Школа Nobles: История и традиции престижного учебного заведения Новой Англии.

The Noble and Greenough School, commonly known as Nobles, is a coeducational, nonsectarian day and five day boarding school in Dedham, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. It educates 638 boys and girls in grades 7–12. The school's campus borders the Charles River. The school's list of notable alumni includes Harvard University president A. Lawrence Lowell, Nobel laureate George Minot, and two governors of Massachusetts. In addition, Nobles previously operated an elementary school, which educated U. S. President John F. Kennedy.

In 1866, Washington University in St. Louis Latin professor George Washington Copp Noble returned to Boston and founded Noble's Classical School as an all boys college preparatory school. He renamed the school to Noble & Greenough School in 1892, when his son in law James Greenough joined the faculty. The school was originally a for profit entity run by the Noble family, but in 1913, after Greenough's death, a coalition of Nobles alumni purchased the school from Noble and reorganized the school as a nonprofit corporation under the control of a board of trustees. Nobles historically drew most of its students from "the fashionable families of Greater Boston"; sociologist Digby Baltzell called it "Proper Boston's most exclusive day school." The school primarily catered to members of the Episcopal Church; a 1954 alumnus recalled that when he was at Nobles, there were only two non Episcopalian students. (A Unitarian, John Richardson '04, served as president of the Nobles board from 1921 to 1964.) In its early days, Nobles cycled through a series of buildings in Boston. In 1922, at the peak of the country day school movement, the school moved to suburban Dedham, where it has remained ever since. (In the 1920s, Nobles, Roxbury Latin, and Belmont Hill all set up campuses in the Boston suburbs.) The property had previously been the estate of Albert W. Nickerson, a Nobles grandparent, who had commissioned Frederick Law Olmsted to lay out the site. In 1926, shortly after moving to Dedham, Nobles discontinued its primary school program. In response, a coalition of Nobles parents (including Joseph Kennedy Sr.) started the Dexter School. One of the Nobles elementary school students who transferred to Dexter was third grader John F. Kennedy.

Nobles is descended from various Boston college preparatory day schools, all of which primarily prepared students for the Harvard College entrance examinations. The curriculum of these schools was primarily classical, as until 1887, Harvard required applicants to study both Latin and Greek. Moreover, even after 1887, Harvard still required applicants to demonstrate either "an elementary working knowledge" of Latin and Greek, or advanced preparation in mathematics or natural sciences. According to James Greenough, in practice, only students "especially adapted to the study of mathematics and natural science" could get into Harvard without studying the classics. By contrast, classically oriented private schools like Nobles and its predecessors were very successful at preparing students to pass Harvard's entrance exams. In 1851, Boston Latin School headmaster Epes Sargent Dixwell resigned from BLS to found Dixwell's Private Latin School. From 1846 to 1870, Dixwell's and Nobles supplied 12% of Harvard undergraduates, more than every other Boston area private day school combined. Dixwell retired in 1872 and was succeeded by John Prentiss Hopkinson, who renamed the school Hopkinson School. Hopkinson was the brother in law of Harvard president Charles Eliot, and from 1870 to 1895, Hopkinson's was Harvard's third largest feeder school, with 331 students. Other Hopkinson's teachers included Arthur Volkmann and James Greenough, Nobles and Volkmann's merged in 1917 due to declining enrollment at Volkmann's; amidst anti German sentiment in the United States during World War I, newspapers had falsely accused the Prussian born Volkmann of being a German spy. Nobles claims the history and alumni of Volkmann School. It is less clear whether Nobles claims the alumni of Dixwell's or Hopkinson's. The school does not claim Dixwell's 1851 foundation date. and in 1923 Nobles erected a plaque honoring Dixwell's alumnus Gerrit Smith Miller, an early pioneer of American football.

Nobles began admitting black students in 1964 and girls in 1974. The school had initially attempted to merge with Winsor School, an all girls prep school in Boston, but negotiations were unsuccessful. In 2017, Harvard's student newspaper reported that Nobles was Harvard's fourth largest feeder school, behind Boston Latin School, Phillips Academy, and Stuyvesant High School. From 2019 to 2023, the school sent 52 students (out of roughly 650) to Harvard. From 2013 to 2018, Nobles conducted a $137 million fundraising campaign, which increased the school's endowment by $60 million and raised funds to build a new library and renovate the Castle. Nobles has had only seven heads of school in over 150 years. In 2017, Catherine J. Hall became Nobles' first female Head of School. During her tenure, the percentage of self identified students of color increased from 35% in the 2018–19 school year to 49% in the 2023–24 school year. The percentage of students on financial aid increased from 28% to 30% during the same timeframe.

Heads of School Tenure Events/Biography1. George Washington Copp Noble 1866–1919Founder of the school; served until his death2. Charles Wiggins II 1920–1943 School relocates to Dedham, Massachusetts. Lower School discontinued.3. Eliot T. Putnam 1943–1971 Son in law of Charles Wiggins4. Edward "Ted" S. Gleason 1971–1987 School begins to admit girls5. Richard "Dick" H. Baker 1987–2000 6. Robert P. Henderson '76 2000–2017 Oversaw the building of the MAC, arts center, new library, renovation of Baker, castle remodel, and more.7. Catherine J. Hall 2017–present

Nobles' primary athletic rival was initially Volkmann's. After the two schools merged and Nobles left Boston for Dedham, the rivalry shifted to Milton Academy, located in the nearby suburb of Milton. In contrast to Nobles' Episcopalian base, Milton historically educated Boston's Unitarian elite, giving a religious edge to the rivalry. The rivalry predates the move to Dedham, as the two schools began playing football in 1886; as such, Nobles Milton is the nation's fifth oldest high school football rivalry. However, Nobles did not beat Milton until 1932, after the move to Dedham. Nobles' primary crew rival is Groton School, a matchup dating back to 1922.