As a boarding student at Bard Academy, you’ll be immersed in community that shares a love of learning.
Boarding school offers experiences for growth in all areas of life. You will spend your days in an environment rich with resources. At Bard Academy, we hold students closely within a full liberal arts college campus — with all of the freedom and opportunity that affords, along with the greater support and direction appropriate for students in 9th and 10th grade. Bard Academy attracts students who desire expansiveness and challenge, and we nourish and celebrate these students.
You will make your home in Hill House, a long with your classmates. With three adult residence directors, Hill House is a safe and supportive environment. Students share this accessible, bright space, with room for sleeping and studying, talking about ideas, watching movies, playing games, or even baking a cake. Faculty also drop in for activities or house meetings.
Outside Hill House, the dining hall just a few steps away. In fact, you can walk the whole length of our wooded, village-like campus in about ten minutes, but nothing is limiting about the facilities and resources you’ll find along the way. You and your classmates can create performances in the Daniel Arts Center, which features a 300-seat theater, dance studio, and production facilities dedicated to every form of art and media, or you might join a club or sports team playing at the Kilpatrick Athletic Center that’s equipped with an eight-lane pool with a sauna, a fitness center, aerobics studio, gymnasium, squash and racquetball courts, tennis courts, and a rock climbing wall.
In the evening, you can visit Rock Cafe (the evening snack bar in the Student Union next door to Hill House) or drop in to “Thinking on the Hill,” a study group where you can find support from a faculty member or tutor. You might do some research or just find a quiet space to study at the library.
Campus is just a few minutes from the lively downtown of Great Barrington, MA, named the “Best Small Town in America” by Smithsonian Magazine. It’s in the heart of the Berkshires, an area known for its natural beauty and rich cultural life. There is plenty to explore and there is regular shuttle service between downtown and campus during late afternoon and early evening hours.