Berwick Academy

Berwick Academy, situated on an 80-acre campus just over one hour north of Boston, serves 600 students, Pre-Kindergarten through grade 12, from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Deeply committed to its mission of promoting virtue and useful knowledge, Berwick Academy empowers students to be creative and bold. Berwick strives to graduate alumni who shape their own learning, take risks, ask thoughtful questions, and come to understand and celebrate their authentic selves. Founded in 1791 and rooted in a tradition of college preparation, our culture of innovation prepares students for a complex and dynamic world.

Berwick is a school community where it is cool to be smart, cool to be yourself, and cool to try. Berwick is as exciting as it is challenging, and as playful as it is hard working; a place where discovery is applauded and students are more than classmates - they’re friends. Walk across the campus and you’ll instantly feel it – this is more than a school; it is the convergence of three divisions, each with its own personality, but together forming a community that is uniquely Berwick.

Since its inception in 1791, Berwick has educated students through a purposeful blend of academics, arts, and athletics. The curriculum is traditional in its roots yet innovative in approach, fostering self-discipline, hard work, and healthy skill sets. Students here are encouraged to take risks, find their voice, and tap into the energy of campus life and community activities. Our Core Values:

• Berwick Academy constituents participate in a quest for balance that fundamentally defines our sense of community. We exist in a spiraling cycle of discovery, self-reflection, and growth. While each community member’s individualized journey towards this value is a personal work in progress, we share a common appreciation of the tensions that exist within our definition of this ideal.
• Berwick assumes that we all benefit from personal exploration, taking considered risks and genuinely diving into new endeavors. Community members are expected to stretch themselves in a myriad of ways.
• “Community” and “Excellence” are two of the most cherished principles at Berwick Academy. Academic excellence is central to the Berwick experience, but our community of high standards expects all constituents to be in a process of striving for their personal best in all areas of school life.
• Being a member of the Berwick community requires a deeply held commitment to being a person of character and to continually refining one’s ethical understanding of the world.

By 2020, Berwick Academy will become a nationally recognized coeducational day school. We seek this recognition for the unique qualities of the Berwick experience. Excellence at Berwick will continue to be attained by local Seacoast day students who stretch and engage in ways that catalyze achievement of their individual potential in all areas of school life. Berwick will be further distinguished in its peer group through its synergistic relationship with the values and priorities of Seacoast families, which include quality of life, balance, perspective, and authenticity.

This combination of national excellence and Seacoast values will result in Berwick being pursued by educators from across the nation and by prospective Seacoast students and families. Berwick Academy’s culture and first-rate facilities will be known as a reason for families to relocate to our area. Our graduates will be equipped to thrive at the finest and most diverse colleges and universities in the country, but they will be grounded by the core values of our community.

We will bring this vision to fruition by engaging the talent and resourcefulness of our exceptional students, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, and parent community. Together we will improve all aspects of the school with particular focus on enhancing our programs and bolstering financial durability. We will know that our vision has been realized when enrollment selectivity has increased substantially, net endowment has improved significantly, and other private day school educators routinely seek our input on teaching, finance, diversity, program, and campus development.

Berwick Academy affirms its commitment to creating an inclusive and welcoming community that celebrates the unique qualities of every individual while encouraging active engagement in a diverse world. We strive to support and attract students, faculty, staff, and administrators whose varied backgrounds, including race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, family composition, physical difference, and socioeconomic status strengthen our community. Through our curriculum, extracurricular activities, and community building efforts, we prepare students to become leaders who challenge preconceptions, value difference, and catalyze divergent ideas to realize Berwick’s mission of “promoting virtue and useful knowledge.”