Deerfield Academy
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| Headmaster | Margarita O'Byrne Curtis |
| School type | Private |
| Religious affiliation | None |
| Founded | 1797 |
| Location | Deerfield, MA, USA |
| Enrollment | 600 |
| Faculty | 110 |
| Campus surroundings | Rural |
| Mascot | None |
| School colors | Green and White |
Deerfield Academy is a private, coeducational boarding school located in Deerfield, Massachusetts. It is a four-year college-preparatory school with approximately 600 students and about 100 faculty, all of whom live on or near campus.
Deerfield is part of an organization known as The Ten Schools Admissions Organization. This organization was founded more than forty years ago on the basis of a number of common goals and traditions. Member schools include Deerfield, Choate Rosemary Hall, The Lawrenceville School, The Taft School, The Hill School, The Hotchkiss School, St. Paul's, Loomis Chaffee, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Phillips Academy.
In 2007, Deerfield's endowment was valued at $375 million, or roughly $630,000 per student.[citation needed] Tuition is $37,756 for boarding students and $27,642 for day students; the average annual expense is $65,000 per student.[citation needed] The acceptance rate for the 2007-2008 year was 16%.
History
Deerfield Academy was founded in 1797 when Massachusetts granted a charter to start a school in the town of Deerfield. The academy quickly established itself as one of the finest schools in the new republic, drawing boys from prominent families across New England.
Deerfield was never affiliated with a religion, but attendance at Congregationalist Church services was required by boarding students until the 1970s and school meetings included the singing of Christian hymns.
In the early twentieth century, Deerfield's fortunes rose with the appointment of Frank Boyden as Headmaster. At the time of Boyden's appointment as headmaster, the school was almost completely bankrupt. The prestige enjoyed by the school today is a direct result of the foundations he laid over seven decades, including having trained scores of men as teachers and headmasters in their own right. His success would not have been possible without the support and assistance of his wife, Helen Childs Boyden. After 66 years of service, Frank Boyden retired in 1968. Boyden's long career and legacy at Deerfield are reviewed in The Headmaster, (1966) by Deerfield alumnus John McPhee.
In 1989, the Academy reestablished co-education, which Boyden had discontinued during the 1940s.
Eric Widmer '57 served as headmaster from 1994 to 2006. He left to assume the position of Founding Headmaster at King's Academy in Madaba, Jordan, a school inspired in part by HM King Abdullah II '80's Deerfield years. It is scheduled to open in the fall of 2007.
The current Head of School, Dr. Margarita O'Byrne Curtis, previously Dean of Studies at Phillips Academy, is the first female to hold the position.
Co-curricular Activities
Students are required to do a co-curricular after class each semester. Some options include competitive or intramural sports, community service, dance, school play, yearbook, and many more. In addition, many students are involved in at least one of the more than 50 student-run clubs or organizations.
Sports
Deerfield plays interscholastic games against many other boarding schools throughout New England, including Phillips Andover, Phillips Exeter, Choate Rosemary Hall, Loomis Chaffee, Taft School, Hotchkiss School, and Northfield Mount Hermon. Traditionally, the Academy's rival in sports is Choate Rosemary Hall. The Fall athletics season culminates with Choate Day, which features matches with Choate at every level of every fall sport.
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Fall Sports
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Winter Sports
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Spring Sports
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See also
References
- Cooke, Brian P. Frank Boyden of Deerfield: The Vision and Politics of an Educational Idealist. Lanham, Md.: Madison Books (1994)
- Cookson, Peter W. Preparing For Power: America's Elite Boarding Schools (1985) (ISBN 0-465-06268-7)
- McLachlan, James. American Boarding Schools A Historical Study (1970)
- McPhee, John. The Headmaster: Frank L. Boyden (1966) ISBN 0-374-51496-8
- Moorhead, Andrea D. and Moorhead, Robert K. Deerfield, 1797-1997: A Pictorial History of the Academy (1997) (ISBN 0-9632800-1-5)