All students are required to participate in athletics. A three-day orientation offers the Academy's newest teachers a taste of Exeter. Among its graduates are the authors John Irving and Dan brown, the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, and others. Phillips Exeter Academy, which for several years was the town’s top property taxpayer, came in second highest, paying $782,087 in 2012 (36 % of the Academy’s property was taxable). It accommodates worship for "twelve religious traditions including Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Quaker, Buddhist, Catholic among others"[91] as well as Secular Humanism.