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Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA Co-Ed, No Religious Affiliation
UNLIKE ANY OTHER BOARDING SCHOOL- Bard Academy at Simon's Rock is the nation’s only two-year boarding school that provides guaranteed admission to early college after 10th grade to one of the most respected academic institutions in the U.S., Bard College at Simon’s Rock.
HIGH SCHOOL FOR TWO YEARSWe haven’t condensed high school; instead, we’ve created a program that takes a collegiate approach to learning. Unlike many high schools, at Bard Academy, asking questions is not a distraction, but a welcome starting point for intellectual discovery in a truly academic, inclusive, and supportive community.
HIGH SCHOOL TAUGHT BY COLLEGE PROFESSORSSince Bard Academy shares faculty with Bard College at Simon’s Rock: The Early College, students build meaningful relationships with their future college professors. Faculty are leading scholars in their fields of study, and experts at engaging younger students.
HIGH SCHOOL ON A COLLEGE CAMPUSBard Academy is located in the Berkshires, on the beautiful 275-acre campus of Bard College at Simon’s Rock, located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts – named “Best Small Town” by Smithsonian magazine. Academy students enjoy all the College’s resources, including the science labs, library, art studios, community garden, athletic center, and theater spaces. Academy students are invited to join all sports teams, clubs, and activities.
ACADEMICSWith 35+ majors, The Princeton Review rates Simon’s Rock a 92/99 for academics, higher than Harvard or Princeton. Federal data on US colleges and universities rank Bard College at Simon’s Rock #17 nationwide for percentage of graduates who earn a doctorate, close on the list to Harvard, University of Chicago, Oberlin, Williams, Amherst, and Yale – ranking higher than Brown, Stanford, Dartmouth, Vassar, and Cornell.
YOU ARE WELCOME HEREYou’ll have the unmistakable feeling that you’ve found where you belong. Rockers are visionaries, iconoclasts, pioneers, and leaders who are working for a better, smarter, world. Our students are a diverse group, but have in common: intellectual curiosity, an independent spirit, and a love of learning. You’ll find a true academic community here.
WHERE INDEPENDENT MINDS GET THEIR STARTAt Bard Academy and Bard College at Simon's Rock, age doesn't define intellect: our mission is to inspire the curiosity and creativity of motivated younger scholars with a challenging, empowering, and inclusive education in the liberal arts and sciences.
84 Alford RoadGreat Barrington, Massachusetts, USA 01230 (800) 235-7186
Director of Admissions: Cindi Jacobs Admissions Phone:(413) 528-7228Toll-Free Admissions:(800) 235-7186Fax:413-541-0081 Email: [email protected] Website: simons-rock.edu/ready-for-more
This virtual visit day for prospective high school students and families offers the opportunity to meet campus leaders, faculty, staff, and students. You will also take a virtual tour and experience a class with a member of our faculty—college professors who have chosen to teach younger scholars.
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Summary: Bard Academy is the best fit for intellectually engaged young scholars who don’t want to wait to ask questions–and have a deep desire to be taken seriously as original thinkers. Students enter an in-depth program of the humanities, world languages, mathematics and science, social sciences, and visual and performing arts. Writing is the hallmark of our approach, and students are asked to write in nearly every class. In doing so, they build strong skills as writers and discover the deep connections between different subjects, themes, and concepts. Our students learn to think for themselves—not simply how to memorize or adopt someone else’s ideas. In dialogue with professors and classmates, students explore a vibrant liberal arts program together.Each student undertakes a series of core requirements with opportunities for more advanced inquiry in certain subjects. Academy courses are designed and taught by PhD faculty of Bard College at Simon’s Rock who teach students the skills they need to succeed in college. After two years of Academy classes which establish a strong foundation on which to build, students enter Early College with the opportunity to explore hundreds of courses in over 35 majors. A partial list of Academy and Early College courses is below.
Department Director: Kristy McMorris
Average Class Size: 15
Full Time Teachers: 50
Teachers Holding Advanced Degrees: 95.00%
Student/Teacher Ratio: 8
Academic Schedule: Semester
Summary: A LEARNING AND LIVING ENVIRONMENT UNLIKE ANY OTHER. ANYWHERE.Learning is embedded in every aspect of Academy life, not just the classroom. Students are actively engaged wherever they go: walking around campus, chatting in the dining hall, attending a guest lecture, or exploring some of the cultural riches of Great Barrington and the Berkshires. Staff and faculty are available 24/7 to provide academic and social support. We’re invested in helping our students develop into confident, well-rounded individuals, and independent thinkers.YOU ARE WELCOME HERE.At Simon’s Rock, we value inclusion, creativity, curiosity, andintellectual discovery. We believe that the rich multiplicity of identities and backgrounds in our community makes us stronger and enhances our experiences in and out of the classroom. Students from all kinds of backgrounds are welcome at Bard Academy – including LGBTQ+, and students of all racial and economic backgrounds, from all over the world.We’ve created a small, tightly knit community where students receive individualized attention. Students meet with their academic advisers at least once a week, attend group advisory sessions, and receive personal guidanceand support from tutors, mentors, and residence life staff.
Department Director: Mickey Spaulding
Number of Dorms: 2
No. of Girls Dorms: 1
No. of Boys Dorms: 1
Dorm Amenities:
Dress Code: Casual
Facilities
Clubs and Organizations
Summary: THE ARTSAt Bard Academy, we believe the arts give us different and nuanced ways to perceive and understand the world and our experience of it. Our courses combine a deep study of theory and committed practice, supplemented by regular encounters with the best visual and performing arts in the Berkshire region.The campus offers an exceptional arts facility, the Daniel Art Center, with two state-of-the-art performance spaces, an active ceramics studio with multiple kilns, multiple music practice and performance venues, a dance studio, both analog and digital photography studios, an extensive drawing and painting studio, and multiple gallery or display venues.Students choose from a selection of courses, in topics such as music, drawing and painting,ceramics, dance, photography, film, and theater., working closely with faculty and visiting artists to hone studio and performance skills. ATHLETICSOur competitive teams include: Men’s and Women’s soccer, Men’s and Women’s Swimming, and Men’s and Women’s Basketball, and our mascot is a llama!. Whether or not you’re on the team, the Kilpatrick is your athletic center. The Kilpatrick Athletic Center (KAC for short) invites ALL students to participate in wellness activities, which help to relieve and reduce stress, increase awareness and provide for a balance of mind, body, and spirit.You’ll have access to facilities, fields and courts, as well as classes in aerobics, lifeguard training, Pilates, racquetball, rock climbing, squash, swim lessons, Swim America instructor training, tennis, weight training, and yoga.
Arts Department Director: Ben Krupka
Athletics Department Director: Bill Meier
Summary: LEARNING LIBERATEDSimon’s Rock is the first and only educational institution in the United States carrying students from the beginning of high school to the completion of a bachelor’s degree in six years rather than the usual eight. Immediately following the 10th grade in Bard Academy, you’ll enter Bard College at Simon’s Rock as a first-year student. Two years later, you will receive an Associate of Arts degree, then either continue at Simon’s Rock for your Bachelor of Arts degree or transfer to another college or university.90% of Bard Academy students attend college.BARD COLLEGE AT SIMON'S ROCK: THE EARLY COLLEGEOUTCOMES:Top 17Our ranking among all US colleges/universities in terms of percentage of alumni who complete their PhD9Number of Fulbright Fellows since 201078%Recent Simon’s Rock graduates who have gone on to graduate study at institutions that include:Boston UniversityColumbia UniversityGeorgetown UniversityHarvard UniversityLondon School of EconomicsM.I.T.The New SchoolNew York UniversityOxford UniversityQueen’s UniversityUniversity of California, BerkeleyUniversity of ChicagoUniversity of MichiganUniversity of WashingtonWashington UniversityYale UniversityTop 10%Where Simon’s Rock ranked in the most recent National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) for academic challenge, student-faculty interaction, and enriching educational experienceTop Transfer SchoolsFifty percent of our students receive an associate's degree at Simon's Rock and go on to complete their college education at nationally ranked colleges and universities, including:Bard CollegeBrown UniversityColumbia UniversityCornell UniversityHampshire CollegeHunter CollegeThe New SchoolNew York UniversityRutgers UniversitySmith CollegeStanford UniversitySUNY—PurchaseSUNY—Stony BrookSwarthmore CollegeUMass AmherstUniversity of ChicagoUniversity of MichiganUniversity of WisconsinWarren Wilson CollegeWesleyan University
Department Director: Manat Wooten
Percentage of Graduates Who Attend College: 90.00%
Summary: YOUNG WRITER’S WORKSHOPJuly 2019The Young Writers Workshop is a three-week residential summer writing program for high school students located on the campus of Bard College at Simon’s Rock and modeled after the innovative Workshop in Language and Thinking required of all entering students at Bard College. The workshop is intended for intellectually curious, motivated high school students in grades 9–12 who like to write and want to develop greater fluency and confidence in their writing. Young Writer’s Workshop offers students the opportunity to work in a range of fiction and nonfiction forms, including poems, narratives, and essays, and to strengthen their writing and thinking skills. Former participants have gone on to such colleges as Amherst, Bard, Harvard, Haverford, Kenyon, Princeton, Simon’s Rock, Smith, Williams, and Yale. The workshop faculty are Associates of the Bard College Institute for Writing & Thinking. All of them are practicing writers and experienced teachers with advanced degrees (i.e., MA, MFA, or PhD). The academic program is enhanced by the rich natural and cultural environment of the Simon’s Rock campus, located on 275 acres in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. In addition to field trips, students also have ample time to enjoy the scenic beauty of the campus and its surroundings as well as to enjoy the college's many recreational and social opportunities. For more information and to apply, visit: www.simons-rock.edu/young-writersQuestions?:Dr. Jamie HutchinsonYoung Writers WorkshopBard College at Simon's Rock84 Alford RoadGreat Barrington, MA 01230 [email protected]413-528-7231
Department Director: Jamie Hutchinson
Summary: UNDERSTANDING EARLY COLLEGEFor motivated younger students ready to realize their intellectual and creative potential, Bard Academy's two-year program leads directly to Bard College at Simon's Rock: The Early College.The 400 students at Bard College at Simon's Rock have made a deliberate break from the standard educational track to start college at an age when most of their peers are just heading into their junior or senior years of high school.Simon’s Rock is a rigorous four-year liberal arts college , accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), part of the prestigious Bard network, and regularly recognized for its excellence (academics rated higher than Harvard and Princeton by the Princeton Review; SR students have been awarded 9 Fulbright fellowships since 2010).For over 50 years, Simon’s Rock has given Early College students a head start on finding and pursuing their passions—and helped set them up for a lifetime of personal and professional success.The time to undertake a challenging interdisciplinary college program is the moment a young person is most curious about the world, most driven to ask big questions, and flexible enough in their thinking to make profound connections. For many bright students, that time comes well before a conventional high school track allows. At Simon’s Rock, our students thrive because they are given the chance to do challenging work in an engaged community at the moment they are ready for it.“Early college” can describe a number of different types of programs. By “early college” some people may mean AP classes or IB programs, or dual enrollment at a high school and college. Early college at Simon’s Rock is different. We’re the only full-time, four year, highly ranked college of the liberal arts and sciences designed for motivated students ready for college after 10th or 11th grade.