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Since its founding in 1797, Deerfield Academy has provided a unique and challenging opportunity for young people. Deerfield Academy is a vibrant learning community nurturing high standards of scholarship, citizenship, and personal responsibility. Through a demanding liberal arts curriculum, extensive cocurricular program, and supportive residential environment, Deerfield encourages each student to develop an inquisitive and creative mind, sound body, strong moral character, and commitment to service. The setting of the campus, which is rich in tradition and beauty, inspires reflection, study and play, the cultivation of friendships, and the growth of a defining community spirit.

The school’s 280-acre campus is located in the center of historic Deerfield, a restored Colonial village in rural western Massachusetts, 90 miles from Boston and 55 miles from Hartford. Only 20 minutes south is the five-college area that includes Amherst, Smith, Mount Holyoke, and Hampshire Colleges and the University of Massachusetts, providing rich cultural and intellectual resources.

A 26-member Board of Trustees is the Academy’s governing body. The endowment is valued at approximately $363 million. In 2007–08, operating expenses totaled $42.9 million, capital gifts amounted to $15.6 million, and Annual Giving was $5.7 million, with 48 percent of the 10,690 alumni participating.

Deerfield is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. It is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools, the Independent School Association of Massachusetts, and the Secondary School Admission Test Board.

Deerfield’s curriculum is designed to enable its students to assume active and intelligent roles in the world community. Courses and teaching methods are aimed at developing logical and imaginative thinking, systematic approaches to problem solving, clear and correct expression in writing and speech, and the confidence to pursue creatively one’s interests and talents. Students take five courses per trimester. Their schedules are planned individually in consultation with advisers and the Academic Dean.

Graduation requirements include English, 4 years; mathematics, 3 years; foreign language, 3 years of a language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Greek, Latin, or Spanish); history, 2 years (including 1 year of U.S. history); laboratory science, 2 years; fine arts, two terms; and philosophy and religious studies, one term. All sophomores take a one-term course in health issues. In addition, all new students take a required course in library skills. Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered in seven subject areas. Last year, 265 students sat for 523 AP exams. Ninety percent of the tests received qualifying scores of 3 or better. Independent study is offered in all departments.

During the spring term, seniors may engage in off-campus alternate-studies projects, ranging from working in a local hospital to serving as an intern for a member of Congress. Juniors may spend half of their year at the Maine Coast Semester, which combines regular classes with studies of environmental issues; at the Mountain School in Vermont; or at a boarding school in South Africa, Botswana, or Kenya. Sophomores and juniors may spend a semester at the Island School on Eleuthera in the Bahamas. The Swiss Semester in Zermatt is a program that gives sophomores an opportunity to study geology, European history, and foreign language at the foot of the Matterhorn. Deerfield participates in the School Year Abroad program in China, France, Italy, Spain, and India, which is available for juniors and seniors. Students may also choose one of seven exchange programs, including programs in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, and New Zealand. Summer opportunities are available in China, El Salvador, France, Greece, Italy, Peru, Spain, and Uruguay.

The average class size is 12. The overall faculty-student ratio is 1:5. Placement in AP courses, honors sections, and accelerated courses is based upon preparedness, ability, and interest. All students have study hours Sunday through Thursday evenings.

The school year is divided into three 11-week terms. Grades are sent at the end of each term and at midterm. In the fall and spring, the student’s academic adviser prepares a formal written report, commenting extensively on the student’s academic performance, attitude, work habits, dormitory life, and participation in athletics and cocurricular activities and as a citizen of the school.

Grading is based on a numerical scale of 0 to 100; 60 is passing. The honor roll is made up of students with minimum averages of 87, and the high honor roll recognizes students with averages of 93 and above. Students in academic difficulty are reviewed by the Academic Standing Committee at the end of each term. Teachers are available during evenings, weekends, and free periods to assist students individually. In addition, the Study Center provides assistance in all academic areas each evening. Students can also get help from the Study Skills Coordinator.

The high quality of Deerfield’s faculty is the school’s greatest endowment. The faculty consists of 118 full- and part-time members (49 women and 69 men); 70 percent hold advanced degrees. Ninety percent reside on campus or live in the village of Deerfield. All faculty members act as advisers to students, coach sports, head tables in the dining hall, and serve on various committees. Teachers receive summer grants and time away from the Academy for advanced study, travel, and exchange teaching.

Dr. Margarita O’Byrne Curtis was appointed Head of School in July 2006. She earned her B.A. from Tulane, her B.S. from Mankato State, and a doctorate in romance languages and literature from Harvard.

College advising is coordinated by 4 college advisers. Beginning in their junior year, all students attend small-group discussions that help them make informed decisions about college. In mid-winter, every junior is assigned to an individual college adviser, who further develops, with parental consultation, a list of prospective colleges. In the fall of the senior year, college advisers assist students in narrowing their college choices and in making the most effective presentation of their strengths. During the fall, representatives of approximately 135 colleges visit the Academy for presentations and interviews.

Normally, sophomores and juniors take the PSAT in October. Juniors take the SAT Reasoning Test in January; SAT Subject Tests in December, May, and June; and Advanced Placement (AP) tests in May. Seniors, whenever advisable, take the SAT in the fall and additional AP tests later in the year. The midrange of SAT scores for the class of 2008 was 600–700 critical reading, 620–720 math, and 620–720 writing.

Of the 198 graduates in 2008, 182 are attending college; 16 students deferred admission to college for a year. Colleges attended by 4 or more students are 9 at Georgetown and Harvard; 8 at Brown, Trinity, and Yale; 7 at Bucknell and Middlebury; 6 at Dartmouth; 5 at Colgate and Cornell; and 4 at Boston College, Bowdoin, Colby, and Hamilton.

In fall 2008, Deerfield enrolled 600 students: 293 girls and 307 boys. There were 85 boarders and 16 day students in the ninth grade, 140 boarders and 18 day students in the tenth grade, 145 boarders and 22 day students in the eleventh grade, and 150 boarders and 24 day students in the twelfth grade (including 24 postgraduates). Recognizing that diversity enriches the school, the Academy seeks to foster an appreciation of difference. To that end, international students made up 11 percent of the student body, and those from minority groups made up 25 percent. Deerfield students came from thirty-four states and twenty-four countries.

In all communities, a healthy tension exists between the need for individuality and the need for common values and standards. A community’s shared values define the place, giving it a distinct sense of itself. In all facets of school life, Deerfield strives to teach that honesty, tolerance, compassion, and responsibility are essential to the well-being of the individual, the school, and society. Deerfield Academy is a residential community in which students learn to conduct themselves according to high standards of citizenship. Expectations for students are clear, and the response to misbehavior is timely and as supportive as possible of the students involved.

Deerfield’s campus has eighty-one buildings. The Frank L. Boyden Library has a collection of more than 85,000 books, periodicals, and films. Most of the library’s collection is accessible via a fully integrated online catalog. The Koch Center, a new, state-of-the-art 80,000-square-foot center for science, mathematics, and technology, includes a new planetarium; thirty classroom and laboratory spaces, including dedicated spaces for independent research; a 225-seat auditorium; the Star Terrace; and a central atrium.The Memorial Building contains the main auditorium, Hilson Gallery, Russell Gallery, the student-run FM radio station, art studios, a black-box theater, a dance facility, and music recital and practice rooms.

There are seventeen dormitories. Faculty members live in apartments attached to each dorm corridor and maintain a close, supportive relationship with students. Two senior proctors also live on the freshman and sophomore corridors. Eighty percent of the boarding students have single rooms.

The fifteen-bed health center, Dewey House, is staffed full-time by a physician and registered nurses.

Participation in sports–at the student’s level of ability–is the athletic program’s central focus. The Academy fields interscholastic teams in baseball, basketball, crew, cross-country, field hockey, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, skiing, soccer, softball, squash, swimming, tennis, track, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling. Supervised recreational activities include aerobics, cycling, dance, skiing, squash, strength training, tennis, and an outdoor skills program.

Deerfield’s gymnasium complex contains three basketball courts; a wrestling arena; an indoor hockey rink; a fitness center; the Dewey Squash Center, a 16,000-square-foot facility housing ten international squash courts and tournament seating; and the largest preparatory school natatorium in New England, which includes an indoor, eight-lane, 25-yard pool with a separate diving well. Ninety acres of playing fields include three football fields, twelve soccer/lacrosse fields, three field hockey fields, eighteen tennis courts, a major-league-quality baseball field, a softball field, paddle tennis courts, a new boathouse and crew facility, and a new eight-lane track. Two synthetic turf fields were added in the summer of 2008.

Deerfield students and faculty members are extraordinarily productive in the performing and visual arts. Musical groups include wind ensemble, chamber music, jazz ensemble, brass choir, madrigal singers, a cappella groups, and the Academy Chorus. Many opportunities exist for acting as well. In addition to the three major theater productions each year, plays and scenes are also performed by advanced acting classes. Students who are interested in dance may explore modern, jazz, and ballet, with the opportunity to perform all three terms.

Cocurricular organizations include WGAJ-FM, Peer Counselors, the Diversity Task Force, Amnesty International, and debate, photography, and political clubs. Outing groups offer opportunities to ski, rock climb, and bike on weekends. Publications include an award-winning campus newspaper, the yearbook, and literary publications.

Students provide service as tutors, dormitory proctors, tour guides, and waiters in the dining hall. Students serve responsibly on various standing and ad hoc administrative committees and play an especially important role on the disciplinary committee. Students are also involved in various community service projects. The Community Service program encourages Deerfield students and faculty members to broaden their perspectives by sharing with and learning from people of different ages, abilities, cultures, and economic backgrounds. Ongoing projects include mentoring at nearby schools, volunteering in shelters and day-care centers, tutoring, organic farming and on-campus recycling, visiting nursing homes, and sponsoring Red Cross blood drives. Some students also serve as Big Brothers or Big Sisters to local youth.

Students normally take five courses each term, and each course meets four times per week. The length of a class period ranges from 45 to 70 minutes. Classes begin at 8:30 and end at 3, except on Wednesday, when classes end at 12:30 and are followed by cocurricular activities. Classes do not meet on Saturdays. One morning a week, students and faculty members gather together for a school meeting, and students and faculty members attend seven family-style meals per week. All sports and drama activities take place after classes. Clubs and cocurricular groups meet between dinner and study hours or on weekends.

Students study in their dormitory rooms between 7:45 and 9:45 p.m., Sunday through Thursday. They may also study in the library, perform laboratory experiments, or seek help from a faculty member or the student tutoring service. During the school week, the curfew for freshmen and sophomores is 7:45 p.m.; for juniors and seniors, it is 9:45 p.m.

In addition to athletic events on Saturday afternoon, there are films, theatrical productions, and musical performances. Social activities, sponsored by the Student Activities Committee and chaperoned by faculty members, include coffeehouses, talent shows, concerts, and dances. Deerfield’s rural setting and extensive athletic facilities are ideal for recreational hiking, rock climbing, skiing, swimming, ice skating, and other activities.

The Academy Events Committee plans and sponsors weekend events throughout the school year. The Robert Crow Lecture Series brings to the Academy leaders in politics, government, education, science, and journalism. Students attend concerts and film series. Art exhibitions and numerous dramatic productions provide recognition for promising young artists, photographers, and actors. Students also have access to cultural programs in the five-college area.

Freshmen may take two weekends off campus in the fall term and three each in the winter and spring terms; sophomores may take two weekends in fall, three in winter, and an unlimited number in spring; juniors and seniors in good standing may take unlimited weekends. On weekends, the curfew for freshmen and sophomores is at 10:30 p.m. on Friday and 11 on Saturday. For juniors and seniors, Friday curfew is at 11; Saturday curfew is at 11:30.

For 2008–09, the cost for boarding students was $39,275; for day students, it was $28,200. Additional fees were $1815 for books, infirmary, and technology. Parents are asked to maintain a drawing account of $75 for their child’s personal expenses. Tuition is payable in two installments–on August 1 and December 1. A $1500 deposit (credited to the August tuition bill) is due within four weeks of the student’s acceptance by Deerfield.

Deerfield awards financial aid to 36 percent of its students. Grant aid totals $6.1 million for the current academic year; grants, based on demonstrated need and procedures established by the School and Student Service for Financial Aid, range from $2500 to full tuition.

Deerfield maintains rigorous academic standards and seeks a diverse student body–geographically, socially, ethnically, and racially. Selection is based upon academic ability and performance, character and maturity, and promise as a positive community citizen. The Admission Committee closely examines candidates’ teacher and school recommendations, standardized test scores, and personal essays.

The SSAT or ISEE is required of applicants for grades 9 and 10 and should be taken during an applicant’s current academic year. The SSAT, ISEE, or PSAT is required for eleventh-grade applicants, and the SAT or ACT is required for twelfth-grade and postgraduate candidates. The TOEFL may be taken in place of the aforementioned tests by students for whom English is not their first language.

Deerfield Academy does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, handicap, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin in its admissions policies or financial aid programs.

Applicants normally visit the Academy in the year prior to the proposed date of entrance. Campus tours and interviews are conducted from 8:30 a.m. to 2:20 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; from 8 to 11:45 on Wednesday; and at 9, 10, and 11 on Saturday. Weekdays are preferable. The applicant is sent formal application papers during the fall. The completed application–including teacher recommendations, the school transcript, and essays–should be postmarked no later than January 15. Applicants receive notification of the admission decision on March 10. The candidate reply date is April 10.

Patricia L. Gimbel
Dean of Admission and Financial Aid
Deerfield Academy
Deerfield, Massachusetts 01342, United States
Telephone: 413-774-1400