 | Cardigan Mountain School was founded in 1945 to serve the specific educational and developmental needs of boys during their formative, middle school years. Founders Ernest M. Hopkins, president of Dartmouth College, William R. Brewster, headmaster of Kimball Union Academy, and Harold P. Hinman, a local Dartmouth alumnus, understood this pivotal phase in the lives of boys when their value systems take root and lifelong habits of the mind, body, and spirit take shape.
We believe that our mission is best served in a primarily residential community that allows for greater context and opportunity to educate the whole boy. Whether in the classroom, on the playing field, in the dining room, or in the dormitories, relationships formed between the adults and children in our community continue to be central to our mission and daily life.
Central to Cardigan’s mission is a formula for educating young men that seeks to find the promise in each individual and leads each boy on a path of purposeful and effective living. The Cardigan “brand” is one that is transformational in nature; it focuses on drawing out and developing the passion and talents of each person. Cardigan graduates young men who possess the self awareness, confidence, values, and maturity necessary for success in the next chapter of their lives.
A nonsectarian school, founded in the Judeo-Christian tradition, Cardigan fosters the spiritual and ethical development of its students through our weekly chapel service, through the study of different religions, philosophies, and belief systems, and through an action-oriented program that allows boys to demonstrate their compassion through service to other people and communities.
Cardigan’s abiding commitment to educating middle school boys in a close-knit residential community in the pristine beauty of New Hampshire will serve as the distinctive foundation for our 2020 vision. |
A Vision of Excellence in the Education of Boys In 2020, Cardigan Mountain School will be universally acknowledged as a pre-eminent middle school for boys and will be recognized as a global leader for its distinctive mission which emphasizes educating the “whole boy,” reflecting the School’s commitment to academic and personal development. The School stands for “excellence in the education of young boys” – in its programs, pedagogy, faculty, and setting.
The School is highly respected for the proven effectiveness of its residential model, welcoming diverse students from the United States and around the world who represent a wide range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. A small number of day students is included in this model.
Cardigan’s faculty, unparalleled in its care, dedication, stability, expertise and commitment to the education of middle school boys, delivers a program known as “The Cardigan Way,” in which adults have multiple daily contacts with each student. The cornerstone of this program is a customized learning approach based on the recognition that every person learns and grows in different ways, and at varying rates and times. “The Cardigan Way” provides a program of excellence whose essential components include teaching and learning that are:
• Relevant to today’s world
• Engaging
• Multi-disciplinary
• Hands-on and experiential
• Age-appropriate
In concert with the natural beauty of its surroundings, Cardigan has created a community atmosphere that supports healthy relationships, fosters collegiality, provides a homelike environment for all its members, promotes responsible citizenship, and demonstrates respect and care for the environment
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Want to learn more about Cardigan's future plans? Several appeals to donors and friends will be sent during the year, both electronically and through the mail. Phone calls from development officers and Annual Fund committee members will in most cases follow these appeals with requests for gifts or pledges. |
| | The Cardigan seal
contains the Latin phrases
"AUGERE VIRTUTEM"
and
"DIRIGERE MENTEM,"
which mean, respectively,
"Build Character"
and
"Mold Minds"
both goals of the School
since its dedication. |
The Cardigan seal was designed as part of the School’s 50th anniversary celebration in 1995. The shield’s shape pays tribute to the style of Ivy League shields. The chevron represents the mountain, a symbol of enduring strength and noble pursuit. The cougar is Cardigan’s mascot, a wild cat of keen instinct that gives us the courage to defend our territory with pride. The green conifer in the upper left quadrant stands for our close connection with Dartmouth—it is also Cardigan’s color. The open book to the east is a classic symbol of academia and the Latin text se in viam dare means “to start on one’s way.”
The text on the banner is a Latin translation of two key phrases from a speech made by Dartmouth president and Cardigan founder E.M. Hopkins at the School’s dedication, when he described Cardigan as a place to “build character and mold minds.” Last, the small Roman numerals at the base of the shield mark the date of our founding in 1945.
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