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About Bard Academy
Why high school for two years? What’s the rush? We’re not condensing high school: it’s quite the opposite.
During the last two years of high school, many students spend less time learning and more time preoccupied with the college admission process. At Bard Academy at Simon’s Rock, we have a different philosophy about high school. We keep the focus on deep learning and intellectual discovery by ensuring that all students in good academic and social standing are accepted into Bard College at Simon’s Rock after the 10th grade. Our enriched curriculum and student-centered teaching style enable students to earn an associate degree when most of their peers are just finishing high school.
A shared campus, a powerful network
To give our students the right building blocks for a full, meaningful experience, Bard Academy shares both faculty and campus resources with Bard College at Simon’s Rock. Bard Academy is one of very few private high schools with college-quality facilities dedicated to arts, science and technology, and research and scholarship, as well as health, community, and athletics.
Simon’s Rock belongs to a family of early college programs within the global liberal arts network of Bard College, and the Bard Academy approach is based on the successful examples of the Bard High School Early College programs across the country. These programs, which were founded by Simon’s Rock faculty, and which are grounded in decades of innovative early college programming at Simon’s Rock, offer students who are ready to learn and succeed an early start on both a college and life-long education.
Strong Academic Foundations
Bard Academy students work in new and invigorating ways. They study a range of disciplines and draw connections between those disciplines. They build strong writing habits, learning to engage in writing as a way of thinking and form of expression. At the same time, they explore the technologies of the digital age. These are skills that enable success in the classroom and enrich a well-rounded life.
At Bard Academy, students are encouraged to bring an independent, questioning mind to reading and writing. They are asked to challenge and analyze their own assumptions and the ideas of others. And they're expected to infuse discussions and debates with a global perspective. In these ways, students experience profound personal transformations and expand their knowledge of the world — a world that will benefit from their participation in it.
Support on the Journey
Along with all of these opportunities, we ensure that students have all the guidance and support they need: academic support from faculty members, academic advisors, and tutors; and social and emotional support from mentors, residential life staff, and our health and wellness team.
Students have weekly Advisory Meetings with faculty and the Academy residence hall is staffed with live-in residence directors whose roles are as much to advise as to supervise. Full health and counseling services are available through our Wellness Center, and we promote a healthy lifestyle for all of our students both in individual advising and in regular well-being seminars. College students from Simon’s Rock act as mentors, tutors, and role models in making the transition to life away from home.
We believe that the pursuit of knowledge is a way to live the rest of your life, and at Bard Academy, we provide an encouraging, secure place to start.
Curious about the Bard Academy experience?
