Dr. Eleanor Hartwell
Head of School · Chair of Humane Letters
D.Phil., Oxford · A.B., Princeton
A scholar of Victorian letters who has led Kingsley since 2014. She still teaches a single senior seminar each year — by her own insistence.
An educationmeasured indecades, not terms.
Since 1897, Kingsley Preparatory has taught the children of New England to think with precision, write with clarity, and carry themselves with character. We prepare young men and women for the colleges that ask the most of them — and for the lives that follow.
Est. 1897Grades 6–127:1 student–facultyDay & boarding
I · The Program
A classical curriculum, taught without shortcuts.
Every Kingsley student reads the texts, writes the essays, and sits the examinations that a serious education has always demanded. We do not chase trends. We teach the disciplines deeply, in their proper order, so that what is learned in the sixth form rests on what was learned in the first.
01
Humane Letters
Literature, history, and the art of the written argument, read in seminar and defended aloud. Students leave able to construct a paragraph that holds and a thesis that survives scrutiny.
Socratic seminar · the senior thesis
02
Mathematics
A sequence from pre-algebra through multivariable calculus, taught for understanding rather than recipe. Proof is treated as a form of honest writing.
Through AP Calculus BC · linear algebra
03
The Sciences
Biology, chemistry, and physics in dedicated laboratories, where the experiment — not the textbook — sets the question. Students keep a bound lab record across all four upper-form years.
Three AP sciences · independent research
04
Classical & Modern Languages
Latin from the first form, with Greek, French, Spanish, and Mandarin in the upper school. A language is learned to be read — not merely passed.
Latin required · four modern offerings
05
Philosophy & Rhetoric
Logic, ethics, and the formal art of persuasion, culminating in a public oration each spring before the assembled school. The question is never only what is true, but how to say it well.
Senior oration · ethics colloquium
06
The Fine Arts
Studio art, music theory, and choral and instrumental performance held to the same standard as the academic disciplines — a discipline of the eye and ear, not a diversion.
Conservatory track · annual exhibition
The senior thesis is the cornerstone of a Kingsley education: a year-long work of original research and argument, defended before faculty and peers. No student graduates without it.
II · Outcomes & Placement
Where a Kingsley education leads.
Our purpose is formation, not placement — but the record speaks plainly. The figures below describe recent graduating classes and are illustrative of our college-counseling outcomes.
0%
Matriculated to a four-year college
0%
Admitted to a most-selective institution
$0M
Merit aid offered to the Class of 2025
0:1
Average upper-form seminar size
A selection of recent matriculations
- Yale University5 admitted · Class of 2025
- Williams College4 admitted · Class of 2025
- Georgetown University6 admitted · Class of 2025
- Bowdoin College3 admitted · Class of 2025
- United States Naval Academy2 appointed · Class of 2025
- University of Virginia7 admitted · Class of 2025
- Amherst College4 admitted · Class of 2025
- Dartmouth College3 admitted · Class of 2025
Figures reflect the past three graduating classes and are illustrative, not guaranteed. College admission depends on each student's own work and the decisions of the institutions to which they apply.
III · Character & Life
We have never believed that a sharp mind and a steady character are separate projects. At Kingsley they are taught as one.
A Kingsley day is ordered by more than its timetable. It opens with morning assembly in the chapel, where the whole school gathers; it is held together by the honor code, which the students themselves administer; and it closes, for boarders, with study hall and the quiet of a residential house led by faculty who live alongside them.
Out of that order comes the thing we are most known for: students who can be trusted with their own freedom. They proctor their own examinations, govern their own houses, and leave us ready to do the same at university and after it.
01
The Honor Code
Student-administered since 1911. Examinations are unproctored; a pledged word is taken at its worth. It is the oldest promise the school keeps.
02
House & Residential Life
Ten residential houses, each led by faculty in residence, where boarders learn to live well in a community — and where day students keep a house home of their own.
03
Service & Stewardship
Sixty hours of community service across the upper school, and a school stewardship corps that keeps the grounds, the library, and the traditions in good order.
04
Mentorship & Advising
Every student is assigned a faculty advisor who follows them from entrance to graduation — a single steady hand across the whole of their time here.
IV · The Faculty
Taught by scholars who chose the classroom.
More than seventy percent of our faculty hold a doctorate or terminal degree, and many have chosen Kingsley over the university lecture hall. Each lives the life of the school — coaching, advising, and, for most, residing on the grounds.
Dr. Marcus Pennington
Chair of Mathematics
Ph.D. Mathematics, Yale · S.B., MIT
Twenty-two years at Kingsley. Coaches the certamen team to the national rounds most years and treats every proof as a sentence to be written well.
Dr. Clara Whitmore
Chair of the Sciences
Ph.D. Chemistry, Caltech · B.S., Carleton
Built the school's independent-research laboratory and mentors the senior science theses that reach the regional fairs each spring.
Mr. Julian Reyes
Master of Classics · Latin & Greek
M.A. Classics, Chicago · A.B., Amherst
Has taught first-form Latin for nineteen years on the conviction that no student forgets a language they were taught to read for pleasure.
V · Athletics & The Arts
A whole education, on the field and the stage.
Every Kingsley student competes or performs. Athletics and the arts are not extracurricular here — they are where character is tested in public, season after season.
Athletics
Eighteen interscholastic sports
From the founding crew on the Connecticut River to championship squash and cross-country, every student joins a team and wears the green. Competition is required; excellence is admired.
- Crew
- Cross-country
- Squash
- Lacrosse
- Fencing
- Track & field
The Arts
A conservatory within the school
The choir sings evensong each term, the orchestra mounts two concerts a year, and the studio program holds a juried exhibition every spring in the Founders' Gallery.
- Chamber choir
- Symphony orchestra
- Theatre
- Studio art
- Music theory
- Dance
VI · Admissions
How a Kingsley education begins.
We read every application closely and admit the students we believe will flourish under our standard. The process is considered, personal, and the same for day and boarding candidates.
- 01Year-round
The inquiry
It begins with a note. Tell us about your child and the year you have in mind, and the Office of Admissions will write back with the next steps and an invitation to visit.
- 02September – January
Visit & interview
Every candidate spends a day on campus: a class visit, a tour led by a current student, and an interview with a member of the admissions faculty.
- 03Due 15 January
The application
A completed application, school transcripts, two teacher recommendations, a graded writing sample, and standardized testing where required. The candidate's own essay matters most.
- 04Notified 10 March
Decision & enrollment
Decisions and financial-aid awards are released together in March. Enrolled families confirm their place by 10 April and join the Kingsley community in September.
VII · Tuition & Aid
An investment the school helps families make.
Tuition supports the small classes, the resident faculty, and the grounds that make a Kingsley education what it is. We are committed to meeting demonstrated need, and we do not want cost alone to keep a deserving student away.
- $38,500 / year
Middle School
Grades 6–8 · Day
- $46,200 / year
Upper School
Grades 9–12 · Day
- $72,800 / year
Boarding
Grades 9–12 · Five- & seven-day
Financial aid
One in three Kingsley families receives need-based financial aid.
- $6.8M in need-based aid awarded this year
- Awards meet 100% of demonstrated need for admitted students
- Merit and legacy scholarships considered with every application
- Aid decisions released alongside admission, never after
VIII · Begin an Inquiry
Write to the Office of Admissions.
An inquiry places no obligation on your family. Tell us a little about your child and the year you are considering, and a member of the admissions faculty will write back personally — usually within two business days.
- Read by the admissions faculty, not an auto-reply
- A personal response within two business days
- No obligation — an inquiry is simply the first conversation
Prefer to speak?Call admissions
IX · Questions
Before you write.
Do you admit at every grade, or only at entry points?
Our principal entry points are grades 6 and 9, where the most places open. We do admit qualified candidates in other grades as spaces allow, and we will tell you candidly what is realistic for the year you have in mind.
Is Kingsley a day school or a boarding school?
Both. The middle school is day-only; the upper school enrolls day, five-day boarding, and seven-day boarding students in ten residential houses. Day and boarding students share every classroom, team, and tradition.
What does the curriculum require of a student?
A great deal, deliberately. Latin from entry, four years of mathematics and laboratory science, the humane-letters seminar, and a year-long senior thesis. We ask much because the colleges our students attend ask much.
How does financial aid work?
Aid is need-based and awarded alongside admission, never after. We meet the full demonstrated need of admitted students, and roughly one family in three receives an award. A separate application for aid is submitted with the admission file.
Are your college-placement figures guaranteed?
No. The outcomes we publish describe recent graduating classes and are illustrative of our counseling, not promises. Where a student is admitted depends on their own work and the decisions of each institution.
What is the best first step?
An inquiry. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing — it simply opens a conversation with the admissions faculty, who will guide you through visiting, applying, and deciding whether Kingsley is the right home for your child.
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