[2] The school's list of notable alumni includes Harvard University president A. Lawrence Lowell, Nobel laureate George Minot, and two governors of Massachusetts.

In addition, Nobles previously operated an elementary school, which educated U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

"[9] The school primarily catered to members of the Episcopal Church; a 1954 alumnus recalled that when he was at Nobles, there were only two non-Episcopalian students.

[15]) The property had previously been the estate of Albert W. Nickerson, a Nobles grandparent, who had commissioned Frederick Law Olmsted to lay out the site.

[14] Nickerson's Richardsonian Romanesque mansion, popularly dubbed "the Castle," now serves as the school's dining hall.

In response, a coalition of Nobles parents (including Joseph Kennedy Sr.) started the Dexter School.

[18] Nobles is descended from various Boston college-preparatory day schools, all of which primarily prepared students for the Harvard College entrance examinations.

The curriculum of these schools was primarily classical, as until 1887, Harvard required applicants to study both Latin and Greek.

[19] Moreover, even after 1887, Harvard still required applicants to demonstrate either "an elementary working knowledge" of Latin and Greek, or advanced preparation in mathematics or natural sciences.

[20] In the nineteenth century, most public high schools lacked the resources to employ a classics teacher.

[21] By contrast, classically oriented private schools like Nobles and its predecessors were very successful at preparing students to pass Harvard's entrance exams.

[54] In contrast to Nobles' Episcopalian base, Milton historically educated Boston's Unitarian elite, giving a religious edge to the rivalry.

Since neither Milton nor Roxbury Latin sponsor rowing,[57][58] Nobles' primary crew rival is Groton School, a matchup dating back to 1922.