Pottstown is Home to One of Our Country’s Top Private Boarding Schools, The Hill School
The Hill School is a four-year private, coeducational, preparatory boarding and day school for grades 9–12. It is located on a 200-acre campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania within Montgomery County, situated across the street from Pottstown’s Post Office on High Street.
History of the Hill School
The Hill School was founded on May 1, 1851, by the Rev. Matthew Meigs as the Family Boarding School for Boys and Young Men in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Meigs’s vision was innovative for its time: rather than students boarding with local families, they would live on campus in a structured, familial environment — laying the groundwork for what became known as the “family boarding school.”
Starting with just 25 boys, the school gradually established a reputation for rigorous college preparatory education rooted in a strong moral and academic tradition. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, under successive leadership including Meigs’s son John, The Hill expanded enrollment and academic stature, drawing students from influential families and emphasizing character development alongside scholarship.
For nearly 150 years it remained an all‑boys institution. A major milestone came in 1998‑1999, when The Hill became coeducational, admitting girls for the first time and enriching the school’s community and academic life.
Today, The Hill spans 200+ acres and draws students from across the United States and around the world. Its traditions — including family‑style meals, chapel, and its motto “Whatsoever things are true” — reflect a balance of historic values and an evolving commitment to academic excellence and global citizenship.
Tuition (2025‑26)
Boarding tuition: $78,300 per year (includes instruction, room, board, health services, and some athletics equipment).
Day tuition: $53,380 per year (includes instruction, most events, and daily lunch).
About 34-36% of students receive need-based financial aid.
Living Arrangements
- The Hill School is a boarding and day school for grades 9–12 and postgraduate students.
- Approximately 78% of students board on campus; all students must board at least one year to immerse in the community.
- Boarding students live in dormitories where many faculty and their families also reside, reinforcing the school’s family‑style environment.
- Daily life includes family‑style meals with faculty, structured study hours, and weekend activities on and off campus.
Academics
- Student‑teacher ratio: about 8:1 with small classes (≈11 students).
- The curriculum balances liberal arts, humanities, STEM, and college‑level courses including 25 AP subjects and 20 college‑level options.
- Extensive co‑curricular offerings: 33 interscholastic sports, arts ensembles, theatre, and community service.
- Students benefit from college counseling beginning in sophomore year.
Gender Balance
- The student body is roughly 53% male and 47% female among enrolled students.
Boarding vs. Day Students
- Total enrollment is around 530 students
- About 78% of students are boarding, and 22% are day students.
Donald Trump and the Hill School????
Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump are the two Trump children who attended The Hill School in Pottstown, PA, as teenagers for their secondary education, with Donald Jr. graduating in 1996 and Eric in 2002.
If you are familiar with the Pottstown/Sanatoga area, you may remember this Kmart store in the background. It is now home of Liberty Thrift at the corner of High Street and South Pleasantview Road.
Famous Alumni (just to name a few)
There are many alumni of the Hill School became household names. Here are a few:
Tom Wolfe – the 47th Governor of Pennsylvania, serving from 2015 to 2023.
Oliver Stone – Oscar‑winning film director/screenwriter (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July)
James Cromwell – appeared in many movies, including Babe, L.A. Confidential, The Green Mile, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. He is also 6’7″ tall!
Harry Hamlin – known for his roles as Perseus in Clash of the Titans (1981) and Michael Kuzak in the legal drama L.A. Law among many more.
Juan Trippe – Founder of Pan American World Airways (Pan Am)
Clark Hoyt – Pulitzer Prize‑winning journalist and public editor of The New York Times
Lamar Hunt – Businessman, founder of the Kansas City Chiefs
Sabin Carr – Olympic gold medalist in pole vaulting
Deadly Outbreak Prevented at the Hill School
In 1934, Dr. J. Roswell Gallagher, the school physician at The Hill School in Pottstown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, successfully prevented a potentially deadly measles outbreak among students by using pioneering, localized serum therapy. Faced with an outbreak in a crowded boarding school environment, Dr. Gallagher utilized convalescent serum—blood taken from a student who had recently recovered from the disease—to create a “ring of immunity” and treat exposed, susceptible students.
Hill School’s Rankings
According to Niche Rankings, The Hill School performs extremely well across several categories:
📌 National (U.S.)
- #101 Best Private High Schools in America (out of 4,917)
- #33 Best Boarding High Schools in America (out of 441)
- #124 Best College Prep Private High Schools in America (out of 4,143)
- Ranked in top ~20% of U.S. private schools in various broader lists.
📌 Pennsylvania
- #2 Best Private High School in Pennsylvania (out of 217)
- #2 Best College Prep Private High School in Pennsylvania (out of 180)
- #2 Best Boarding High School in Pennsylvania (out of 25)
- #8 Best High School for STEM in Pennsylvania (out of 270)
📌 Philadelphia / Montgomery County Area
- #1 Best Private High School in the Philadelphia Area
- #1 Best College Prep Private High School in the Philadelphia Area
- #1 Best Private High School in Montgomery County
Pottstown has a second private school, The Wyndcroft School
The Wyndcroft School is a highly rated, private school located in Pottstown, PA. It has 178 students in grades PK, K-8 with a student-teacher ratio of 7 to 1.
Did You Know?
Taylor Swift attended the Wyndcroft School in the Rosedale section of Pottstown up until the fourth grade. Her family then moved to the Wyomissing area nearing Reading, PA. Taylor learned to play the guitar and wrote her first songs around age 11–12.
