The Peddie School is a non-denominational, coeducational college preparatory school located on a campus in Hightstown, New Jersey, United States that serves boarding and day students in the ninth through twelfth grades, as well as post-graduates. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1928.Peddie School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed February 10, 2022.
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 516 students and 71.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 7.2:1.School data for Peddie School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed September 1, 2025. For the 2023–24 school year, the school had an acceptance rate of 22%. Sixty-two percent of students resided on campus, and the average class size was 12."Peddie School", Private School Review, 2022. Accessed December 11, 2023.
History The Peddie School was founded in 1864 as the Hightstown Female Seminary, an American Baptist school. Later that year, boys were admitted and it changed its name for the first time, to New Jersey Classical and Scientific Institute. In 1872, it became the Peddie Institute in honor of philanthropist and politician Thomas B. Peddie, who gave the school $25,000 (equivalent to $ in )."At 150, Peddie Readies a Party; In 1872, a Hightstown prep school was saved by the intervention of a wealthy immigrant named Thomas B. Peddie. Today the establishment, renamed for its white knight, is thriving.", New Jersey Monthly, January 30, 2014. Accessed February 10, 2022. "The year was 1872. The New Jersey Classical and Scientific Institute, a Baptist preparatory school founded just eight years earlier in Hightstown, was on shaky financial ground. Enrollment was down, and the school was suffering from a severe lack of funds. A white knight was needed—and one materialized in the person of Thomas B. Peddie..... Moved by the school’s plight and his commitment to Baptist values, Peddie stepped up with a $25,000 donation. That gave the school a new lease on life and a new name: the Peddie Institute." In 1923, the school was formally renamed the Peddie School.
Peddie remained coeducational until 1908, when, for social and economic reasons, it decided to begin admitting only boys. This decision was reversed in 1970 when girls began to be admitted again. The following year, Peddie's first female African-American student enrolled in the fall term.
In 1983, Walter Annenberg, class of 1927, made a gift of $12 million (equivalent to $ million in ) to Peddie, the largest donation to a secondary school at the time. Ten years later in 1993, Ambassador Annenberg topped his gift when he made the groundbreaking donation of $100 million (equivalent to $ million in ), allowing it to expand its facilities, financial aid, and teachers' compensation and housing; prior to the Annenberg donation, the school's endowment totaled $17 million.Jordan, Mary."Billionaire Annenberg To Donate $365 Million In Cash To 4 Schools", The Washington Post, June 20, 1993. Accessed May 27, 2022. "Billionaire Walter H. Annenberg has decided to give $365 million in cash to four schools, including $100 million to his high school alma mater, a New Jersey preparatory school that calls the gift a "Cinderella story." In addition to the gift for the Peddie School, whose operating budget is $8 million, the retired publisher is giving $120 million each to the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California, where there are schools of communication in his name.... Before this gift, Peddie's endowment was $17 million."
It is a member of Mid-Atlantic Boarding School Group (MABS).
Heads of School Heads of school include: Edgar and Edwin Haas (1865–1868) Hiram A. Pratt (1869–1875) Laroy F. Griffin (1875–1876) E. P. Bond (1876–1877) E. J. Avery (1881) John Greene (1882–1889) Herbert Ellsworth Slaught (1889–1892) Joseph E. Perry (1892–1898) Roger W. Swetland (1898–1934) Wilbour E. Saunders (1935–1949) Carrol O. Morong (1949–1964) Albert L. Kerr (1964–1977) F. Edward Potter Jr. (1977–1988) Anne L. Seltzer (1988–1989) Thomas A. Degray (1989–2001) John F. Green (2001–2013) Peter A. Quinn (2013–2025) James A. Hamilton (2025-present)
Academics Peddie utilizes a trimester program, in which the academic year is divided into Fall, Winter, and Spring terms that each consist of roughly 10 weeks. Classes run from Monday to Friday with Saturday classes every other week.
Many courses offered at Peddie are full-year courses, running from Fall to Spring term, with electives running for one to two terms. The majority of students take five or six courses each term. Select students may take seven courses at a time. Students take a required curriculum of English, history, mathematics, and science courses, as well as arts and foreign language courses required to graduate. They supplement these with electives of their choosing in fields of interest. Additionally, Peddie students are required to participate in after-school activities throughout the year, including sports, theater productions, volunteer opportunities, and clubs.
Signature Experience Program Peddie offers a signature experience to all students that allows them to conduct research in subjects including STEM, language, creative writing, computer science, Asian studies, the arts, and any interdisciplinary interests. Students begin to design their program during their junior year, with them conducting research and traveling during the summer between their junior and senior years. Each year, students who participate in programs present their research to students and faculty during their senior year.
Testing Scores The class of 2025’s average SAT score was 1450. Peddie offers 35 subjects for Advanced Placement (AP). In the 2024-2025 school year, 292 students participated in AP classes and exams. The average score on AP exams for a Peddie student is 4.53; 98% of Peddie students scored above a 3 on their AP exams.
Athletics
Peddie competes in the "Prep A" division of the New Jersey Independent School Athletic Association (NJISAA), with The Lawrenceville School, Hun School of Princeton, Blair Academy, Saint Benedict's Preparatory School and other New Jersey preparatory schools depending on the sport. Peddie has graduates competing at the collegiate level in swimming, wrestling, basketball, track, crew, baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, golf, and tennis. The school mascot is the falcon.Peddie School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
The girls' track team won the New Jersey indoor track Non-Public/Prep state championship in 1928 and 1929.Girls Winter Track and Field Championship History: 1922-2023, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated November 2023. Accessed February 1, 2024.
Football rivalry Peddie's rival is Blair Academy, and the two schools compete every year during the second week of November for the Potter-Kelley Cup.Tatu, Christina. "Peddie School takes top prize at annual Peddie Day tradition", New Jersey Herald, January 23, 2009. Accessed June 26, 2011. "Not the chilly weather, the spitting rain or the four-hour drive from his home in Annapolis, Md., could keep 89-year-old Art Richmond from Blair Academy's 105th annual Peddie Day, a day of sporting events between its rival the Peddie School in Hightstown." The day of the football competition, which alternates yearly between campuses, is known as Blair Day at Peddie (and Peddie Day at Blair). The game between the two schools is the oldest football rivalry in New Jersey and ranks among the oldest in the country.Staff. "Hill-Hotchkiss, Peddie-Blair Battles Head Important Schoolboy Football Card Today", The New York Times, November 13, 1936. Accessed October 25, 2018. "The Blair-Peddle contest at Hightstown. NJ. will extend the oldest prep school rivalry in New Jersey. Blair and Peddle will meet for the thirty-fourth time since their uninterrupted series began in 1903."Staff. "Undefeated Blair Academy football team preps for 105th contest in annual rivalry against Peddie", Warren Reporter, November 7, 2008. Accessed July 6, 2011. "Since 1903, Blair Academy and The Peddie School have competed in football - a rivalry that constitutes New Jersey's oldest continuous prep football competition."
Crew Peddie's crew team was first recognized on the national stage in 1993, when the men's midweight 4+ won a Youth National Championship title in Occaquan, VA. This feat was nearly repeated three years later, with Peddie coming in second in the same event by less than half a second. In 2006, the Peddie Girls' Varsity Four won the United States Youth National Championship, a regatta hosting the strongest club and scholastic teams in the nation. They won again in 2007, defending their U.S. Youth National Regatta title. In 2008, Peddie's Girls' Varsity Four placed third in their division at the Head of the Charles Regatta and returned to the Youth National in Ohio, placing second. The men's varsity four also traveled to Ohio, placing twelve in the Varsity Lightweight Four event. In 2009 the girls and boys returned to the National Championships. The girls regained their first place position, and the men placed sixth in the Petite Final of the Heavyweight Varsity Four. The women then continued on to the Henley Women's Regatta in England, setting a course record on their way to the final and eventually placing second.Cohen, Lynda. "Egg Harbor Township girls' rowing team loses final race at England's Henley Regatta", The Press of Atlantic City, June 21, 2010. Accessed July 6, 2011. "The EHT girls lost at the Henley Women's Regatta on Sunday in a battle that pushed them and the winning crew past the finish line about 6 seconds faster than last year's record time set by the Peddie School of Princeton."
Swimming Peddie's swimming program has and continues to be nationally ranked. The boys swimming team won the New Jersey Non-Public state championship in 1951.NJSIAA Boys and Girls Team Swimming History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. Peddie School swimmers (students or alumni) have represented their nations in every Olympics since 1992. The team has won the Swimming World Mythical National Championships eight times, including the inaugural boys' and girls' independent-school titles in 1977 and 1982. The teams of the early 1990s won back-to-back boys' and girls' Mythical titles in 1990 and 1991. The 1994-95 team was the only team ever to lead the nation in all six relays. In 2007 both the girls' and boys' teams claimed first place at the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships held at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During the 2007 championships, Peddie broke three national independent-school records in the girls' relay events. In 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 the Peddie's boys swim team won the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships, continuing their success.Staff. "Hill swimmers have record weekends" , The Mercury, February 15, 2011. Accessed July 6, 2011. "The Hill School swim teams closed out the season with the 111th Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Divings Championships, last weekend at the La Salle University's Kirk Natatorium.... The Hill boys' team placed 17th, and Peddie School won the boys' team title."
Basketball