Phillips Academy Andover

Founded in 1778, Phillips Academy, widely known today as Andover, was founded at the height of the American Revolutionary War in 1778 by the Honorable Samuel Phillips Jr. and remains one of the oldest incorporated boarding school in the country. Andover is the older of the two Phillips Academies, which are independent of each other. Phillips Exeter Academy, located in Exeter, New Hampshire, was founded three years later by Samuel Phillips’s uncle, John Phillips. The two schools have enjoyed passionate sports competition since 1861, making it one of the oldest and most storied school rivalries in the nation. Since its auspicious beginning, Andover has remained true to its original mission, as set forth by Judge Phillips in the school’s founding constitution, and it continues to embody these founding mottos:

Finis Origine Pendet

The end depends upon the beginning.

Non Sibi

Not for self.

Youth From Every Quarter

From our constitution: “[Andover] shall be ever equally open to Youth, of requisite qualification, from every quarter.”

Knowledge and Goodness

From our constitution: “goodness without knowledge...is weak and feeble; yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous.”

The entire school goes all-out for Andover-Exeter weekend, the oldest prep school athletics rivalry in the country. Andover-Exeter Spirit Week, ear-splitting cheers lad by Blue Key Heads, pep-rally performances, face-painting, crazy blue outfits, and Gunga (Andover’s gorilla mascot) all make for great fun. A slew of other much-anticipated Andover traditions include Senior Teas, All-School Meetings, Head of School Day, cluster munches, Grasshopper Night, bagpipes at Commencement, the Vista Walk, Senior Sunrise, Non Sibi Weekend, Reunion Weekend, and countless others.

Andover offers more than 300 courses. Classes are small (average class size: 13) and intensely interactive. They fall into roughly these categories: the arts, English, world languages, history and social science, lab science, math (including statistics and computer science), and philosophy and religious studies. Most students take courses in all of these fields. Some are interdisciplinary. Some are college level. All are designed to inspire a lifelong love of learning. Never complacent, Andover always asks its students how the school can enhance the academic experience. Along with creating opportunities to explore topics more deeply, Andover ensures that students have the time to reflect on—and savor—intellectual growth.

Andover features hundreds of friendly, caring faculty and staff members, including more than 200 classroom teachers—nearly all of whom live on campus. They’re versatile, inspirational, and ever-present as teachers, coaches, academic advisors, house counselors, mentors—and resources for life. Most of all, they were once like the Andover students they now teach: brainy, insatiably curious, multidimensional high school students. They see students for who they are and help them discover who’ll they’ll become.

Music:

Some students arrive at Andover with significant playing and performing experience; others are just beginning their musical journey. With its diverse course offerings, private lessons, and performance opportunities—including concert and jazz bands, symphony and chamber orchestras, a large chorus, a cappella groups, and gospel and handbell choirs—Andover helps students hone their talents and broaden their musical interests.

Art:

Students in Andover’s visual arts program find inspiration in infinite and often unlikely places. Courses include art history, drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed-media, sculpture, weaving, architecture, film photography, digital photography, ceramics, and video. The department also offers a yearlong advanced studio course for uppers and seniors, which includes visits to museums and a student-designed capstone project and exhibition.

Theatre:

Along with excellent costume, paint, and scene shops, Andover’s Tang Theatre and Steinbach Theatre boast the latest technology, while performance opportunities abound, including faculty-directed plays and 30 student-directed one-act plays produced by Drama Labs, a vibrant cocurricular program. Elective courses include acting, directing, set and light design, public speaking, Shakespeare, playwriting, and play production.

Dance:

Andover’s dance department’s dual goal is to offer preprofessional training that prepares students to enter college dance programs or conservatories, and to engage those who see dance as a form of recreational and lifelong fitness. Ballet and modern dance, the core of Andover’s program, are the foundations of dance technique. Instructors purposefully expose students to diverse dance forms as well as choreography and composition as they explore dance as a language. The Academy’s primary performance ensemble, the Andover Dance Group, comprises the most dedicated and serious dancers, while student-run groups focus on jazz, hip-hop, tap, and Afro-Caribbean dance.

Teamwork, a non sibi (not for self) mindset, and dedication define Andover athletics. Andover student-athletes work hard to develop strong technical and tactical skills, and they’re known to be fierce competitors with a history of championship teams, but they also approach the playing field as yet another “classroom” for learning—about themselves and others, about responsibilities and values, about winning with humility, and losing with grace. Students of all abilities, from instructional to varsity, are encouraged to improve their personal fitness, socialize, relax, de-stress, and have fun through a variety of athletics opportunities, including intramural and instructional sports, yoga, dance, spinning, and Andover’s Outdoor Pursuits program. Big Blue sports, including 21 interscholastic programs, are supported by exceptional facilities, including three gymnasiums; a six-lane swimming pool; a 12-foot diving pool with a one-meter board; two dance studios; 19 playing fields; 18 tennis courts; varsity and junior varsity softball and baseball diamonds and indoor and outdoor batting tunnels; an outdoor synthetic-surface track; NHL- and NCAA-regulation-size ice rinks; the Brown Boathouse for crew on the Merrimack River; Phelps Stadium, a lighted facility for football, lacrosse, field hockey, and more; the fully equipped Rosenau Fitness Center; the 85-acre Cochrane Sanctuary, home to cross-country trails and a high-ropes course to challenge students in Andover’s Outdoor Pursuits program; and the Snyder Center, a 98,000-square-foot facility featuring a 200-meter four-lane track, 12 international squash courts, a track infield that converts to four tennis or basketball courts, and multipurpose spaces for group fitness activities.

Whether starting a club from scratch or editing The Phillipian (Andover’s school newspaper with a hundred years of history), Andover fosters bold, thoughtful, and engaged student leaders. And there’s tons to do at Andover beyond studying. The Student Activities Office and Student Activities Board plan fun, exciting, and varied events for all student interests, including dances, trips to Boston, dodgeball tournaments, and performances, ensuring that students are never bored and there’s always something fun and interesting happening. Beyond weekend entertainment, student activities are meant to develop thinkers and doers as students are encouraged to try new things, grow in unexpected ways, and set the tone for their Andover experience. 

Andover arranges its campus into five residential neighborhoods called clusters; everyone (including day students) belongs to one, and that feeling of belonging is the point. Each cluster includes a handful of dorms, about 220 students, 40 faculty families, a dean, and student leadership positions. Orientation, special events, weekly study breaks, cluster munches—all of these things are organized by cluster.

Andover strives to help students develop close connections to a diverse group of acquaintances, classmates, teammates, and friends. It seeks to create a community of kindness and respect, acknowledging that an intentionally diverse community can present opportunities and challenges involving race, class, gender, religion, sexuality, differing abilities, or any other core issue of identity. Andover addresses these challenges in many contexts, including All-School Meetings, CAMD (Andover’s acronym for the Office of Community and Multicultural Development) functions, cluster and dorm meetings, informal conversations with teachers and advisors, and more.

Meanwhile, Andover’s Office of Community Engagement nurtures the non sibi (not for self) spirit in its students, overseeing dozens of ongoing initiatives on campus and with partner organizations in the Town of Andover and neighboring Lawrence, Mass. And Andover’s interfaith ministry responds to the many and varied spiritual needs of the school community, including chaplains from the Jewish, Protestant, and Roman Catholic traditions.