From 1886 to 1930, Manter Hall served as a combination prep and tutoring school. Originally founded on the former site of As You Like It at Mass Ave. and Holyoke Street, the all-boys prep school had boarding facilities on the top floor. In 1927, the school moved to its present location.

Up until about 1940, Manter Hall also tutored students for the special entrance exam administered by Harvard. "Anyone who failed these exams could take courses over the summer at Manter Hall," the director explains. "They could retake the entrance exams until they finally got into Harvard." The school ceased to offer this service after 1940, as a result of the dramatic increase in Harvard applications and the advent of standardized college boards.

Manter Hall also gave review courses for Harvard exams to students who had not done their work or could not understand it. Among those who participated in these review sessions were Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. '37 and his brother Jimmy '26. During World War II, those about to be drafted into the army could review for the aviation cadets exam there.

Manter Hall still operates a tutoring program of sorts today. On Saturday mornings, students fill the school to take classes in reading and special preparation for the college boards. About one-quarter of those who attend these sessions are Manter Hall students. The school also operates a similar program over the summer.

Hall runs the school to "maximum efficiency, "Schneider says, adding that it is not as busy as it once was, when it was full until late in the evening with tutoring programs. "I guess I like it," Schneider says of the school. "I'm very free to teach what I want, when I want, where I want. The lack of bureaucracy and meetings at Manter Hall appeals to Schneider, who feels that the absence of restrictions is the biggest advantage of teaching at Manter Hall. He calls the pay scales "low," however, and says that given a chance at a better paying job with as few problems, he would probably take it.

Schneider describes Manter Hall as "relatively strict, because you have to do your homework, you have to be neat." His winning smile flashing through his heavy beard, he notes that Manter Hall has few problems in comparison to public schools because "there is no threat to life and very little theft." He comments that most of the problems at Manter Hall center on individuals, rather than the administrative structure of the school.

Many of the students at Manter Hall agree that they are there for the small classes and special attention. A student from Boston speaks enthusiastically of the school. "Most of the kids in this school really know what's going on. Classes and the majority of teachers are good," he says.

The students' complaints center on Manter Hall's lack of facilities and physical plant. "We have no modern facilities," declares one girl. "The school's a dump. It's a fire hazard. We have only one janitor."

Many students object to the absence of extra-curricular activities, particularly athletics. The only sports sponsored by the school are occasional soccer games on a tract of land provided by Harvard. The school offers no recreational activities whatsoever for girls.

"I would definitely not recommend this school for girls," says one boy.

"You know what graduation is?" laughs one boy, "You stand on milk cartons in front of Elsie's." Many students eat their lunch at Elsie's because the school has no dining room. "After lunch, you can sometimes smell the garbage coming up through the window," one boy observes.

One girl feels that the discipline at Manter Hall is too strict. "You can't cut classes here," she complains. "If you're fifteen minutes late in the morning, they call your house, and the entire school knows about it." She feels that detentions are handed out too frequently for petty matters and objects to required study hall when she has no work. She also objects to the dress code, which prohibits blue jeans, halter tops, shorts, and short dresses. "Mr. Hall is too conservative, too old-fashioned," she complains.

Some students gripe about the teachers and the school's academic program. Several said that the school did not offer courses in areas which they were interested in. Some complained that most of the teachers did not care about students, adding, however, that there were some who were always willing to help them after school. "The students have no say in anything," one girl declares. "The teachers is always right and the kid never is."

Students say that they enjoy going to school in Harvard Square. "I love it. The people are so unique...This is the best place to go to school. I could sit out here for hours and watch the people go by," comments one girl.

Manter Hall students say that they have very little contact with Harvard. "We're not really involved," continues the same girl. "I've used Harvard libraries. Their libraries are really good." She feels that "you don't notice it, but Harvard does pass on a little education to you."

This "funny little school," as Schneider calls it, gazes down upon Mt. Auburn St. From its vantage point atop Elsie's, existing as an isolated, anonymous island in the midst of Harvard. The director emphasizes its virtues, just as predictably as students harp on its considerable defects. In a sense, Manter Hall students are sacrificing standard high school facilities for special attention that they could not receive elsewhere. As one student remarks, "It's a pain, but it's an education."