Each fall, Holderness students and faculty gather for a formal dinner and Honor Code signing. It signifies an important moment for the entire community; a recognition of the collective and commitment to each other based in honor and integrity. 

 More Than Just Rules 

The honor code is designed to guide every aspect of student life, not just academic integrity in the classroom. It’s a set of values students are expected to carry with them—on the playing fields, in the houses, and off campus in our larger community and in their own at home.

In the past, students were asked to sign a small contract confirming that they had read the student handbook–a practice that focused more on the rule-based side of the honor code. Today, our Honor Code signing is intended to do something deeper: to encourage students to view honor not as a list of rules to follow, but as a standard to live by.

The Honor Code

A code of honor supports the trust we place in each other.
It commits us to work together to create a community of honor and integrity.
Being honorable means doing what is right, even if no one will ever know,
and even if it comes at a personal cost. I pledge to demonstrate honor
by acting in the spirit and with the intention of honesty and integrity.
I pledge to uphold the Holderness School Honor Code in all situations,
whether they involve academics, athletics, or community life.

This year at the formal dinner and Honor Code signing, Claire '26–daughter of longtime faculty member Rick Eccleston, sister to Michael '28, and grand-daughter of the late Thomas "Tom" or "Bosco" Eccleston III–remarked on how honor is built into life at Holderness, even from a young age.

Claire Eccleston '26 shared her perspective on what
honor at Holderness means to her with students and faculty.

 The Lesson in the Quad 

At Holderness, there’s the unspoken rule that you don’t walk on the grass or cut across the quad. As kids, my brother and I never questioned it (and nor did we dare ask Fordo why!). Over time, I came to understand that it wasn’t about the grass at all. It was about something more profound: the idea that shortcuts erode character.

Choosing the longer path, even when no one is watching, is about respect, discipline, and doing things the right way.

I’ll never forget visiting colleges and noticing students casually cutting across lawns—it reminded me of what Holderness had quietly taught me: honor means taking the path, not the shortcut, in every area of life.

 A Childhood Shaped by Holderness 

Now, as the idea of leaving Holderness begins to sink in, I find myself filled with gratitude—for this place, for the people who shaped me, and for the chance to grow up here. For me, it is especially unique: I was born here, raised here, and now I will graduate here.

All of us, in our own way, will leave behind a unique mark. And what matters most is not the scores, the wins, or the grades. Those fade. What remains is how we made people feel and how we lived our lives.

Each of us has the chance to leave Holderness a little better than we found it. If we choose to live with honor—in the classroom, at school dances, at Proctor Day bonfires, or in the small, unseen moments of everyday life—we will carry forward a legacy of trust, respect, and community.

So I’ll leave you with this: when people look back on your time here, what will they remember about the kind of student, teammate, or friend you were?

My hope—for myself, and for all of us—is that we’ll be remembered as people who lived with honor, who made Holderness stronger, and who carried its spirit forward into the future.