Suffield Academy
Suffield, Connecticut 06078
Telephone: 860-386-4440
Fax: 860-668-2966

saadmit@suffieldacademy.org
http://www.suffieldacademy.org

Enrollment:
Boarding: 145 Boys, 95 Girls
Day: 55 Boys, 75 Girls

Costs:
Tuition:
Boarding: $37,500
Day: $27,400

Suffield Academy
Suffield, Connecticut 06078

Overview
Challenge, structure, and support characterize Suffield Academy. A rigorous college-preparatory program in academics is supported by each student's ownership of a laptop computer, along with beautiful new facilities for music and the visual and performing arts, and extracurricular and athletic programs that round out each student's education. The school has a tradition of academic and athletic excellence and a deep sense of community spirit.

Founded as the Connecticut Literary Institution in 1833, the school became coeducational in 1843 and provided a traditional education for 100 years as both a private academy and the town's only public high school. It took the name of Suffield Academy in 1916 and after World War II became a fully independent boarding and day school for boys. In 1974, Suffield Academy returned to coeducation.

Suffield's strength lies in the personal concern and support shown for each student. The school emphasizes small classes and a structured academic program. In this setting, faculty members encourage students to take an active role in their education and to seek creative insights and solutions.

Each student is challenged intellectually, ethically, and physically to make the best use of his or her talents while developing a sound system of personal and social values.

The Academy's beautiful 350-acre campus is located in the historic residential town of Suffield, Connecticut, a community of 11,150 people located in a region that offers excellent opportunities for bicycling and hiking. Concerts, museums, theaters, and other city offerings are easily accessible in Springfield, Massachusetts, 10 miles north of Suffield, and Hartford, Connecticut, 17 miles to the south. New York is 135 miles to the south, and Boston is 90 miles to the northeast. Bradley International Airport is 5 miles from the campus.

A nonprofit institution, Suffield is governed by a self-perpetuating 24-member Board of Trustees. It has an endowment of $16.5 million. Annual Giving from alumni and alumnae, parents, and friends exceeds $1 million. The annual budget is more than $9 million.

Suffield is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. It is a member of or is affiliated with each of the following organizations: the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, the National Association of Independent Schools, the Cum Laude Society, American Secondary Schools for International Students and Teachers (ASSIST), the Secondary School Admission Test Board, A Better Chance, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, Hartford Area Boarding Schools, the Alumni Presidents Council, Secondary School Research Programs, and the WALKS Foundation.

Academic Life/Programs of Study
Suffield offers a college-preparatory curriculum that is grounded in the liberal arts. The academic program stresses acquiring the fundamental skills and knowledge needed to succeed in a variety of academic disciplines and in college. With careful guidance, students select a program of study designed to meet special interests and needs.

The school year is divided into three terms. Classes are held six days a week but end at noon on Wednesday and at 11 a.m. on Saturday, when athletics contests are scheduled in the afternoon. Classes average 11 students, and each class meets four times per week (two 45-minute periods and two extended 70-minute periods). Teachers are available for extra help on an individual basis. Students also have the support of faculty advisers and a walk-in counseling office. The student-faculty ratio is 6:1.

The Suffield Computer Initiative has enabled the school to integrate the use of technology into its traditional liberal arts curriculum. Each student possesses a Macintosh laptop computer and the classrooms and dorm rooms are wired for Internet and telephone use.

The Suffield Leadership Scholar Program offers partial scholarships to students who demonstrate the potential to be leaders at Suffield, in college, and in their careers. This program is an outgrowth of the excellent leadership development opportunities already available. A new 40-acre leadership training site opened in June 2000. The Suffield Leadership Initiative is a unique program that is designed to teach ways of thinking and develop skills, traits, and habits that enhance each student's leadership qualities.

Students may choose from course offerings in the visual arts (painting, sculpture, woodworking, architecture, computer graphics, and more) or the performing arts (instrument ensembles, choral groups, dance, and private instruction in voice or instrument) to satisfy the requirement of a year's study in the arts.

The Academic Support Office provides resources for students who have different learning styles or challenges, as shown by their prior academic experience. The Director of Academic Support meets regularly with each student to create strategies that will sharpen their focus and strengthen their academic performance in the classroom. The Director also works with faculty members to communicate specific student needs so that Academy teachers are better able to meet the needs of students who have a broad range of learning styles.

Freshmen and sophomores carry five or six full-credit courses; juniors and seniors carry four, five, or six. To graduate, a student must demonstrate computer literacy and complete a total of 171⁄3 credits, including 4 credits in English; 3 in mathematics; 2 in history, including 1 in U.S. history; 2 in Latin or a modern language; 2 in science, including 1 in a laboratory science; 1 in the arts; 1⁄3 in religion; and the balance in electives. Students must also meet the technology requirement.

All major departments offer honors-level courses. Advanced Placement courses are offered in English, foreign languages, history, and science. Interest in a course may lead to individual work with a teacher. In the senior year, students may select an independent study project for credit.

Grades, based on a minimum passing grade of D-, are recorded every five weeks. Effort also plays a significant part in the grading system. Academic reports from teachers (including grade, effort rating, and detailed comments), along with an evaluation from the adviser, are sent to parents at the end of each term and at the first midterm.

Ample time is provided for uninterrupted study, both during the day and in the evening. All boarding students study in their rooms, in the library, or in the computer lab in the evening from 8 to 10. Unsatisfactory effort necessitates attendance at supervised study halls during the day and evening until the student's effort improves.

Campus Life and Activities
The student community has an enrollment of 370 students; 145 are boarding boys, 95 are boarding girls, 55 are day boys, and 75 are day girls. Students come from twenty-four states and fifteen other countries. A wealth of understanding and enrichment is fostered through this diversity of cultural backgrounds. During school holidays and vacations, many international students stay with host families in the area.

While all students are encouraged to become constructively involved in the extracurricular life of the school, class representatives contribute to the decision-making process through participation in the Student Council and Discipline Committee. Cooperation and consideration of the rights of others are important factors in the decision-making process of each student.

The School Work Program and off-campus Community Service Program are vital parts of Suffield Academy life, promoting pride in the school and respect for other people. Everyone in the Suffield community performs a daily job that contributes to the general well-being of the school. A number of seniors and faculty members oversee this program.

Athletics
With more than thirty-five interscholastic teams, as well as various other athletics options, all students participate in sports on a level of competition that matches individual experience and ability. Athletics at Suffield stress good sportsmanship, acquisition of skills, and leadership development. The Sherman Perry Gymnasium houses a Nautilus center, trainers' room, and facilities for basketball, wrestling, volleyball, swimming, and riflery. The campus includes two football fields, five soccer fields, two baseball diamonds and a softball diamond, ten tennis courts, a hockey field, three lacrosse fields, a sand volleyball pit, and an all-weather track. Facilities for skiing (Nordic and Alpine) and golf are available nearby. Fitness programs, outdoor programs, team management, volunteer service, or play production may be undertaken in lieu of interscholastic sports. A new squash center with four international courts opened in 1998.

Facilities and Services
The school occupies nineteen major buildings, including Memorial Building, the main classroom building, which houses a computer resource center with a multimedia classroom, desktop publishing center, printing stations, and a repair facility; the Alfred E. Holcomb science building, with four newly-renovated laboratories, a lecture room, and a weather satellite tracking system; and the 20,000-volume S. Kent Legare Library with a multimedia center, Tisch Auditorium, and computer resources that include fifty-five Internet drop sites located throughout the library. The Jeanice H. Seaverns Performing Arts Center is a multipurpose facility that includes a 200-seat theater, an art gallery, a music building with practice rooms, and practice space for Suffield's dance program. The Emily Hall Tremaine Visual Arts Center features a multipurpose art studio, ceramics studio, woodworking shop, graphics lab, photography lab, library office, and gallery. Nondenominational chapel services are held once a week in the town's Second Baptist Church.

Eleven dormitories provide double rooms for 235 students. All dorm rooms are wired for both telephone and Internet use. Five new cottage-style dorms opened in September 1998. Fuller and Spencer Halls are larger dormitories housing 46 and 50 students, respectively. There are also four homes, each shared by between 6 and 12 students. All dormitories have faculty residents, including families, and student proctor. The downstairs part of Brewster Hall contains the school dining room, the kitchen, and the student union with lounge, TV room, game room, snack area, bookstore, and post office. Other buildings are the Fuller Hall administration building and the historic Gay Mansion, the official residence of the Headmaster.

Faculty, Advisors and College Placement
There are 86 dedicated men and women on the faculty at Suffield Academy, 60 of whom have or are working toward graduate degrees. With few exceptions, faculty members and their families live on campus and all serve as advisers, coaches, dormitory parents, activity supervisors, and trip leaders. They engage in training programs and workshops as well as graduate programs leading to advanced degrees and professional expertise in their academic discipline.

Dr. David R. Holmes, the first alumnus to lead the school, was appointed Headmaster in 1991. Dr. Holmes received his bachelor's degree in political science from Middlebury College, a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University, and his Ph.D. in higher education administration from the University of Denver. He has served as a university faculty member and administrator, as an educational grants administrator for the U.S. Department of Education, and as Director of the National College Counseling Project.
Suffield is above all a caring school, and its faculty members reflect this attitude. All faculty members serve as advisers, with an average advisee group of 6 students. Students select their advisers, meet with them on a regular basis, and confer with them when needed. Two traditional annual events, Parents' Day in the fall and Spring Day, feature parental conferences with teachers and advisers that enable parents to share the results of their son's or daughter's experience at Suffield. Advisers are available to meet with parents and teachers as needed concerning a student's progress.

Suffield's College Counseling Office provides a comprehensive program. Preparatory testing begins in the sophomore year, and meetings between students and their college counselors begin in the spring of the junior year. Representatives of more than 125 colleges visit the school annually, and students are encouraged to visit colleges.

In 2003, graduates enrolled in seventy-eight colleges and universities, including American, Babson, Bates, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Connecticut College, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Middlebury, Smith, Trinity College, Union, Williams, and the Universities of Virginia and Wisconsin.

Extracurricular Opportunities
Suffield believes that every student should become constructively involved in the life of the school outside of the classroom. In addition to weekly chapel and a varied program of assemblies, both required, the school sponsors visiting artists and professionals who share experiences with the student body that often provoke new interests.

Students may choose from more than twenty-five activities, including concert and theater series, bicycling, bands, the yearbook, drama productions, the school newspaper, photography, chess, horseback riding, community service, and computers. Suffield Outdoor Leadership Opportunities (S.O.L.O.) maintains an active program, including rock-climbing, caving, backpacking, hiking, canoeing, camping, and other seasonal activities. The school opened an outdoor leadership center in 2000. Suffield's location gives students access to plays, concerts, and museums in two major cities.

Winter Weekend and Mountain Day are two examples of creative experiences enjoyed by the entire community. In alternate years, the school selects one of these events; students and faculty then work closely together to engineer a midwinter communal break.

Daily Life
Classes begin at 8 a.m. and conclude at 2:40 p.m. on Monday and Thursday and at 3:05 on Tuesday and Friday. Athletics follow the end of the academic day. Only morning classes are scheduled on Wednesday and Saturday; the afternoons are reserved for interscholastic athletics contests. Most clubs meet after dinner.

Weekend Life
The Student Union was expanded, redesigned, and renovated in 1992. The Weekend Activities and Film committees, as well as the Student Union Board of Governors, use this facility as the center of social life at the school.

On-campus weekend activities include dances, coffeehouses, films, pool parties, and plays. Off-campus options include movies, ski and shopping trips, indoor tennis, horseback riding, and activities sponsored by the Weekend Committee and Suffield Academy Outdoor Challenge.

Boarding students in good standing may, with parental permission, take an unlimited number of weekends. A student whose disciplinary record and academic effort are strong may take one long weekend per term. Day leaves are frequent. Rapport between day and boarding students is close, with day students sharing campus activities and many boarding students visiting day students' homes on weekends.

Admissions, Cost and Financial Aid
The Admissions Committee seeks students who are committed to serious study and who have a sense of purpose, a good previous record both academically and personally, and supportive recommendations from persons who know the student well. Admissions requirements include the application form with a written essay; an academic transcript from the current school; letters of recommendation from the student's guidance counselor or placement officer, English and mathematics teachers, and a third teacher of the student's choice; and the SSAT, SAT I, PSAT, or WISC.

Application Timetable
When classes are in session, campus interviews and tours are conducted daily from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., (8 to 11 a.m. on Wednesday and Saturday). No tours are conducted after 2 p.m., but admissions officers are available until 4:30 for appointments and discussion. Prospective students are encouraged to visit the campus.

Applications are due February 1 and should be accompanied by a $50 fee for domestic applicants; and a $75 fee for intern applicants. The mailing of acceptances is March 10, and students are asked to reply by April 10.

Contact:
Director of Admissions
Suffield Academy
Suffield, Connecticut 06078
Telephone: 860-386-4440
Fax: 860-668-2966
E-mail: saadmit@suffieldacademy.org
WWW: http://www.suffieldacademy.org