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Two–House System
Truly an ensemble! Both Upper School houses present an annual musical and all students participate as cast or crew members. Above, the Kestrel House performed Peter Pan Junior in December 2017.
In Upper School, Far Hills employs a “House System”. Because children can mature far too quickly in today's complex world, the two-house system pairs developmentally similar grades together for certain academic and social activities as well as FH annual musical productions. Grades 5–6 are combined in the Kestrel House and Grades 7–8 make up the Peregrine House. The result of the 2-house system is a gentle, intentional, age-appropriate migration from Lower School to Upper School's Kestrel House and Peregrine House to secondary school.
"The Kestrel House is more of a home because we are one big happy family with lots of brothers and sisters."
Kestrel House (Grades 5–6)
Our rising Grade 5 students are academically prepared for the exciting transition from Lower School to Upper School. As Kestrel House members, incoming Grade 5 students are immediately embraced with a sense of belonging and spirit.
Grade 6 provides mentorship and support to the newest kestrels as they navigate their way through an environment that includes new opportunities like athletics, clubs and committees.
Fun Fact: The Kestrel is the smallest species in the falcon family. Kestrels hunt as a family giving the young birds time to learn and practice their skills before having to survive on their own.
Peregrine House (Grades 7–8)
The term peregrine comes from the Latin word peregrinus meaning wanderer. After gathering in homeroom, students in Grades 7–8 travel to different classrooms based on their individual schedules in preparation for the freedoms and responsibilities they will manage in secondary school.
Secondary School Counseling is integrated into many Peregrine House activities. Read about our Secondary School Guidance here.
Fun Fact: The Peregrine Falcon is known to have one of the longest migrations and the species is found on every continent on the globe except Antarctica. They truly GO FAR.