Berwick Academy

Berwick Academy is a highly selective private college preparatory school located in South Berwick, Maine. Founded in 1791, it is the oldest school in Maine and one of the oldest private schools in America. The school sits on a 72-acre (29 ha), 11-building campus on a hill overlooking the Salmon Falls River, near the border of Maine and New Hampshire. Approximately 600 students in grades K through 12 attend the coeducational day school, primarily ... more

Berwick Academy is a highly selective private college preparatory school located in South Berwick, Maine. Founded in 1791, it is the oldest school in Maine and one of the oldest private schools in America. The school sits on a 72-acre (29 ha), 11-building campus on a hill overlooking the Salmon Falls River, near the border of Maine and New Hampshire. Approximately 600 students in grades K through 12 attend the coeducational day school, primarily from the nearby regions of southern Maine, southeastern New Hampshire and northeastern Massachusetts. The school was founded in 1791 when the citizens of Berwick, York, and Wells (then villages in the Maine Territory of Massachusetts) raised $500 to teach languages, liberal arts and sciences to "the deplorable youth in this part of the country." Chartered by Massachusetts Governor John Hancock later that year, the school opened in a small hip-roofed Georgian house on land donated by Judge Benjamin Chadbournes. The "1791 House" remains part of... less