The Academy at Charlemont is a small,

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

college-preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to state school, public, Independent school, private independent or parochial school, parochial schools primaril ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...

, located on the Deerfield River in

Charlemont, Massachusetts Charlemont is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,185 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Charlemont was first colonized by Moses R ...

, that serves

grade 6 Sixth grade (or grade six in some regions) is the sixth year of schooling. Students are typically 11–12 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs. Different terms and numbers are used in other parts of the world. It is commonly the firs ...

through postgraduate. The school was founded by Eric Grinnell, Dianne Grinnell, David W. McKay, Patricia D. W. McKay, Margaret J. Carlson, and Lucille Joy in 1981 as an experiment in bringing classical and community-oriented education to rural Western Massachusetts—specifically

Franklin County, Massachusetts Franklin County is a nongovernmental county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 71,029, which makes it the least-populous county on the Massachusetts mainland, and the ...

. The school's educational philosophy, which is substantially influenced by American philosopher and psychologist

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...

, rests on four core beliefs: # that emphasizing connections among the academic disciplines because real world challenges require citizens to think beyond the discrete boundaries of academic disciplines, to look at things from many different angles; # that a school community based on certain particular values—including self-reliance, industry, integrity, and compassion – encourages development of intellectual and social standards that reflect those values; # that affirming the uniqueness of each individual and at the same time insisting that individuals subscribe to a set of commonly held standards – civility, respect, concern for others – produces a healthy tension that helps students learn, grow, and become productive citizens; and # that the academic, liberal arts tradition is a challenging, intellectually stimulating ground on which young people can both learn to use their minds well, and furnish those minds with the kind of broad, basic knowledge needed to succeed in college and as citizens of the world.

Notable alumni

Bo Peabody Bo Peabody (born 1971) is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and Internet executive who co-founded Tripod (web hosting), Tripod.com, one of the earliest Dot-com company, dot-coms, in 1992. He is currently the co-founder and Executive Chairman of ...

1990, co-founder and Managing General Partner of Village Ventures and Venture Partner at

Greycroft Partners Greycroft is an American venture capital firm. It manages over $2 billion in capital with investments in companies such as Bird, Bumble, HuffPost, Goop, Scopely, The RealReal, and Venmo. Greycroft was founded in 2006 by Alan Patricof, Dana Set ...

Sarah Hartshorne The ninth cycle of ''America's Next Top Model'' was the third season of the series to be aired on The CW network. This cycle's promotional tagline was "The Future Of Fashion." The promotional song was " Shut Up and Drive" by Rihanna. The prizes ...

2005, appeared on

America's Next Top Model, Cycle 9 The ninth cycle of ''America's Next Top Model'' was the third season of the series to be aired on The CW network. This cycle's promotional tagline was "The Future Of Fashion." The promotional song was "Shut Up and Drive" by Rihanna. The prizes f ...

* Augustus Muller 2007, of Boy Harsher * Abby Weems 2012, vocalist and guitarist of Potty Mouth

External links

References

Private high schools in Massachusetts Educational institutions established in 1981 Schools in Franklin County, Massachusetts Private middle schools in Massachusetts 1981 establishments in Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-school-stub