Concord Academy

Concord Academy ranks in the top fifteen U.S. boarding schools for student SAT scores and SSAT scores.[3] To foster love of learning and a noncompetitive environment, the school does not compute class rank and awards no academic, arts, athletic, or community awards during the school year or at graduation.[4]

The school eliminated all AP courses several years ago due to the lack of depth in their curricula. They were replaced by advanced courses designed by teachers, though the school still offers AP exams.[5] Eighty percent of the students taking an AP exam score a 4 or 5.[6]

Concord Academy – according to Niche 2020 rankings – is ranked the 9th best boarding school in the United States as well as the most diverse in its area.

The demographic breakdown of the 378 students registered for the 2013–14 school year was:[1]

• Asian – 23.3%
• Black – 2.6%
• Hispanic – 5.0%
• White – 61.7%
• Multiracial – 7.4%

Concord Academy students play on 28 teams in 23 sports; about 75 percent of students play on at least one team each year. Teams compete in the Eastern Independent League (EIL).[7]

The dress code at Concord Academy is casual. Boarding students live in three girls' houses and three boys' houses, each holding an average of 25 students.[8] A little more than a third of the day students commute to school on the MBTA Commuter Rail.[9] Day (commuting) students comprise 60% of student population and boarding students 40%.[10]

Students participate in a variety of clubs, performing arts groups, and other activities.[8] The campus is a short walk from restaurants and shops in Concord and students have easy access to Cambridge and Boston via the MBTA Commuter Rail.[11]

Concord Academy's primary campus is on 39 acres (16 ha) between Main Street and the Sudbury River in the center of Concord, Massachusetts. The campus includes eleven historic houses on Main Street, all built as family homes between 1780 and 1830. It is a three-minute walk from the center of Concord and a five-minute walk from the MBTA Commuter Rail stop in Concord.[11]

Among the campus buildings are the PAC (Performing Arts Center), the SHAC (Student Health and Athletic Center), the main school, the newly built CA Labs, and the MAC (Math and Arts Center). The Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel is a 19th-century meetinghouse that was transported to Concord from Barnstead, New Hampshire in 1956. It serves as a meeting place three times per week for the entire Concord Academy community.[12]

The new 13-acre Moriarty Athletic campus, a mile from the main campus, includes six tennis courts, a baseball field, a field hockey field, and two soccer/lacrosse fields. A field house contains changing rooms, a training room, and a common room with fireplace. These new facilities freed up space on the main campus for expansion of academic and arts facilities.[13]

Concord Academy was established as a school for girls in September 1922. Enrollment grew gradually from three in 1924 to 20 in 1948. The school's headmistress for the first 15 years was Elsie Garland Hobson, followed by Valerie Knapp (1937–40) and Josephine Tucker (1940–49). Tucker imposed the advisor system and ended the giving of prizes at commencement. Under Elizabeth Hall (1949–63), student population increased.

• 1981 – Thomas E. Wilcox named headmaster
• 1984 – Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel dedicated [14]
• 1987 – J. Josephine Tucker Library dedicated
• 2000 – Jacob A. Dresden named head of school
• 2004–05 – Renovation and expansion of Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel[14]
• 2007 – Purchase of additional 13.6-acre (55,000 m²) property near main campus
• 2009 – Richard Hardy named head of school; began July 1, 2009
• 2012 – Completion of the Moriarty Athletic Campus, located 1 mile from main campus
• 2017 – Renovation of the science center now known as CA Labs

• Drew Gilpin Faust – 28th president of Harvard University
• Caroline Kennedy – Ambassador to Japan, author, attorney, daughter of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
• Queen Noor of Jordan – Widow of King Hussein of Jordan
• Julia Glass – 2002 National Book Award-winning author of Three Junes and The Whole World Over.
• Charlie Grandy – Television writer, producer, winner of two Emmy Awards and two Writers' Guild Awards for Saturday Night Live; nominated for his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Office.
• Larry Goldings – Jazz pianist, organist, composer, and 2006 Grammy nominee for Best Jazz Instrumental Album Individual or Group for Trio Beyond - Saudades
• Caitlin FitzGerald – actress
• Rachel Morrison – cinematographer
• Le1f – Rapper and producer, known for work with Das Racist.
• Richard Read – Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Los Angeles Times national reporter.[15]
• Sarah Koenig – Journalist, radio personality, producer of This American Life and host of the acclaimed podcast Serial
• David Michaelis – Biographer, author, "Schulz and Peanuts," "N.C. Wyeth," "Eleanor." [16]
• Claudia Gonson – Founding member of the band Magnetic Fields
• Sam Davol – Founding member and cellist for the band Magnetic Fields
• Huntley Fitzpatrick – Author of My Life Next Door, What I Thought Was True, and The Boy Most Likely To.
• Sebastian Junger – Author of The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea; director of the documentaries Restrepo and Korengal.
• Lisa Dreier – Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative managing director.[17]
• Ed Droste – Founding member of the band Grizzly Bear
• Anita Lo – Award-winning chef.[18]
• Susan Minot – Author of Monkeys, Evening, and Folly
• Matt Taibbi – Columnist for Rolling Stone
• Theo Stockman – Broadway actor
• Laura Foley – Poet, author.[19]
• Julia Preston – Pulitzer Prize winner[16]
• Stephen Heymann – Former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
• Jody Heymann – AIDS research pioneer, global health and social policy advocate.[16]
• David L. Duffy – Author, Turbo Vlost thrillers.[20]
• Peter R. Fisher – U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance, 2001–2004
• Sarah Pillsbury – Emmy and Academy Award-winning producer [16]
• Edith Wilkie Edwards – Congressional staff member, Arms Control and Foreign Policy Caucus executive director.[21]
• Laura Powers-Swiggett – Artist.[22]
• Imani Perry – Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University.[16]
• Hilary B. Price – Cartoonist.[16]
• Alexandra Berzon – Pulitzer Prize winning journalist.[16]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Concord Academy.

• Concord Academy's Web site