The School
Admission andEnrollment
Cost andFinancial Aid
Co-CurricularActivities
Deerfield Academy was chartered in 1797 to serve the local population of a rural village in Western Massachusetts. Since the 1920’s, it has been wholly independent and committed to excellence in a full liberal arts curriculum and wholesome community life for young men and women from throughout the United States and around the world in grades 9-postgraduate.
Applicants compete for admission on the basis of academic and extracurricular achievement, school records, and recommendations, character and personal promise, and scores on the Secondary School Admission Test, the PSAT or SAT. In 2010, 2069 students applied for 187 new spaces in grades 9-postgraduate. The 2010-11 enrollment of 630 students includes 74 day students and 556 boarding students from 38 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 24 foreign countries. There are 191 seniors in the Class of 2011: 104 are boys and 87 are girls. There are 114 members of the faculty.
The annual financial aid budget is $6,500,000. Thirty-five percent of the student body receives aid; the average grant for a boarding student is $35,800. The 2010-11 tuition for boarding students is $43,800.
Each student spends approximately two hours every weekday afternoon in a required faculty-supervised activity. For most students, this is an athletic commitment at the varsity, junior varsity, or recreational level. For others, this time is spent in dance classes or theater rehearsals, or pursuing volunteer work through our community service program. A few students receive permission to engage in special projects in art or music.
To be successful, students at Deerfield must be capable of independent study and self-direction. Class participation in our small classes (average size of twelve) is expected and a significant part of assessment. A normal course load consists of five courses per trimester. Some students may elect to audit a fine arts course as a sixth course. Only students who have achieved a 90 average or above in the previous year may request permission from the Curriculum Committee to enroll in a sixth course for credit.
English classes at Deerfield are not leveled, with the exception of two honors classes (24 students combined) in the senior year. However, many students take the AP exam in English Literature at the end of their junior year. All foreign language courses, except those in Latin, Greek, and Arabic, are conducted exclusively in the language being studied. This is true at all levels. As a result, some students find the adjustment to language classes at Deerfield difficult, and our placement of new students may reflect that.
Academic work is graded on a numerical scale where the minimum passing grade is 60 and median course grades generally fall between 80 and 90. Grades of 87 and above are considered honors; grades of 93 and above are considered high honors. Grade point averages are for each year only and are not weighted or cumulative; we do not rank our students. One hundred percent of our students attend four-year colleges and universities.
Deerfield uses a trimester calendar—we do not have first-quarter or mid-year grades. Senior fall term grades will only appear on transcripts for regular decision applicants.
Deerfield does not report College Board scores on the transcript.
deerfield academyDeerfield, Massachusetts 01342 P: 413-774-1479 F: 413-772-1128 www.deerfield.edu College Board Code Number: 220685
Margarita Curtis Head of School
Martha C. LymanAssociate Head of School, Director of College Advising [email protected]
Nicholas W. AlbertsonCollege Advisor [email protected]
Wayne M. BergerCollege Advisor [email protected]
Elizabeth M. Bishop College Advisor [email protected]
December 2010
AcademicProgram
AcademicCalendarTest Scores
Listed below are all honors, accelerated and/or Advanced Placement courses. Although we offer many advanced courses, students are advised to balance their schedules cautiously because of the extensive out-of-class preparation these courses require. Many use college texts and match the pace of an undergraduate college course. Some are post-AP level and the AP-level course is the prerequisite. For our complete course of study please go to: deerfield.edu/academics/10_11_catalog.pdf
Advanced Courses
Acting Tutorial THE800/802 Adv Dance Ensemble DAN800/805 AP Art History ART420 AP Drawing ART445 AP Studio Art ART446 AP 2-Dimensional Art ART447 Topics: Post AP Studio Art ART450 (students must complete an AP art course as prerequisite)
Cambridge Seminar ENG420 (12 seniors selected by teacher and writing portfolio) Honors Literature ENG444 (12 seniors selected by teacher and writing portfolio) Many students take the AP English Literature and/or AP English Language exams at the conclusion of a 300-level English course. All 400-level courses are comparable to college-level.
American Studies HIS311 (double-period team-taught class in Honors U.S. History and American Literature – students apply and then are selected by the teachers) Honors U.S. History HIS321 (preparation for the AP exam) Honors Economics HIS450 (preparation for the AP exam) Honors European History HIS446
Honors Geometry MAT203 Honors Algebra II MAT303 Honors Precalculus MAT403 AP Statistics MAT503 Calculus MAT601 AP Calculus AB MAT602 AP Calculus BC MAT603 Advanced Calculus, Differential Equations MAT702 Advanced Mathematics Tutorial MAT802 (All 600+ level math courses are at college level. 700-800 courses are equivalent to second-year college courses.)
Chinese IV CHI400 Chinese V: Seminar in Advanced Topics CHI501 Chinese Tutorial CHI801 French II Honors FRE220 French III Honors FRE330 French IV Honors FRE440 (preparation for the AP exam) French V FRE500 French V Honors FRE555 French VI Honors FRE600 Spanish III Honors SPA330 Spanish V SPA500 (preparation for the AP exam) Honors Contemporary Latin American Literature SPA601 Advanced Seminar in Spanish SPA700 Latin IV: Vergil’s Aeneid LAT400 (preparation for the AP Latin: Vergil exam) Latin V: Roman Elegy and Lyric LAT500 (preparation for the AP Latin: Literature exam) Latin Adv Tutorial LAT750 400-800 level courses in languages are college level.
Theory and Composition MUS300 (preparation for the AP exam) Chamber Music 265/285
Biology II: AP BIO340 (prerequisite is Biology I) AP Environmental Science SCI340 (prerequisites are Biology I and Chemistry I) Biology Projects: Medical Research BIO400 (prerequisite is AP Biology) Chemistry I Accelerated CHE244 (enrollment requires dept. permission) Chemistry II: AP CHE340 (prerequisite is Chemistry I) Physics I Accelerated PHY349 (prepares students for AP-B exam) Physics II: AP C PHY450 (must be enrolled in AP Calculus BC concurrently) Physics Projects PHY475
Art
English
History/ Social Sciences
Mathematics/ Computer Science
World Languages
Music
Science
Diploma Requirements
English: 4 years Mathematics: 3 years or through Algebra II Foreign Language: 3 years of one language at Deerfield or the equivalent. Students for whom English is a second language have no foreign language requirement. History: 2 years, including a year of U.S. History or American Studies Science: 2 years of laboratory science Fine Arts: 2 trimesters for three and four year students only Philosophy or Religion: 1 trimester for three and four year students only Health Issues: 1 trimester non-credit, required of all sophomores
It is our policy to report to colleges and other educational institutions and programs any disciplinary action taken against a student for academic or other dishonesty, theft, or harassment. We will also report any incident resulting in more than five days suspension and any senior who is required to withdraw for academic reasons during the year or does not graduate on schedule.
Discipline Reporting Policy
Grade Distribution Chart
Deerfield Academy does not rank its students. Grades are not weighted. Junior year averages for the Class of 2011; new seniors and postgraduates are not included
Grade Number of students=175 % of students
95-100 3 2% 91-94.9 35 20% 87-90.9 88 50% 83-86.9 41 23% 73.3-82.8 8 5% An 87 average at Deerfield Academy is an honor roll average; 93 and above is high honors.
ScholasticAptitudeTests
The distribution of scores* for the Class of 2011 (through October 2010) is: Verbal Math Writing
700-800 33% 32% 38% 600-699 39% 49% 39% 500-599 27% 16% 21% 400-499 1% 3% 2%
Average Scores 653 662 661
*Includes verbal scores of TOEFL eligible students.
There are three National Merit Semi-Finalists in the Class of 2011.National Merit Semi-Finalists
AdvancedPlacementExaminations
In 2010, 286 candidates sat for 631 examinations. Scores of 5 were received by 27% of the candidates; scores of 3 or 4 were received by 61%.
Amherst College
Barnard College
Bates College
Boston College
Boston University
Bowdoin College
Brown University
Bucknell University
University of California - Berkeley
Claremont McKenna College
Colby College
Colgate University
Colorado College
Columbia University
Connecticut College
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Davidson College
Duke University
George Washington University
Georgetown University
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Hobart & William Smith Colleges
Lehigh University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
McGill University
Middlebury College
New York University
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Northwestern University
University of Pennsylvania
Princeton University
University of Richmond
University of the South - Sewanee
University of Southern California
Southern Methodist University
University of St Andrews - Scotland
Stanford University
Syracuse University
Trinity College
Tufts University
Tulane University
Union College
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
Washington & Lee University
Wellesley College
Wesleyan University
College of William & Mary
Williams College
Yale University
CollegeMatriculation
In the last five years, five or more Deerfield Academy students have matriculated at each of the following institutions:
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