Berkshire School

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Berkshire School
Berkshire School seal green.jpg
Web Buck Valley fall blue sky 2.jpeg
Buck Valley during fall, Berkshire School
Address
Berkshire School
245 North Undermountain Road

,
Berkshire
,
01257-9672

United States
Coordinates 42°6′56.88″N73°24′50.04″W / 42.1158000°N 73.4139000°W / 42.1158000; -73.4139000
Information
School typeCo-ed, Private, Boarding and Day school
MottoPro Vita Non Pro Schola Discimus
("Learning — Not just for School, but for Life.")
Established1907 (1907)
FoundersSeaver Burton Buck & Anne Allen Buck
CEEB code 221900
NCES School ID 00603723 [1]
Head of SchoolPieter Mulder
Faculty91
Grades9-PG
Enrollment400 Students; 90% Boarding (2021)
International students35 countries (2021)
Average class size12
Student to teacher ratio4:1
Classes offered144
Campus size400 acres (1.6 km2)
Campus typeRural
Color(s)   Green and Gray
SongAll Hail to Berkshire
Athletics conferenceNew England Prep School Athletic Council, District 4
Nickname Bears
NewspaperGreen & Gray
YearbookThe Trail
Endowment$195 million (as of 6/30/2023)
School fees$19.3 million
Tuition$73,200 (boarding); $55,400 (day)
Revenue$34.3 million
Website berkshireschool.org
[2] [3] [4] [5]

Berkshire School is a private, co-educational boarding school located in Sheffield, Massachusetts, USA.

Contents

People

About 87% of Berkshire's 430 students are boarders, while 13% are day students. The U.S. students hail from 30 states. The 77 international students (18% of the student body) have primary passports from 39 countries. 23% of the students are considered students of color.

In addition to grades 9-12, Berkshire offers a post-graduate year. The ninth grade class (the 3rd form) has about 100 students. Berkshire reportedly accepts about 20% of its 1500 applicants, admitting about 150 new students each year. [6] The average class size is 12.

71% of the 101 faculty live on campus. 68% have advanced academic degrees. The school maintains a student-to-teacher ratio of 4:1.

Pieter Mulder has been Head of School since 2013. As of 2024, the 34 members of the Board of Trustees were all either parents or alumni of the school. [7]

Classes

Berkshire’s academic year is divided into trimesters with a week-long winter session. As of 2023, Berkshire had designated 17 classes as “Advanced Placement." Berkshire has Signature programs—such as Advanced Math/Science Research and Advanced Humanities Research. [8]

Financials

Berkshire’s 2023-24 day student tuition was $55,400 with an additional $2,000 in fees. Boarding tuition was $73,200. One quarter of Berkshire’s students receive financial assistance, with an average award of $54,000.

In addition to tuition, 2/3 of Berkshire parents also contribute to the annual fund, which typically nets almost $3 million each year. As of 2023, the overall school endowment was $195 million, or $435,000 per student.

History

Seaver Buck 1930s Seaver Buck 1930s, Berkshire School.jpg
Seaver Buck 1930s

Berkshire School (for boys) was established in 1907 at the foot of Mount Everett, one of the highest mountains in Massachusetts, by Seaver Burton Buck, who led the school until 1943. [9] Buck was reportedly a "Victorian disciplinarian… sometimes subverted by a pixieish manner." [10]

Berkshire became a coeducational school in 1969.

In 1991, Richard Unsworth, whose previous experience included being the headmaster at Northfield Mount Hermon School became headmaster. [11] During Unsworth's headmastership, the school introduced co-curricular programs in Chinese and outdoor education though the school's "reputation for being lax about drugs" remained an issue. [11] Whilst Unsworth incorporated drug-awareness and counseling programs [11] after a series of drug-related incidents he resigned his post. [4] The board of trustees turned to Paul Christopher (1996 - 2002), an ethicist and previous head of philosophy at West Point, New York, [4] as the next headmaster to address the renewed public embarrassment around drugs. [4] Drug and alcohol use "declined dramatically" under Christopher. [4] In June 2002 Christopher resigned as headmaster "amidst sexual harassment allegations." [12]

Campus facilities

Bellas/Dixon Math and Science Center Berkshire School, 245 North Undermountain Road, Sheffield, MA 01257, USA - August 2014 - e.jpg
Bellas/Dixon Math and Science Center

Interscholastic sports

Jackman L. Stewart Athletic Center Berkshire rink 2008-.jpeg
Jackman L. Stewart Athletic Center

Berkshire's approximately 425 students participate in a total of 17 team sports split into three seasons. The teams are divided evenly between girls' teams and boys' teams, except for mountain biking and freestyle skiing, which are coed. In addition to the 32 varsity teams, Berkshire offers 15 junior varsity teams and seven "3rds" teams, which are often for students who are new to that sport.

The sports teams compete in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC), generally against similarly-sized boarding schools in the northeast and New England. [18] While Berkshire's teams are part of the NEPSAC League, many participate within a smaller subset of the league. For example, the boys' basketball team participates in NEPSAC as well as smaller showcases, such as the NEPSAC Class A Winter Classic, Zero Gravity Scholar Roundball Classic, Zero Gravity Prep Classic, and the Hoop Hall Prep Showcase.

The school has two primary sports buildings. The Stewart Athletic Center was named after Jackman Stewart, a longtime Berkshire athletic director who also, at times, served as the school’s dean of students, dean of admissions, and director of development. The Stewart Center features two ice hockey rinks (one Olympic size and one NHL Regulation size), as well as 14 locker rooms, a full athletic training suite, a fitness center, and various conference rooms and offices. One of the ice hockey rinks can be converted into 4 indoor tennis courts. The Athletic Center also hosts campus events such as choral festivals and the school's commencement. The skating facilities are, at times, open to the public.

The Soffer Athletic Center is the school's gymnasium. It features two basketball/volleyball courts, 10 squash courts, a 60-foot climbing wall, a dance studio, as well as exercise areas, locker rooms, and offices. Berkshire has a variety of multi-purpose courts, fields, and pitches, including the Tom Young Field (baseball and softball), Schappert Field (football), Stewart Pitch (soccer) and Beattie Fields (field hockey, lacrosse, soccer).

Between 2021 and 2023, 100 Berkshire graduating seniors signed to play sports at the collegiate level. [19] [20]

Notable alumni

References

  1. "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for Berkshire School". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  2. Rower's Almanac 2004 -2005. The Rowers Almanac Inc. October 15, 2004. p. 466. ISBN   978-0-9651327-5-6 . Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  3. Peterson's (July 1, 2011). Master the SSAT/ISEE: High School Entrance Exam Basics: Part I of VII. Peterson's. pp. 683–. ISBN   978-0-7689-3496-0 . Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Gaines, Judith (January 13, 2002). "A Test of Character". Boston Globe Sunday Magazine. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  5. Kira L. Gould (July 31, 2005). Fox & Fowle Architects: Designing for the Built Realm. Images Publishing. pp. 37–40. ISBN   978-1-920744-00-7 . Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  6. "Berkshire School (2024 Profile) - Sheffield, MA".
  7. "Welcome | Berkshire School | Top New England Boarding High School".
  8. "Pro Vita | Berkshire School | New England Private Schools".
  9. Martin Duberman (February 4, 2009). The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein. Random House Digital, Inc. pp. 42–43. ISBN   978-0-307-54967-9 . Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  10. Martin Duberman (February 4, 2009). The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 37. ISBN   978-0-307-54967-9 . Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 Wren, Christopher S. (February 26, 1996). "Drug Incident Shakes a School Campus". New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  12. Oussayef, Nadia L. (October 23, 2003). "Harvard Headmaster, Hockey Player Dies at 51". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  13. Smith, Jenn (October 6, 2012). "Berkshire School opens $20M science center". Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  14. "Berkshire School Academic Facilities - Dixon Observatory". Berkshire School. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  15. Smith, Jenn (March 18, 2013). "Berkshire School senior making mark with independent study in astronomy" . Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  16. "Independent Study News - Advanced Astro-Imaging". Berkshire School. April 17, 2012. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  17. "Campus Facilities | New England Prep School | Berkshire School".
  18. "NEPSAC Member Schools".
  19. "Athletics - Private Hockey School in Northeast | Berkshire".
  20. "Team Landing Pages - Berkshire School".
  21. "George G. Kirstein, Ex-Publisher". The New York Times. April 4, 1986.
  22. Martin, Douglas (July 4, 2000). "Stanley Ogilvy, 87, Sailor and Writer, Dies". The New York Times.
  23. Chang, Kenneth (June 15, 2012). "William S. Knowles dies at 84". The New York Times.
  24. "John H. "Hugh" MacMillan III". Legacy. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  25. Bailer, Darice (September 10, 2000). "The All-State Olympic Team". The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  26. "Independent Study: Joseph Lin". February 9, 2011.
  27. "Russo climbs to top of college hockey". January 4, 2015.
  28. Keh, Andrew (July 23, 2016). "Jack Harrison's U.S. Soccer Path Started With a Choice in England by His Mother". The New York Times.
  29. "Athletics News | Private School Berkshires | Berkshire School". www.berkshireschool.org. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  30. Kelly, Roger (July 10, 2020). "The impact of new US law on the lives of two international student football players". americanfootballinternational.com. Retrieved May 19, 2025.