2025 IBSC Annual Conference

2025 IBSC Annual ConferenceBelmont Hill School

Belmont, Massachusetts, United States

June 22-25

Belmont Hill Traditions

The Belmont Hill community celebrates many traditions. A few of our favorites include:

  • Milk & Cookies: Certainly a favorite tradition for the boys, the daily delivery of milk and cookies often sets off a frenzy of activity as they rush for a midmorning snack. While it’s always amazing to see how many cookies a student can fit into one hand, the true magic of milk and cookies is the wonderful camaraderie displayed as the boys enjoy a social break to spend a moment with friends.
  • Family Style Lunch: At lunch we come together to continue the tradition of a daily family style lunch shared by faculty and the boys. This time together encourages boys to connect with teachers and fellow students. A faculty member presides over each table and students serve as waiters for their classmates. A mix of grades sits at each table and assignments shift every few weeks, allowing boys to get to know many of their schoolmates in a deeper way.
  • Teacher/Coach/Advisor Model: At Belmont Hill students know their teachers and teachers know their students. Faculty are teaching, coaching, advising, overseeing lunch tables, and sponsoring extracurricular clubs. This ensures faculty are more than just instructors—they are mentors, role models, and leaders. These multifaceted interactions foster for a unique connectedness and a true commitment to relational learning.
  • Panels: A long-standing tradition, each year Form VI boys carve their own panel, eventually hung on the walls of the school as an enduring symbol of their time at Belmont Hill—a permanent and prominent mark of the student’s membership in the Belmont Hill community.
  • Chapel: Originally built in 1840, Hamilton Chapel stood in Connecticut for 123 years before moving to Belmont Hill. The school’s historic, nonsectarian place of assembly provides an intimate setting for the community to elevate conversations surrounding character. Chapel Talks invite boys to hear voices, perspectives, and thought-provoking lessons that expand their development as young men beyond the classroom. Featured speakers including the head of school, faculty, students, and special guests deliver messages that range from life lessons, to timely topics of the day, to words of encouragement. Messages from Chapel Talks are often profound and enduring, resonating with the boys long after their days on the Hill. To explore the rich history of the chapel, visit the display on its lower level.