St. Paul's School

SPS follows an American college-preparatory curriculum leading to the St. Paul's School diploma, with requirements in the arts, humanities, languages, mathematics, sciences and athletics. Humanities is taught as an integrated sequence, and many departments offer honours sections. Highly motivated students can join the Classical Honors Program, which leads to a special Classical Honors Diploma in Latin and Greek, or the selective Applied Science and Engineering Program, which includes summer laboratory research in the United States and abroad. Sixth formers may also design independent study projects, including study abroad or internships.

SPS is a four-year high school. Students enter in Third Form (grade 9), Fourth Form (grade 10) or, in smaller numbers, Fifth Form (grade 11), and graduate at the end of Sixth Form (grade 12). The required credits in each subject depend on the year of entry. There is no middle school or postgraduate year, and all students board.

The school's mission is to educate students to build purposeful lives in service to the greater good, within a diverse, inclusive and ethical community that pursues excellence in character and scholarship. Founded in the Episcopal tradition, SPS welcomes students of all faiths and none, and Chapel is a daily space for reflection, music and community. The honour code asks students to be truthful, respectful and kind, and the school prayer centres on kindness and care for others. The strategic plan focuses on investing in people, places and programmes.

The campus in Concord covers about 2,000 acres. The Athletic and Fitness Center houses two gymnasiums, a fitness centre, the Ma Swimming Pool, an indoor rowing tank and climbing and bouldering walls. Outdoor facilities include eight athletic fields, a lighted turf field, a 400-metre track, 15 tennis courts, two indoor hockey rinks, ten international squash courts, a rowing course with boathouse and 25 miles of trails. Academic spaces include the Ohrstrom Library and the Lindsay Math and Science Center with 14 science labs, alongside a music building, the Chapel and the Clark House health centre.

Each student has a faculty adviser connected to their house who looks after only a few students and is the main contact for families. The Student Support Office, supervised evening study, study hall and a math centre help students with organisation and coursework, and college advisers guide university applications. Clark House is a 14-bed health centre open around the clock, with counsellors, a consulting psychiatrist and a nutritionist, and safety officers cover the campus 24 hours a day. Meals are served in Coit Dining Hall and the Kwok Café.

St. Paul's is fully residential: every student boards and every teacher lives on campus. Students of all ages share houses, and faculty families live in apartments attached to each house, so advisers are always close by. Prefects help younger students settle in, and house life includes supervised evening study, shared meals and weekend traditions. Boarding is included in the single tuition fee, which covers room and board.

Athletics are part of every student's programme, with interscholastic teams in baseball, basketball, crew, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, alpine and Nordic skiing, soccer, softball, squash, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling. In the arts, about a quarter of students play or sing in ensembles such as the orchestra, jazz band, Chapel Choir and three a cappella groups, and there are dance and theatre programmes. Students can join more than 70 clubs and societies, from the Debate Team, chess and computer science to student publications, STEM groups and a popular pickleball club.