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| Deerfield Academy | |
|---|---|
 Main school building | |
| Location | |
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7 Boyden Lane , 01342 United States | |
| Coordinates | 42°32′47.19″N72°36′19.06″W / 42.5464417°N 72.6052944°W /42.5464417; -72.6052944 |
| Information | |
| Former name | Deerfield Academy and Dickinson High School (1876-1923) |
| Type | Independent,boarding andday school |
| Motto | Be Worthy of Your Heritage |
| Religious affiliation | Nonsectarian |
| Established | 1797 |
| CEEB code | 220685 |
| Head of school | John Austin |
| Faculty | Approx. 150 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Enrollment | Approx. 650 |
| Campus size | 330 acres (130 ha) |
| Campus type | Rural |
| Colors | Hunter green and white |
| Team name | Big Green |
| Rivals | |
| Newspaper | The Deerfield Scroll |
| Yearbook | The Pocumtuck |
| Endowment | $920 million (September 2024) |
| Tuition | $74,440 (boarding) $53,860 (day) |
| Affiliations | |
| Website | deerfield.edu |
Deerfield Academy (often calledDeerfield orDA) is anindependentcollege-preparatory boarding and day school inDeerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of theEight Schools Association and theTen Schools Admission Organization.
Deerfield Academy was founded in 1797 when Massachusetts governorSamuel Adams granted a charter to found a school "for the promotion of Piety, Religion & Morality, & for the Education of Youth in the liberal Arts & Sciences, & all other useful Learning."[3] Having opened its doors to students in 1799, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States.[4][5]
The academy was established in the remote town of Deerfield, at the time "the principal [European] settlement on the western frontier."[6] A Mr. John Williams organized a coalition of local grandees, including future U.S. congressmenEbenezer Mattoon andSamuel Taggart,[3] to raise $1,300 to build a school house and another $1,400 for anendowment.[7] From the start, Deerfield educated both boys and girls.[8]
Like many early "boarding" academies in New England, Deerfield did not have its own dormitories when it opened, and out-of-town students were required to rent rooms from local families. Deerfield did not open its first dormitory for another ten years.[9] Even so, the newly opened academy was able to attract many students from the surrounding area; of the school's first 269 students, only 68 were from the town of Deerfield.[10] At the turn of the nineteenth century, Deerfield had over 100 students.[11] Early Deerfield graduates occupied manycongressional andgubernatorial seats inNew England.[citation needed]
Deerfield became a semi-public school in 1859, after theMassachusetts legislature ordered the town of Deerfield to establish a free public high school.[12] In 1876, the academy was reincorporated as theDeerfield Academy and Dickinson High School,[13] after local resident Esther Dickinson left the town $50,000 to build a new academic building (since demolished) and town library.[14] As late as the 1920s, the academy was still relying on tax revenue from the town.[15]
Despite the town's financial support, the academy was in deep financial trouble by the end of the 19th century. Industrialization had depopulated large portions of western Massachusetts, depriving the academy of many potential students. From 1880 to 1900, thepopulation of the town of Deerfield nearly halved, falling from 3,543 to 1,969. When headmasterFrank Boyden arrived in 1902, there were only fourteen students left,[11] and the boarding department had already shut down.[16]
In 1902, Deerfield hired the 22-year-old Frank Boyden as its new headmaster. Its financial position was so precarious that Boyden was the only person willing to apply for the job.[11] Boyden revitalized the academy by transforming it into a private, boys-onlycollege-preparatory boarding school that drew its students not from the surrounding area but the entire country.
Boyden gradually rebuilt the academy's enrollment, invested in teacher salaries,[17] and developed strong relationships with college administrators. (According to one story, a strong recommendation from Boyden could get a student intoPrinceton University even if Princeton had already decided to reject him.[18]) He restored Deerfield's boarding department in 1916, hoping to attract wealthy families whose tuition payments could rescue the school's financial situation.[19] To attract boarders to what was essentially a brand-new school, Boyden hired advertising executiveBruce Barton to pitch Deerfield to prospective parents as "the cradle ... of the New England conscience,"[20] and popularized "[t]he notion of the Deerfield Boy ... intelligent, but more important[ly], well-rounded, ... plac[ing] a high value on ethics, morals and sportsmanship."[21] By 1923, Deerfield had 140 students, including 80 boarders.[22]
A capable fundraiser, Boyden saved Deerfield a second time in 1923, when the town exiled Deerfield from the public school system in favor of the brand-newFrontier Regional School inSouth Deerfield.[14][17] When Deerfield was re-privatized, the headmasters ofExeter,Taft, andAndover raised $1.5 million from their own alumni to save Deerfield from extinction.[23] They also boosted Deerfield's enrollment by referring students that they had expelled to Boyden, who had reportedly established a reputation for rehabilitating such students.[24] (Boyden may have welcomed the change, because "Deerfield's rising population of immigrant Polish farmers" conflicted with his desire "to maintain the school as aYankee institution"; he told a colleague that Deerfield needed a boarding department "to help settle the Polish problem."[25][26] However, Exeter principalLewis Perry—a personal friend of Boyden's—pushed back against the suggestion that Boyden was uninterested in educating Poles, writing that Boyden had "put a good many Polish boys and girls" through Deerfield.[17])
As Deerfield grew more prominent, it moved away from its public-school roots. Academic James McLachlan said that Boyden built "an essentially new and different institution [] on a moribund foundation."[27] In Boyden's early years, Deerfield "w[as] comparatively inexpensive, drew [its] students from a broader social spectrum, and imposed a less Victorian regimen" thanEpiscopal Church schools such asSt. Paul's,Groton, andKent.[28] By 1928, 30 out of Deerfield's 185 students were on scholarship, and as a further democratizing measure, the scholarship students' identities were kept secret.[29] However, the academy's rising reputation also attracted the attention of major donors from around the country, includingNelson Rockefeller andJohn Gideon Searle, who sent their children to Deerfield.[30] By 1940, Deerfield was charging higher tuition than even St. Paul's and Groton,[31] and as many as 75% of Deerfield students had attended private middle schools.[32] (The latter fact displeased Boyden, and by the 1960s the academy boasted that 75% of its incoming students had attended a public school.[32]) Deerfield also discontinued coeducation in 1948, after educating girls for over 150 years.[33]
Boyden retired in 1968.[5] When he died in 1972, theNew York Times wrote that he had taken over "a dying village institution and made it a notable preparatory school," and that he was "the best known American headmaster of his times."[16]
David M. Pynchon was appointed headmaster after Boyden, serving from 1968 to 1979.[34] He was succeeded by Robert Kaufmann, who readmitted girls to Deerfield in 1989 after a 41-year absence.[33] At the time, Deerfield was renowned as "the last of the big New England all-male prep schools" (most of its peer schools began admitting girls in the 1960s and early 1970s), and the all-male student body protested the decision when it was announced.[21][35]
Eric Widmer '57 served as headmaster from 1994 to 2006. He stepped down in June 2006 to foundKing's Academy inMadaba,Jordan, a school backed by Deerfield alumnusKing Abdullah II of Jordan, and partially inspired by the King's years at Deerfield in the 1980s.[5][36][37] Deerfield then tappedAndover dean Margarita Curtis as its first female Head of School.[38] During her thirteen years at Deerfield, the endowment increased by $250 million and the academy spent $140 million on new buildings and renovations.[39] The current head of school is John Austin, the former head of school atKing's Academy.[40]
The academy has maintained its strong reputation in the 21st century. It has been described as an "elite boarding school" by theNew York Times,[41] "one of the nation's ... most elite boarding schools" by theBoston Globe,[42] and "an elite private school" by theAssociated Press.[43]
Deerfield's admission rate was 17% in 2024.[44] In previous years it has been as low as 13%.[45] The academy's 650 students come from 32 states and 42 countries. 17% of students are international, and 44% identify as students of color.[45]
In 2004 an alumnus revealed to Deerfield's then-headmasterEric Widmer that he had beensexually abused in the winter of 1983 by faculty member Peter Hindle.[46] Widmer responded sympathetically but did not press for details.[46] A parent had previously raised concerns about Hindle to the academy in the 1980s, and Deerfield had responded with written and verbal warnings.[47] Nearly a decade later in 2012, the alumnus raised the matter again, this time with the new headmaster Margarita Curtis, who he says "displayed clear moral authority and offered unconditional support from the start."[46]
An investigation by the academy's lawyers confirmed the allegations and uncovered more: In late March 2013 the academy published information that two former faculty members had engaged in multiple sexual contacts with students: Peter Hindle (who taught at Deerfield from 1956 to 2000), and Bryce Lambert (who retired in 1990 and died in 2007).[47][48][49] The school stripped Hindle's name from an endowed mathematics teaching chair and a school squash court, and barred him from campus events.[46][48] A subsequent criminal investigation by the District Attorney's office revealed that at least four teachers—three deceased and one still alive—had engaged in sexual conduct considered "criminal in nature" with students extending back into the 1950s. Their deaths, and the statute of limitations, precluded criminal charges.[50]
Deerfield spokesman David Thiel said "I think you saw from us an amount of transparency when this came to light that was unusual, and I hope that sets a good example for institutions and helps to assure that students are safer everywhere."[50]
In the 2024–25 school year, Deerfield charged boarding students $74,440 and day students $53,860. 40% of the student body was on financial aid, and the average boarding aid grant was $60,850 (i.e., 82% of the total cost of attendance).[51] 48 students (7.4% of the student body) were on full scholarships.[44]
In September 2024, Deerfield announced that going forward, domestic students with household incomes under $150,000 will attend Deerfield for free, and domestic students with household incomes under $500,000 will have their tuition capped at 10% of household income.The Wall Street Journal noted that $150,000 was "almost double the median U.S. household income" at the time.[44] Although this policy does not apply to international students, Deerfield commits to meet 100% of an admitted international student's demonstrated financial need.[51] However, at Deerfield (as with most boarding schools), requesting financial aid may affect an applicant's chances of admission.[51] In 2024, the head of school stated that Deerfield is "moving fast in [the] direction" ofneed-blind admissions.[52]
Deerfield'sfinancial endowment stands at $920 million as of September 2024.[44] In itsInternal Revenue Service filings for the 2021–22 school year, Deerfield reported total assets of $1.17 billion, net assets of $1.07 billion, investment holdings of $829.9 million, and cash holdings of $33.5 million. Deerfield also reported $61.6 million in program service expenses and $13.4 million in grants (primarilystudent financial aid).[53]
Deerfield's endowment has rapidly increased in recent years. From December 2018 to June 2022, the endowment increased from $590 million to $791 million.[54][55] In 2022, Deerfield announced thatTelevisa vice-chairman Rodolfo Wachsman '53 had left Deerfield $80 million in his will; it is the largest donation in the academy's history.[56]
Deerfield follows a trimester system, in which the school year is divided into three academic grading periods. Deerfield students take a full liberal arts curriculum, including English, history, foreign language, mathematics, laboratory science, visual and performing arts, and philosophy and religion. However, required courses are kept at a minimum to allow students to take more courses in the subjects that interest them most.[57]
Most courses last the entire year, but some can last for one to two terms. The required course load is five graded courses per term, but students may petition the Academic Dean to take a sixth graded course if desired.[58] There are no Saturday classes, and classes are held from Monday to Friday, typically from 8:30 am to 2:55 pm. On Wednesdays, classes end at 12:45 pm to accommodate athletic events, as well as to provide more time for clubs and community service.[59]
Deerfield does not rank students. Academic work is graded on a scale where the minimum passing grade is 60 and the median grades are between 85 and 90. A trimester average of 90.0 or above garners Honors distinction, whereas a trimester average of 93.0 or above garners High Honors distinction.[60]
The Class of 2023's average combinedSAT score was 1382 and its average combinedACT score was 31. Although Deerfield no longer offersAdvanced Placement courses except in math and the arts, in the 2022–23 school year, students took 680 AP exams (for reference, there were 185 juniors and 162 seniors at Deerfield that year) and passed 93% of them.[61][62]
Source:[76]
Deerfield has 15 dormitories: Barton, Bewkes (now a faculty residence), DeNunzio, Field, Harold Smith, John Louis, John Williams, Johnson-Doubleday, Louis-Marx, Mather, McAlister, Pocumtuck, Rosenwald-Shumway, Scaife, the recently christened O'Byrne Curtis—named for retiring Head of School Margarita O'Byrne Curtis, and the newly constructed Simmons replacing Dewey. Every dorm is single-sex, and a faculty resident lives on each hall.[77] Juniors and seniors live together in the same dorms, whereas sophomores live in their own dorms. Since 2015, all 100 incoming ninth-graders have been housed together in the Ninth-Grade Village, which consists of two single-sex dormitories connected by a large common room.[78]
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