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THETFORD ACADEMY
"A sense of community, a source of challenge"
P.O.
Box 190
Thetford, Vermont 05074
Tel: (802) 785-4805
Fax: (802) 785-4805
Thetford Academy is a private school with a public mission. Founded in 1819, it is Vermont's oldest secondary school. Since 1906, it has served as the designated high school for the town of Thetford, and educates all Thetford students in grades 7-12.
About 70% of Academy students are Thetford residents. At grade 9, the Academy also admits students from other local towns: Strafford, VT and Lyme, NH (with guaranteed admission); also Corinth, Topsham, Hartland, Sharon, and Tunbridge, VT, and Piermont, NH (by selective admission on a space-available basis).
PHILOSOPHY AND CLIMATE: Five fundamental values guide life and learning at the school: excellence, commitment, cooperation, diversity, and caring. Thetford Academy places high priority on promoting respect and acceptance for all school community members. This inclusive environment fosters student confidence and encourages both teachers and students to experiment, stretch their capacities, and take risks as learners.
The school's educational philosophy appears in its Learning Principles:
We believe that learning should be:
* ACTIVE & ENGAGING: People learn by doing. Students need to engage in direct experience, including practice, application, creation and invention.
* REFLECTIVE & THOUGHTFUL: People learn by thinking about experience. Students need to reflect, evaluate, and integrate new learning.
* VARIED & ADAPTIVE: People learn in diverse ways. Students need multiple approaches that explore and respect varied learning styles.
* SAFE & SUPPORTIVE: People learn by taking risks in a secure environment. Students need physical and emotional safety, along with encouragement to question and experiment.
* STRUCTURED & COHERENT: People learn by constructing meaning and seeing patterns. Students need clear expectations, purposeful organization, and reliable, valid assessment of their work.
* MOTIVATING & INSPIRING: People learn by interacting with expert mentors and inspiring models. Students need relationships with adults -- both professional teachers and community mentors -- who know their subjects and who love their vocations.
The Academy functions as a close-knit community where each student receives individual attention. Teaching-learning relationships are personal and supportive, with an average class size of 15 students. All-school events such as Mountain Day, Operation Day's Work, and Founders' Day challenges enhance community cohesion. Weekly all-school meetings encourage students from every grade to speak up and share their accomplishments.
SPECIAL PROGRAMS: Thetford Academy is a nationally recognized leader school for service learning, an approach that links academic study with work to meet community needs. Nearly all departments offer courses with community-based learning, engaging students in planning, action, and reflection on relevant issues. Over 90% of Academy students participate in at least one major service-learning project each year.
In 2005, TA became the U.S. headquarters for Operation Day's Work, an international service program to promote global youth solidarity and aid to developing nations. [INSERT LINK: www.taodw.org]
The Academy is also home to one of the finest cross country trails in New England. Each fall, hundreds of local volunteers join in hosting invitational and championship races that bring as many as 2300 runners to the Woods Trail. [INSERT TRAIL LINK]
POST-SECONDARY PROFILE: On average, about 70% of a graduating class will attend 4-year colleges, 15% will attend 2-year colleges, and 15% will enter the workforce or military service.
In the past five years, Thetford Academy graduates have enrolled in the following colleges:
Amherst
College
Antioch College
Ball State University
Bard College
Bates College
Berklee College of Music
Boston College
Boston Fine Arts Museum School/Tufts
Brown University
Bucknell University
Burlington College
Carnegie Mellon University
Castleton State College
Champlain College
Clark University
Clarkson University
Colby College
Colgate University
Colby-Sawyer College
Connecticut College
Daniel Webster College
Dartmouth College
Denison University
Dickinson College
Duke University
Eckerd College
Elon College
Emerson College
Emmanuel College
Endicott College
Florida Southern College
Franklin Pierce College
Gettysburg College
Goucher College
Green Mountain College
Grinnell College
Hamilton College
Hampshire College
Hartwick College
Hobart and William Smith
Hunter College
Johnson State College
Juniata College
Kalamazoo Valley Community College
Keene State College
Knox College
Lafayette College
Lewis and Clark College
Louisburg College
Lyndon State College
Maine College of Art
Marlboro College
McGill University
McIntosh College
Montana State University, Bozeman
Mount Holyoke College
Nashville Auto Diesel College
New England College
New Hampshire Technical College, Claremont
New Hampshire Technical College, Laconia
Northeastern University
Oberlin College
Plymouth State University
Pratt Institute
Purdue University
Quinnipiac University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
St. Lawrence University
St. Michael's College
Sarah Lawrence College
Siena College
Simmons College
Skidmore College
Smith College
Springfield College
SUNY at Cobleskill
Susquehanna University
Swarthmore College
Tufts University
Unity College
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Georgia
University of Hartford
University of Maine, Farmington
University of Montana
University of New England
University of New Hampshire
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
Vassar College
Villanova University
Wagner College
Wake Forest University
Washington College
Washington and Lee
Wheaton College
Wellesley College
Wesleyan University
Willamette University
