Manter Hall

Every day, many Harvard students pass Elsie's delicatessen on their way to and from classes. If anyone bothered to look above the awning that says "Delicious Roast Beef," they would notice the remnants of a sign that once read "Manter Hall School." Few of those who frequent Elsie's realize that the building above their heads has served as everything from a boys' prep school to a Harvard tutoring academy.

In the era when blue blood rather than brains was the basic criteria for admission to Harvard, the Manter Hall School would tutor applicants until they could pass the special entrance exam administered by the College. Once admitted, Manter Hall would tutor them in their courses, to ensure at least a gentleman's C.

Today, Manter Hall is a private high school. Robert J. Hall, the director and the driving force behind the school, describes its curriculum as "a straight and traditional college prep program," focusing on math, science and foreign languages. The coeducational school has 50 students and ten full-time teachers. Hall says that Manter Hall's chief strength is its small classes, which range in size from "four or five to a maximum of ten or twelve." "Students can really benefit from this extra attention," he notes.

Manter Hall students come from all over the Boston area. Hall mentions that "a few students are wealthy, a large percentage are middle income, and a fair percentage are on scholarship." About 15 per cent of the student body receives some sort of financial aid, "based on need, rather than merit."

"It is not particularly difficult to get into Manter Hall," according to the director. Applicants must take a placement test administered by the school. Hall explains rather cryptically that he would not call the school "remedial as a whole, because it is only remedial for 50 per cent of the students, but not for the others." He goes on to say "kids go through lackadaisical growing stages. Some may have done a poor job in other schools, but I'm willing to give them a chance here."

"We take only students who are college bound," Hall emphasizes. He says that Manter Hall sends its students to such area schools as Tufts, Brandeis, Boston University, Boston College, and to other schools around the country. "One student every couple years" comes to Harvard.

Richard Schneider, a science teacher at Manter Hall for the past 13 years, says that although the school has "all types of students," it is geared to "the oddball." "We have some real losers," he continues. "They have no home to go to, they are looking for companionship. These are the ones who benefit the most from here."

Many students at Manter Hall suffer from a lack of self-confidence, Schneider feels. "Misfit kinds come here and thrive" as a result of the individual attention which they receive," he explains. Schneider says that those students who don't need the extra attention "would do much better elsewhere."

Manter Hall is definitely not for exceptional students, he says. However, he does mention that "four years ago we had a great group of kids, but that was just luck. That year, I would have said that we could compete with anybody."

Hall, a sixtyish-looking man who wears conservative suits, has been with the school for 35 years, serving as director for the past 20. The tall, craggy director wears thick glasses and walks with a slight stoop. He stresses that there is no relation between his name and the school's, which was drawn from the name of the building in which it was originally founded. Hall downplays his own role within the school, claiming that the board of trustees makes all the important decisions. He says that the board has three members, but declines to identify them.

Schneider is more explicit about Hall's role. "It's a one-man operation," Schneider says. "He owns it. He runs it. He's the works, everything. When he goes, it goes." Schneider says Hall inherited the school from his father.

Hall points with great pride to Manter Hall's diagnostic reading program. The school annually administers its own reading test to students, testing a variety of reading skills, "so we can show students where they stand in comparison to other students at the same grade level." He calls the reading test "an important feature of the school" because many students who receive good grades find themselves unable to handle the heavy reading load at the tougher college level. Twenty per cent of the school's students receive special help from two part-time reading teachers.

Another great source of pride for Hall is the crop of ice skaters that Manter Hall has churned out over the years. The school admitted its first girl, Tenly Albright, "around 1950," because she could not find a girls' school which would permit her to shape her studying around her rigorous ice skating schedule. She later became a world figure skating champion, and went on to Radcliffe and Harvard Medical School. Ever since, Manter Hall has produced a steady stream of ice skaters because it allows them scheduling flexibility. Girls now comprise 40 per cent of the student body.

Manter Hall's physical plant precludes any extra-curricular activities. Three floors of classrooms constitute the entire school. The dusty halls, off white and drab brown walls, dark floors, iron stair cases and dim lighting all contribute to the musty atmosphere of the 50-year-old building. Everything in the school seems to be coated with a layer of dust. Hall cites the school's lack of recreational facilities and limited extra-curricular activities as its chief disadvantages. "We are a 9 to 3:30 workshop-type school," he explains.

The lack of facilities, however, does permit Manter Hall to offer a far lower tuition than its closest competitor. While Manter Hall charges $1950 per year, Belmont Hill charges $3100, and Buckingham, Brown and Nichols charges $3025. Hall mentions that "there's really no competition because we don't have their facilities." He says that the current recession has hurt Manter Hall, but declines to elaborate.

From 1886 to 1930, Manter Hall served as a combination prep and tutoring school. Originally founded on the former site of As You Like It at Mass Ave. and Holyoke Street, the all-boys prep school had boarding facilities on the top floor. In 1927, the school moved to its present location.

Up until about 1940, Manter Hall also tutored students for the special entrance exam administered by Harvard. "Anyone who failed these exams could take courses over the summer at Manter Hall," the director explains. "They could retake the entrance exams until they finally got into Harvard." The school ceased to offer this service after 1940, as a result of the dramatic increase in Harvard applications and the advent of standardized college boards.

Manter Hall also gave review courses for Harvard exams to students who had not done their work or could not understand it. Among those who participated in these review sessions were Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. '37 and his brother Jimmy '26. During World War II, those about to be drafted into the army could review for the aviation cadets exam there.

Manter Hall still operates a tutoring program of sorts today. On Saturday mornings, students fill the school to take classes in reading and special preparation for the college boards. About one-quarter of those who attend these sessions are Manter Hall students. The school also operates a similar program over the summer.

Hall runs the school to "maximum efficiency, "Schneider says, adding that it is not as busy as it once was, when it was full until late in the evening with tutoring programs. "I guess I like it," Schneider says of the school. "I'm very free to teach what I want, when I want, where I want. The lack of bureaucracy and meetings at Manter Hall appeals to Schneider, who feels that the absence of restrictions is the biggest advantage of teaching at Manter Hall. He calls the pay scales "low," however, and says that given a chance at a better paying job with as few problems, he would probably take it.

Schneider describes Manter Hall as "relatively strict, because you have to do your homework, you have to be neat." His winning smile flashing through his heavy beard, he notes that Manter Hall has few problems in comparison to public schools because "there is no threat to life and very little theft." He comments that most of the problems at Manter Hall center on individuals, rather than the administrative structure of the school.

Many of the students at Manter Hall agree that they are there for the small classes and special attention. A student from Boston speaks enthusiastically of the school. "Most of the kids in this school really know what's going on. Classes and the majority of teachers are good," he says.

The students' complaints center on Manter Hall's lack of facilities and physical plant. "We have no modern facilities," declares one girl. "The school's a dump. It's a fire hazard. We have only one janitor."

Many students object to the absence of extra-curricular activities, particularly athletics. The only sports sponsored by the school are occasional soccer games on a tract of land provided by Harvard. The school offers no recreational activities whatsoever for girls.

"I would definitely not recommend this school for girls," says one boy.

"You know what graduation is?" laughs one boy, "You stand on milk cartons in front of Elsie's." Many students eat their lunch at Elsie's because the school has no dining room. "After lunch, you can sometimes smell the garbage coming up through the window," one boy observes.

One girl feels that the discipline at Manter Hall is too strict. "You can't cut classes here," she complains. "If you're fifteen minutes late in the morning, they call your house, and the entire school knows about it." She feels that detentions are handed out too frequently for petty matters and objects to required study hall when she has no work. She also objects to the dress code, which prohibits blue jeans, halter tops, shorts, and short dresses. "Mr. Hall is too conservative, too old-fashioned," she complains.

Some students gripe about the teachers and the school's academic program. Several said that the school did not offer courses in areas which they were interested in. Some complained that most of the teachers did not care about students, adding, however, that there were some who were always willing to help them after school. "The students have no say in anything," one girl declares. "The teachers is always right and the kid never is."

Students say that they enjoy going to school in Harvard Square. "I love it. The people are so unique...This is the best place to go to school. I could sit out here for hours and watch the people go by," comments one girl.

Manter Hall students say that they have very little contact with Harvard. "We're not really involved," continues the same girl. "I've used Harvard libraries. Their libraries are really good." She feels that "you don't notice it, but Harvard does pass on a little education to you."

This "funny little school," as Schneider calls it, gazes down upon Mt. Auburn St. From its vantage point atop Elsie's, existing as an isolated, anonymous island in the midst of Harvard. The director emphasizes its virtues, just as predictably as students harp on its considerable defects. In a sense, Manter Hall students are sacrificing standard high school facilities for special attention that they could not receive elsewhere. As one student remarks, "It's a pain, but it's an education."