Tabor Academy

Tabor Academy

Tabor Academy is a four-year independent preparatory school located in Marion, Massachusetts, United States. Tabor offers a rigorous academic program, and is world-known for its marine science courses. Tabor's location on Buzzards Bay has earned it the name of "The School by the Sea." The 2006 issue of "Boston Magazine" rated Tabor as one of the top private schools for "Lab Rats", based on its unique programs in marine science and celestial navigation. "The Wall Street Journal" placed Tabor as one of the top private schools in the nation to send a high percentage of its students to elite colleges. Tabor participates in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council, and offers a wide range of extracurricular activities. Tabor's motto is "All-A-Taut-O", referring to the condition in which a ship is fully rigged and everything is in place. This phrase is frequently referenced in many of the school's songs, and is a tribute to Tabor's nautical background.

History

Tabor was founded in 1876 as a school for children from Marion, Massachusetts, by a bequest in the will of Elizabeth Taber, a wealthy widow from the town. She didn't wish to name the school after her, so she named it after Mount Tabor, a mountain near the Sea of Galilee.fn|1 Tabor was reorganized in 1916 as an independent secondary school by Headmaster Walter H. Lillard. The school was, until the late 1940s, a military-style maritime school where uniformed "cadets" performed morning and evening drill as well as other military routines daily. It then became a Naval Honor School with occasional military marching. Two other headmasters followed Lillard, James E. Wickenden and Peter M. Webster. The headmaster as of 1989 is Jay S. Stroud.

Campus

Tabor has a rural/small-town campus, open and ungated. The campus is divided into three sections by two public roads (Front Street and Spring Street), both of which are small town arterials with only light to moderate traffic. The freshman dormitory and dining center (both in Lillard Hall), the performing arts center (in Hoyt Hall), the Oceanography Center, and some athletic fields form the waterfront portion of the campus (which is a distinction for Tabor Academy). Across Front Street is the academic and athletic core of the campus consisting of the Academic Center, the Hayden Library and Science Building, and the Athletic Center, as well as additional playing fields and the art studio. Across Spring Street is the more rural part of the campus, consisting of the Wickenden Chapel and several small dormitories which appear to be cottages or private homes from the outside. The lack of gates and fences creates a seamless blending of the campus with the surrounding community.

Academics

The Tabor campus in the small town of Marion stretches along a half mile of Sippican Harbor on Buzzards Bay leading to the Atlantic Ocean. Tabor offers a rigorous academic program that provides a solid foundation for study at competitive colleges. For a school of its size, the curriculum contains an especially broad spectrum of courses, from introductory levels to honors and 21 AP courses to highly sophisticated opportunities for independent work. Tabor offers classes in the traditional liberal arts fields such as the humanities, math and the sciences but also unusual offerings for a secondary school such as Greek, archeology, Chinese, lighting design, and numerous nautical and marine science courses in the school's unique waterfront Marine Science building. Opened for the first time for classes in September 2005, this building was the winner of several architectural awards.fact|date=May 2007 Tabor also has an active drama exchange program with Ellesmere College in England. A participant in this exchange program was Chris Hawkins.

Tabor utilizes its waterfront location in a variety of ways. It is one of the few secondary schools in the United States to offer extensive programs in nautical science and oceanology. The school also owns "Tabor Boy", a 92-foot Dutch Pilot schooner, which is a certified school sailing vessel. "Tabor Boy" has logged tens of thousands of miles with her crews of Tabor students, from nearby Buzzards Bay to the Caribbean.

Athletics

Tabor fields 55 different teams in 23 interscholastic sports and another 15 instructional programs. The school has a large Athletic Center, which includes an indoor hockey rink and a fitness center. Tabor does have the waterfront in Marion for swimming in the summer months.

Tabor's men's ice hockey team, three time New England Champions, has produced over 24 NCAA Division 1 and NHL caliber players over the last 20 years. Tabor also has extensive waterfront facilities, including the 92' schooner "S.S.V. Tabor Boy". The Tabor sailing team is consistently strong, having won several national championships. The team has won the National High School Team Racing Championship (the "Baker Trophy") six times since the event's founding in 1989 (1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1997 and 2007), and has won the National High School Dinghy Championship (the "Mallory Trophy") six times since the event's founding in 1930 (1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1986). Since the early 1990's, the boy's and girl's basketball teams were consistently the champions or runners-up in Class A of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council. The women's team has won four of the last six championships and has finished the regular season with the number one ranking in New England six of the last seven years. The men's and women's crew teams have also been active participants in the Henley Royal Regatta and the men's team won the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup in 1965. The cross country team experienced several years of lackluster seasons, but in the fall of 2007 the team had one of the best records in the school.

*Fall Sports: Girls/Boys Cross Country Girls/Boys Soccer, Boys Football, Girls Field Hockey, (Instructional Crew, Sailing, Squash, and Tennis)
*Winter Sports: Girls/Boys Basketball, Girls/Boys Squash, Wrestling, Girls/Boys Ice Hockey, (Conditioning)
*Spring Sports: Co-ed Sailing, Girls/Boys Tennis, Girls/Boys Crew, Girls/Boys Lacrosse, Boys Baseball, Girls Softball, Girls/Boys Track (Senior Conditioning)

tudent life

Tabor is primarily a boarding school that enrolls approximately 490 students. About 75 percent of those students live in dormitories on campus while the remaining 25 percent are day students who live at home and commute to the school. There are many activities for students to participate in. A few include: dances, "coffee houses", movies, trips to Boston, and various club run activities.

On-campus traditions and events

As a school with a rich history, Tabor has had long history of events and activities that have become campus traditions. Such events as Tabor-Holderness Day, First Snow, and Spring Fest are integral parts of the tabor experience.

Notable alumni

*Paul Fireman, founder and President of Reebok
*Kevin White, mayor of Boston from 1968 to 1984
*John Fish, President of Suffolk Construction Company
*Charlie Merrow, CEO, Merrow Sewing Machine Company
*Mike Stewart, novelist
*Samuel Loring Morison
*Thomas B. Graboys, professor, author
*George Graboys, CEO, Citizens Bank
*David Chokachi, American television actor
*Bobby Hanson, actor
*Mirya Mitton, actress
*Sasha Barrese, actress
*Amy Correia, singer
*Sally Taylor, singer, daughter of James Taylor and Carly Simon
*Ben Taylor, musician, son of James Taylor and Carly Simon
*Evan Lehrer, best proctor ever
*Marc Friedman, instrumentalist and composer
*Travis Roy, author of "Eleven Seconds"
*The Slip, contemporary avant-rock band
*E.J. Bradley, NHL player
*Eric Nickulas, NHL player
*Deron Quint, NHL player
*Todd Reirdan, NHL player
*Blake Sloan, NHL player

Notes

*fnb|1 Mount Tabor is a hill in Israel, near Nazareth, believed by many to be the site of the Transfiguration of Christ.

External links

* [http://www.taboracademy.org Tabor Academy]
* [http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/43 Boarding School Review]
* [http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-COLLEGE0711-sort.html Wall Street Journal Online]
* [http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/the_right_private_school_for_your_kid/ Boston Magazine]
* [http://www.taboracademic.org/sailing_alumni_page.htm Tabor Sailing Page]
* [http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071021/NEWS/710210336/-1/rss22 Tabor Dedicates Green Building]