Milton Hershey School

The Milton Hershey School, formerly the Hershey Industrial School, is a private boarding school in Hershey, Pennsylvania for K–12 students. The institution was founded in 1909 by chocolate industrialist Milton Hershey and his wife, Catherine Hershey.

Milton Hershey School
Address
1201 Homestead Lane

Hershey
,
Pennsylvania
17033

United States
Coordinates40°16′12″N 76°37′36″W
Information
TypePrivate boarding school
EstablishedNovember 15, 1909
PresidentPeter G. Gurt[1]
Principalspre-K–4: Tara Valoczki[2]

5–8: Ryan Michael[3]

9–12: Bob Ebert[4]
Faculty199 (FTE, 2017–18)[5]
Gradespre-kindergarten–12[5]
Number of students2,020 (2017–18)[5]
Campus size7,500 acres
Color(s)Brown and gold[6]
MascotSpartan[6]
AffiliationThe Hershey Company
WebsiteOfficial website

The school began with four students in 1910. Initially for only white, male, and healthy orphans aged 4–8, the school gradually expanded in the 1960s and 70s to include girls, racial minorities, and so-called "social orphans"—those with impoverished parents. About 2,000 students attended the school in 2020. Admission is selective, restricted to low-income individuals aged 4–15 with an IQ above 80 and without behavioral problems. Students live in group homes of uniform gender and similar age. The school has Judeo-Christian elements, but is officially non-sectarian.

The school is free for students, funded by a trust containing most of Hershey's fortune, valued in 2020 at around US$15 billion. About half of the trust's money comes from its controlling interest in Hershey's eponymous chocolate company. The school has been criticized for their low spending in proportion to the trust's value, and has been accused of various improprieties, including discrimination against gay students and those with mental health issues.

History

Milton S. Hershey, creator of The Hershey Company, was a chocolate industrialist and had founded the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania.[7] On November 15, 1909,[8] he and his wife, Catherine Hershey, signed over a 486-acre (1.97 km2) piece of farmland, forming the Hershey Industrial School.[9] The school accepted "poor, healthy, white male orphans" between the ages of four and eight, allowing them to stay until the age of eighteen.[9] The first four boys were admitted in September 1910.[10][11]

In 1918, following Catherine's death three years prior, Milton put most of his fortune—including his share of his company's stock—into a trust for the school, valued at $60 million altogether.[12][13] The school grew quickly, with about 60 boys in 1915,[10] 352 boys in 1931,[14] and 1034 boys in 1937.[8] Non-sectarian Christian religious training was mandatory.[15]

In 1933, the age range of admitted orphans was expanded from 4–8 years to 4–14.[16] In 1934, a junior-senior high school building was opened at the site with a capacity for 1500 students.[17] Hershey resigned from the school's board in 1944, a year before his death.[17] By then the school had acquired about 10,000 acres of land.[18] The school's name was changed from Hershey Industrial School to Milton Hershey School in 1953, reportedly to eliminate the possibility of "industrial" connoting a reform school.[19]

The school's selection of students broadened in the 1960s and 70s. Following a 1968 decision upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ordered the racial desegregation of Girard College, the Milton Hershey School admitted its first non-white student.[20][21][22] School official James E. Bobb, however, stated that the decision to admit racial minorities was unrelated to the ruling.[23] In 1976, the school expanded its definition of orphanhood to include "social orphans", those with single or divorced parents.[24] In November of that year, the school successfully petitioned the Dauphin County Court on allowing girls based on their charter.[25] The first eight girls arrived in March 1977.[26][27][13] Female admission was gradual, first restricted to those between kindergarten and fifth grade, then in the summer of 1977 to sixth through eighth grade, and finally to all grade divisions in the summer of 1978.[26] In October 1977, approximately 1100 boys and 60 girls were enrolled in the school;[26] by September 1978, female students made up 10% of the 1300 students.[28]

Cyndi Jacobsen wrote in 1989 in The Sentinel that "students chafe under the rules, the lack of privacy and individuality, and the anachronistic dairy barns ... [b]ut graduates tend to look back at their experience as a survival test". She said that house parents varied widely in their treatment, with some "rigid and authoritarian" and others "warm and affirming."[21] Later that year, the school's longtime tradition of requiring all grade 9–12 students to milk cows, twice daily, was rescinded, with strong approval from students and the board. Director of secondary education John Storm justified the change, stating that "the school revolved around the milking program, when in fact we wanted it to revolve around educational opportunities".[29][13]

In 2002, the school had about 1,500 students; over the next two decades, the school grew to about 2,000 students.[12][30]

School

Campus

The school's address is 1201 Homestead Lane, Hershey, Pennsylvania, just off U.S. Highway 322.[31][6] As of 2015, the school trust owns 10,174 acres of land, about 7,500 acres of which are school campuses. Of the eight campuses, the main campus is by far the largest at 3,340 acres.[32]

Admission and demographics

According to the school's website, students are admitted on five criteria: having a family income less than twice the federal poverty level, being age 4 to 15, having an IQ over 80, lacking serious behavioral problems, and being able to "benefit from the school's program".[33] The school is cost-free for students.[34] As of 2021, 73 percent of students are from the state of Pennsylvania.[33] The acceptance rate is low, around 14% in 1991.[35] Each year, an average of 12.5% of the student population leaves, mostly by graduating or being removed by their parents. A quarter to a third of departures are expulsions.[36]

The school housed 2,020 students in the 2017–18 school year. Of these, 44.5% were white, 33.8% were black, 8.7% were Hispanic, 1.0% were Asian, and 11.0% identified with two or more races.[5] There were 395 students in pre-K through 4th grade, 545 students in grades 5–8, and 950 students in grades 10–12.[5] According to the school's website, there are roughly an equal number of boys and girls.[37] In 2000, only about one tenth of students had a deceased parent,[24] but as of 2020, nearly 90 percent of the school's come from single-parent homes, with an average income of $22,000.[30]

Student life

The school is split into three cohorts: pre-K through 4th grade, 5th through 8th grade, and 9th through 12th grade.[37] As of 2020, there are 180 student homes, each with 8 to 12 students of the same gender and similar age, and each led by house parents.[30] Upon entering 5th grade, students begin the Career and Technical Education program, which provides activities tailored for students' specialized interests.[38] The school offers college scholarships for some students and has special partnerships with about twenty colleges for student transitions.[39] 85 to 90 percent of students continue to post-secondary education.[40]

Non-sectarian Christian religious training has been mandatory since the school's beginning.[15][41] The school's guidelines prohibit pressuring students to convert faiths; some students, however, have reported being proselytized by their house parents.[42]

Finance

The school's endowment was worth around $15 billion in 2020, about half of which comes from the school's controlling share of The Hershey Company's stock.[43][44][45] Only about 1.5% of this sum is used per year for educational programs, spending about $118,400 per year on each student.[34] The proportionally low spending has been controversial. Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor John Core called it "ludicrous", and Georgetown University law professor Brian Galle called it "indefensibly low". Galle said the low spending was because the school "can't seem to conceivably find any way to spend this pile of money". School officials countered that the school must adhere to the spending limits of Hershey's original deed.[34]

In July 2002, the company managing the school trust announced it was considering selling their share in the Hershey company. Alumni and residents criticized the idea; some accused the trust of long-term financial wrongdoing and incompetence, with 1980 graduate Ric Fouad calling it "the charitable-trust Enron".[46]

Controversies

In late 2011, a 13 year old was denied admission to the school because he was HIV-positive.[47] The school initially defended its decision, citing safety concerns; an anti-discrimination lawsuit filed by the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania led to a settlement of $700,000 for the boy's family and a reversal of the policy.[48][49] The school again provoked controversy in 2013, when 14-year-old student Abbie Bartels committed suicide shortly after being denied attendance to the school's eighth-grade graduation. A CNN report noted their policy of requiring students to be "free of emotional and behavioral problems".[50][51] The school later sued Bartel's family, alleging the family was liable for her death.[52] In 2016, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that, in response to Bartel's suicide, the school was being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for potential violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.[53]

In 2010, the school settled in a molestation case involving sixteen children.[54] In 2016, eleven former students sued the school for invasion of privacy, alleging that an employee had hid a camera in a bathroom for senior male students. The employee admitted to filming the boys' showering and was sentenced to a year in prison.[55]

The school was sued in 2017 by former student Adam Dobson who was expelled for attempting suicide, and who later stated he was forced to watch a religious gay-conversion video. The school and another student disputed Dobson's account, while student Marcous Marchese said he had also been forced to watch the video.[56][57] The lawsuit was dismissed in 2020, with judge John E. Jones III ruling that Dobson "failed to identify any basis in the record to conclude what he characterizes as gay-conversion therapy resulted in the injuries he alleges."[58]

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Office of the President - Peter Gurt '85". Milton Hershey School. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  2. "MHS Elementary School Introduces New Sensory Garden". Milton Hershey School. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  3. "Milton Hershey School Fourth- and Eighth-Grade Students Recognized During Virtual Promotion Ceremonies". Milton Hershey School. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  4. Singleton, Brent (9 November 2020). "Milton Hershey School celebrates the Hersheys' legacy and educational vision on its 111th anniversary". Fox43. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  5. "School Information – Milton Hershey School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  6. Kiner, Deb (9 September 2016). "Spartan statues greet alumni for Milton Hershey School homecoming". The Patriot-News. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  7. "The Hershey Company: a brief history". The Patriot-News. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  8. "M. S. Hershey is Host at Dinner". Elizabethtown Chronicle. Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. 17 November 1937. p. 1. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  9. "Hershey Industrial School: The Chocolate King's Latest Generosity". The Semi-Weekly New Era. Lancaster, Pennyslvania. 9 July 1910. p. 5. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  10. Gormann, Robert F. (19 November 1915). "Bids Fair to Become One of Most Important Orphan Asylums For Boys in the United States; Lads Taught to Do Things Which Will Profit Them in Actual Life; Now 60 Youngsters Being Cared For". Harrisburg Telegraph. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. p. 43. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  11. "New Hershey Industrial School Building To Be Dedicated Nov. 15". The Daily News. Hershey, Pennsylvania. 9 November 1934. p. 11. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  12. "Town Built On Chocolate Worries Sweet Times Are Over". Tyler Morning Telegraph. Tyler, Texas. 21 September 2002. p. 30. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  13. Russell, Heidi (14 June 1998). "Hershey's Legacy: Childless chocolate baron revered as a father figure". Standard Speaker. Hazleton, Pennsylvania. p. 6. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  14. "Industrial School Opens At Hershey". Lebanon Semi-Weekly News. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. 10 September 1931. p. 2. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  15. "Hershey Industrial School A Monument To Chocolate King: Boys From 4 To 18 Taught There For Life's Work". Sunday News. Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 11 March 1928. p. 9. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  16. "Extend Age Limit for Hershey School Boys". The Evening News. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 30 October 1933. p. 17. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  17. "Highlights in Life of M. S. Hershey". Harrisburg Telegraph. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 16 October 1945. p. 17. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  18. "Hershey Orphans Home Might Kiss the Past Goodbye". Los Angeles Times. 28 November 2000. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  19. "Milton Hershey School Is Now Official Name". The Daily News. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. 26 December 1951. p. 9. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  20. "Timeline: Desegregation of Girard College". Temple University Libraries. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  21. Jacobsen, Cyndi (23 February 1989). "Hershey School a contrast". The Sentinel. Carlisle, Pennsylvania. p. 12. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  22. Cowen, Richard. "The doors always were open at Good Shepherd". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. 26 July 1998. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  23. "Ruling On Girard Said No Factor In MHS Decision". Lebanon Daily News. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. 23 May 1968. p. 56. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  24. "Hershey school is following its charter, audit reports". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. 10 December 2000. p. 50. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  25. "Girls at Hershey". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 20 November 1976. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  26. Froetschel, Susan A. "Changes Are Important To M. S. Hershey School". Elizabethtown Chronicle. Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. p. 11. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  27. "Milton Hershey School To Admit Girls". The Evening Sun. 17 November 1976. p. 1. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
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  29. Kolus, Howard (17 April 1989). "Changing Time... No More Milking for MHS Students". The Daily News. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
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  34. Fernandez, Bob (6 November 2016). "No candy-coating lack of charity at Hershey School". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
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  36. Malawskey, Nick (20 February 2012). "Milton Hershey School works to boost student retention rates". The Patriot-News. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
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  50. Girl barred from graduation kills self. Hershey, Pennsylvania: CNN. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
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  52. DeJesus, Ivey (6 February 2019). "Milton Hershey School seeks to hold family of girl who hanged herself liable for her death". The Patriot-News. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
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  56. Fernandez, Bob (31 July 2017). "A 2nd former Hershey School student says he was forced to watch gay conversion film". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
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Official website

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