Fay School

Fay School is a day and boarding school for students in Kindergarten through grade nine. While the School has grown and evolved since its founding in 1866, our central purpose has remained constant: we provide our students with the foundation for a meaningful life. Fay's broad and challenging program empowers students to discover their talents, develop their intellectual abilities, establish essential academic skills and knowledge, and define their moral character - all essential to living a life of meaning and making a positive difference in the world.

Our community is built on five core values: Academic Excellence, Honorable Conduct, Dedicated Service, Earnest Effort, and Wellness of Mind, Body, and Spirit. Our school motto, Poteris Modo Velis (“You can if you will”) highlights our community's emphasis on determination, effort, and resilience.

Fay School is located in Southborough, Massachusetts, 25 miles west of Boston. Nestled in the heart of a classic New England town, our campus offers the best of what a spacious rural campus has to offer while still being a short drive from one of the great cities of the world. Our 66-acre campus includes state-of-the-art classrooms, two libraries, athletic facilities, art studio space, music rooms, and an Innovation Lab for technology, engineering, and design. Our homelike dormitories for our boarding students feature comfortable bedrooms and common spaces, and faculty apartments to ensure 24-hour supervision and care.

Fay School’s boarding program, an option for seventh, eighth, and ninth graders, is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of junior boarders. Our boarding students come from across the United States and 24 countries: together, they learn and grow in an environment of care and respect, while developing essential life skills that foster independence and self-confidence. When Fay students graduate, they are well prepared for the challenges of secondary school and beyond. Click below to see the list of where our graduates attend secondary school, and hear from our community members.

Founded in 1866, Fay was the first junior boarding school in the United States. One of the first notices published by the school stated: “It is the earnest endeavor of the teachers to lay a foundation for education in its broadest sense.” This brief statement of purpose formed the basis of an educational philosophy that has remained consistent throughout the School’s history: to provide the foundation for a meaningful life.

This simple yet powerful concept has guided the School over time and remains at the heart of Fay’s identity. We believe strongly in our foundational role, and our dedicated faculty are experts in equipping our students with the essential tools that will facilitate their success in secondary school and beyond: strong academic skills, a spirit of inquiry, cross-cultural competence, creativity, poise, empathy, and grit.

When you visit our campus, you’ll see that our students embrace traditions that connect our community across generations—such as our dress code, family-style meals in our Dining Room, and our emphasis on manners and respect. You’ll meet members of our global community, which is composed of students from across the United States and 20 countries. You’ll experience the excitement of being in the classroom with teachers whose innovative lessons challenge and inspire. Most importantly, you’ll witness the exuberance of our students, who thrive in a web of supportive faculty, coaches, and advisors, and who find joy in striving to be their best selves.