September 7, 2023

The 2023–2024 academic year is off to a great start. Students are excited to be on campus, reuniting with old friends and making new ones. Faculty and staff are energized, ready to teach and learn, and eager to get to know your child.  

Classes began today at 8:30 a.m. under sunny blue skies. Shortly before, Head of School Raynard Kington, MD, PhD, P’24, ’27, joined the Class of 2024 for the annual Vista Walk—the first ever on the newly named Chandler-Wormley Vista. Started by 14th head of school Barbara Landis Chase, this tradition previews the pathway seniors will walk at Commencement.

All-School Meeting (ASM) postponed: Tomorrow’s scheduled ASM—which fills Cochran Chapel with students, faculty, and staff—has been delayed until next Friday, September 15, due to unusually high temperatures. Check next week’s Family Bulletin for more information. 

This weekend is a “closed weekend”: This means there will be no day or overnight excuses for boarding students on September 9 or 10. All students are required to attend cluster meetings Friday evening and class events on Sunday—important opportunities to get to know one another, build community, and have fun with their classmates. 

A Big Blue welcome! Head of School Raynard Kington joined Blue Key spirit leaders on Tuesday morning to greet new students and their families arriving for registration at the Snyder Center. A link to more photos and videos from this first week on campus will be provided in next week’s Family Bulletin. (Photo by Gil Talbot)

The music team is very excited to work with this year’s new and returning students. 

Auditions: Auditions for various groups and ensembles are being held today through Saturday, September 9. Please encourage your student to sign up for an audition time via this link as soon as possible. Questions? Please email the music department.

Private Lessons: Enrollment requests will continue to be accepted in the private lesson program as space permits. Sign up here. Private lessons begin the week of September 17; the deadline to “drop” private lessons is Friday, September 29. The term-based rates for 2023–2024 are as follows:

If have questions about financial assistance for private lessons, please email Heidi Jamieson, director of financial aid.

Instrument and locker rentals are available for students participating in our programs. Requests are processed and prioritized in the order they are received. 

The PSAT exam—for PA 11th-graders (uppers)—will be held on campus on Wednesday, October 11. The PSAT is a practice for the SAT exam. It tests the same skills and knowledge, and can be a predictor of how one would score if they took the SAT.

Registration is open now through Sunday, September 10. Click here for complete details. The PSAT will be a digital exam that students will take on their own device, windows laptop or tablet, Mac laptop or iPad. Students have been emailed a registration link and will receive specific instructions when they register. The $28 cost will be deducted from your student’s Course Materials Account. (This is an internal tuition account, not the BlueCard.)

The College Counseling Office (CCO) will host a college fair on Monday, September 18, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Snyder Center. The fair offers local high school students and their families an ideal opportunity to familiarize themselves with a wide range of colleges and universities. Representatives from more than 100 colleges and universities from around the world will be available to answer individual questions and to distribute informational literature about their schools.  

PA families can find the current list of registered schools on The Hive. Please note that students cannot miss any PA commitments to attend the fair. Admission is free and open to the public. Once on campus, please follow the signs to available parking. 

At the start of each term, students will engage in programming to help them better understand the principles and practices of academic integrity. Programming includes discussion of academic integrity in each class and advising group, and it concludes with each student confirming their understanding of the parameters of doing good intellectual work in an academic community.

While each student is responsible for adhering to the rules and guidelines governing academic integrity, there are three ways parents/guardians can help:

In addition, families may be interested in our policies regarding the use of artificial intelligence. From Andover’s 2023–2024 Course of Study:

“With the rapidly expanding capabilities of large language models (LLMs)—artificial intelligence model types including, but not limited to, ChatGPT, Google Bard, and LaMDA—students must be particularly wary of using such robust resources to complete academic work, and they should assume, unless the instructor explicitly highlights otherwise, that the use of LLMs is prohibited. Using LLMs to generate or edit texts or ideas, to solve problems or direct one on a pathway to doing so, or to identify or assess evidence, among other things, can easily lead a student to committing an act of academic dishonesty, even inadvertently.” 

Throughout the year, all students have access to a range of great resources, including their teachers, who are available during conference periods; the Academic Skills Center located in Pearson Hall; the evening Writing Center, located in the library; and the Math/Science Center, located in the Gelb Science Center. 

This September, Phillips Academy welcomed 82 new international students to our community. Most of these students are non–U.S. citizens, some are Americans or joint U.S. citizens living outside the United States, and a few just recently moved to the United States. We are currently seeking host families in the Andover or Boston area. Host families (who will be matched as best we can with an international student) are asked to host their student for an occasional night, and/or over a school vacation or long weekend. This is a great opportunity for both our international students and their host families. Many families enjoy long-lasting friendships with their host student! 

Questions? Please email Gina Finocchiaro, international student coordinator. 

Please be reminded that the Office of Family Engagement is here to support you throughout the school year. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact Director Jennifer Vasquez by email or call 978-749-4068.

The Parents of Students of Phillips Academy (PSPA) would like to extend a warm welcome to all families! We are a nonprofit organization run by parent volunteers who are dedicated to supporting our school community. The PSPA—of which you are automatically a member—hosts social gatherings, educational panels, and community engagement events throughout the year for students, parents/guardians, and staff. Please sign up here to be notified about opportunities to volunteer. Click here if you are interested in serving as a board member.

We hope you will join us in person or virtually for our first event of the year.

PSPA General Meeting & Speaker Series—Tuesday, September 19

Stock up on new gear at Campus Closet: Campus Closet is the school’s official store for Phillips Academy clothing and merchandise—for students and their families! Our online shop offers free delivery to dorm rooms. Campus Closet is run by parent volunteers; all proceeds support activities for students, parents, and the broader PA community. 

We look forward to welcoming families back to campus in just a few weeks! Family Weekend, October 20–22, provides a unique glimpse into your child’s daily life at Andover and includes activities such as classroom visits with your child’s instructors, student performances, and athletic events. Registration is now open!

Plan ahead—and learn more about your student’s Andover experience! All families are encouraged to come to campus Friday afternoon (October 20) for “An Insider’s Guide” to each class—junior, lower, upper, and senior. Four separate panel discussions are planned that include key faculty and administrators who will talk about the range of opportunities and challenges—academic, intellectual, social, and emotional—typically faced (and embraced!) by students in each grade; a Q&A will follow. Please refer to the Family Weekend Schedule of Events and check back often for updates.

Other important Family Weekend information:

Please visit Family Weekend FAQs for answers to questions like these:

More Family Weekend questions? Please send us an email. 

The Tang Institute is the Academy’s center for teaching, learning, and partnership. Andover students benefit from Tang Institute projects across the curriculum, in a range of departmental and interdisciplinary efforts. These include The Workshop, mindfulness events, the ethi{CS} project, lunch discussions with Tang Fellows, and more. Click here to learn more about the Tang Institute and here to subscribe to “Notes on Learning,” the institute’s monthly newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

The Addison Gallery of American Art, located right on campus, presents the first museum solo show of the work of artist Reggie Burrows Hodges as well as two exhibitions highlighting different aspects of the museum’s permanent collection. Be sure to preview each exhibition here—and save the date for the Addison’s fall opening reception: Saturday, September 30, from 4 to 6 p.m.! 

The Addison Gallery is free and open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, from 1 to 5 p.m. (closed on Mondays and national holidays).

A “faith survey” was sent to all students in August. We are still gathering data and ask you to encourage your student(s) to fill it out if they haven’t already. The Chaplaincy uses survey results to connect with students who wish to participate in spiritual and religious activities on campus. 

We strive to create a welcoming environment for all, whether students are part of a particular religious/faith/spiritual community or not. Students may participate as much or as little as they choose. Families are also invited to campus services and gatherings, unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday, September 10

Confirmation classes will begin in early October and meet each Sunday from 4:45 to 6 p.m., followed by the 6:15 p.m. Catholic Mass. (Arrangements are made for dinner.) All high school grade levels (including postgraduates) are welcome in this program. Interested students should email Dr. Mary Kantor for more information.

Friday, September 15

Keep an eye on the Academy’s Events Calendar for additional gatherings in your area and an array of campus and other events that may be open to families (i.e., special student presentations; music, theatre, and dance performances; and athletic competitions). Please join us!

Campus and off-site health and safety guidelines, provided here, are also available when you register for a specific event.