The 2018-19 school year will be the 150th year for Manlius Pebble Hill School in DeWitt.
The school, located at 5300 Jamesville Road, began in 1869 as St. John’s School, which later became The Manlius School, a renowned military academy in Manlius that served as a feeder school for West Point.
In 1927, across town in DeWitt, The Pebble Hill School opened as a country day school for boys, becoming coed in 1952. In 1970, facing financial difficulties, the two schools formed an unlikely merger and Manlius Pebble Hill School was born.
The Manlius campus closed permanently in 1972 and then MPH took permanent residence at 5300 Jamesville Road, the former Pebble Hill campus.
Today, as the school opens its doors to returning students, it does so with an annual handshake
ceremony. In this long-standing tradition, faculty, staff and administrators line the walkway outside the school and greet each student with a handshake. After passing through the line, seniors are invited to join their teachers and they too, shake hands with all the students in grades Pre-K through 11.
