills such as gardening, animal husbandry, carpentry, cooking, outdoor recreation and orienteering, business planning, and more. Students also develop interpersonal skills, compassion, and empathy in a unique, hands-on atmosphere that encourages and rewards hard work.

Hillside's mission is to maximize the potential of each student—mind, body, and spirit. Through a carefully designed curriculum, boys understand academic subjects in new contexts. With an emphasis on environmental stewardship, sustainability, and ecological awareness, students gain a broader perspective. The farm fulfills Hillside's central obligation to cultivate well-rounded young men who are empowered to make an impact on the world around them.

Hillside School was founded in 1901 as a boarding school for boys in grades 4-9. The campus spans 150 acres, and its core values are compassion, determination, honesty, respect, and brotherhood. The school is conveniently located just an hour's drive from Boston. It currently has 165 students, with a boarding rate of 60%, and most of its graduates annually matriculate into top 50 high schools.

Hillside is a small and welcoming boys' school. As an established American junior boarding school, its management in all aspects is well-organized and highly experienced. Most teachers and the principal know almost every child, and the relationships among the children are very friendly and close. The school's curriculum, activity arrangements, and school rules are developed with full consideration for the characteristics of boys in this age group, making them very humane.
After our son entered the school as an international student, he received a lot of care and help from teachers and classmates, was happy every day, quickly integrated into the community, and made local student friends. Local student families are very friendly and have a tradition of inviting boarding students home for weekends, which provided a lot of warmth to our son, who was away from home for the first time, and also gave him a deeper experience of American life and culture.
Academically, the school arranged extra English tutoring for international students, allowing our son to transition smoothly in his studies.
Outside of academics, Hillside offered a wide array of choices, including various sports activities and inter-school competitions, technology-related activities, farm work, and more. Students could choose to participate based on their interests. Additionally, the school had strict management over electronic product usage, which served as a protection for young children whose self-control was not yet fully developed.
Our son spent three years at Hillside and graduated last year. During the high school application process, Hillside had dedicated staff responsible for college counseling, and everything was well-organized. Even after successfully entering his ideal high school, our son often thought of Hillside and continued to stay in touch and meet with his middle school friends.
Our entire family is very glad we made the decision to choose Hillside.

My son studied here for four years, from fifth grade to eighth grade. In this friendly school, my child grew from an innocent kid into a bright, sunny teenager with independent thinking skills, academic research abilities, and outstanding athletic achievements (track and field, soccer). I am very grateful that my son entered this campus that was most suitable for his growth.

Hillside is a small, excellent boarding school for boys in grades 5-9. Precisely because it is an all-boys school, it better understands the characteristics of boys' development from adolescence to young adulthood, truly unearthing their curiosity and leadership skills, and encouraging them to try new areas to gradually expand their interests. With only 165 students, small class sizes foster close and harmonious relationships between teachers and students. Every child has their own Advisor, to whom they can turn for help with anything. Bi-weekly reports keep parents informed about their child's academic and behavioral performance, allowing for timely identification of issues, communication with teachers, and prompt assistance for the child. The school farm allows boys to participate in planting vegetables and fruits and caring for farm animals, teaching them responsibility through labor, fostering teamwork to solve problems, and raising environmental awareness. Most of the school's food also comes from the farm, and enjoying the fruits of their own labor is a source of immense pride for the boys. The school's location is very convenient, just a 40-minute drive from Boston. Transportation is easy for students whether they are taking flights home for holidays or going out on weekends for activities, sightseeing, movies, or skiing. My son graduated in 2020, and the school was incredibly supportive during his high school application process, helping him get into his dream school. We reflect on his outstanding achievements over the past few years at Hillside School, recognizing that they were nurtured within the school's environment, through the help and guidance of every teacher.

The school management is very rigorous, with well-arranged study, sports, and entertainment, and a regular routine, making it very suitable for middle school boys. My son studied and lived at Hillside for two years, and his abilities in various aspects have significantly improved, from English proficiency and study methods to the expansion of sports activities, laying a solid foundation for his development in high school! In recent years, Chinese graduates have had excellent placements, entering top high schools such as Concord, St. Marks, NMH, and EHS.

Hillside's basic information is quite complex, and reviews are mixed. Here, I hope to discuss the school from a new perspective.
Our student came to this school seven years ago, stayed for three years, then left. In 10th grade, he transferred to a regular American high school, and was ultimately admitted to MIT.
Having accompanied him for many years, the guidance and help provided by Hillside were extensive.
After admission, a good school is important, a good match is also important, but the resources the school can provide to the student are the most important.
For your reference only~

Particularly noteworthy is Hillside's innovation lab, iLab. As one of NuVu Studio's 13 partner labs worldwide, this lab fully leverages NuVu's MIT-based innovative resources to cultivate students' abilities to discover and solve problems in the real world, as well as their innovative thinking. iLab is equipped with 3D printers and laser cutters, and its capabilities in robotics production and programming control are absolutely on par with today's top-tier science labs. The iLab instructors are also NuVuX Fellows from MIT, possessing extensive experience in nurturing and uncovering children's curiosity and creativity. Both of my students at Hillside say that the iLab laboratory is their favorite place at school.
For detailed comments, please see the long review section.

Hillside is a boarding school for boys in grades 5-9 located in Massachusetts. The school spans 150 acres, has only 165 students, and a staff of 32. It is conveniently located just 40 minutes from downtown Boston. It is adjacent to many famous private high schools such as St. Marks, Middlesex, and Groton.

The Director of International Admissions gave me a campus tour. Through communication with the Director, I learned that the Chinese students from this school have had very good college placements in recent years. The school shows a very high level of attention to international students.

1. Tutorial Program: Features Executive Function (EF) support, focusing on subjects like writing, mathematics, language fundamentals, and social skills. Classes have 2-4 students, with two sessions per week.

2. Innovation Center: The iLab program offers 3D printing, coding and programming fundamentals, laser cutting, robotics, and more. It's a project-based, hands-on learning environment.

3. Large Farm and Greenhouse: The school has a farm and greenhouse, enhancing students' environmental protection awareness.

4. One of the most distinctive sports is the Eco Team, an elective sport offered in the fall and spring.

5. State-of-the-art iLab: Students can learn programming, robotics, rocketry, 3D printing, and laser cutting.

➢ One of the school's key features is its brand new, state-of-the-art Innovation Lab (iLab), where students can learn programming, robotics, rocketry, 3D printing, and laser cutting.
➢ The school provides extensive academic support to students through its Tutorial program, which offers comprehensive assistance in language, arts, math, organization, and social skills. Classes are small, with two to four students, and the curriculum is custom-tailored to better develop their potential and highlight their strengths.
➢ The school has a large farm and greenhouse. By involving students in farm tasks, their environmental awareness is enhanced. Students participate in collecting eggs, milking cows, fertilizing, watering, and caring for crops. Through setting goals and collaborative problem-solving during farm work, students continuously build confidence. The farm project is also an interdisciplinary learning component of the school, allowing students to have a holistic learning experience that integrates mathematics, science, history, and language.