Eight Schools Association


The Eight Schools Association is an association of eight highly-selective private college-preparatory boarding schools in the Northeastern United States. Informally founded in 1973, the Eight Schools Association became an official nonprofit association in 2006. As of the 2024–25 school year, the schools of the Eight Schools Association had a combined endowment of over $8 billion. Phillips Academy and Phillips Exeter Academy, among other member schools, meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students who are U.S. citizens.

Member schools

History

1973–2006: Informal association

During the 1973–74 school year, the heads of Andover, Choate, Deerfield, Exeter, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, and St. Paul's agreed to meet on a yearly, albeit informal, basis. After the first meeting, Northfield Mount Hermon was invited to join. According to Choate's website, the purpose of the ESA was "to show a connection between these schools in academic philosophy, admissions standards, and athletic pursuits."
In 1996, the ESA agreed to add a second annual meeting to its calendar, with one meeting for the heads of school and the other for representatives of each school's boards of trustees.
The ESA will not expand unless the eight member schools unanimously agree, and no new members have been added since 1974.

2006–present: Formalized group

In April 2006, the ESA schools established a more formal administrative structure, appointing a president, vice president, and executive director. These roles were staffed by administrators of the member schools, who would rotate every three years. The ESA also adopted bylaws which state that the ESA's primary purpose is to "address critical educational issues in order to ensure the best educational experiences and outcomes for students, explore new research and trends in education, and develop collaborative programs."
The ESA heads have continued their annual meetings since formalizing the ESA. Topics discussed at ESA meetings include economic difficulties in the private school industry, ways to improve boarding school affordability, and the economic feasibility of need-blind admissions. Previous invitees and speakers at these meetings include Harvard Graduate School of Education professor James P. Honan, former Dartmouth College president James Wright, journalist Steven Brill, and education policy specialists.

Financial resources

Although several ESA schools no longer publish their endowment figures, in 2016 the ESA contained seven of the ten wealthiest traditional college-preparatory boarding schools in the United States, as measured by total size of endowment. and the Milton Hershey School in Pennsylvania
Reflecting these financial resources, as of the 2023–24 school year, all eight ESA members commit to provide financial aid equivalent to the full demonstrated need of the U.S. citizen students that they admit.

Attempts at closer collaboration

Athletics

Although the ESA schools are geographically dispersed, making it somewhat impractical to schedule consistent sports matchups, several ESA schools have sought to schedule each other in out-of-conference play. The ESA held wrestling and basketball tournaments in 2007 and 2009. In 2015–16, the six ESA members closest to Boston announced their intention to start a new athletic conference. However, the schools did not register their conference with the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council, and as of 2024, several of these schools remain affiliated with other conferences.

Student and faculty cooperation

After formalizing the ESA, the schools identified several possible ideas for future cooperation, such as "a debate invitational, a joint literary publication, athletic play days, a musical group jamboree," and "collaborating on critical issues like pandemic preparedness."
In the years immediately following the establishment of the ESA, the group conducted several joint projects:
  • Faculty conferences. The schools have occasionally scheduled faculty conferences, such as the 2007 arts conference, the 2010 science conference, the 2010 language/cultural conference, and the 2012 and 2013 education technology conferences.
  • Student publications. In August 2007, Deerfield published 8 × 8: Writings from the Eight School Association, a collection of student writing curated by teachers and student editors at the ESA schools. In the preface, Deerfield's head wrote that she hoped future editions of the collection would "fost intellectual relationships among its members." In 2019, Andover's student newspaper attempted to survey the student bodies of all eight ESA schools, but for various reasons, four of the eight schools did not participate.
  • Arts festivals. ESA schools have also hosted a jazz festival and drama festivals.
  • Student competitions. As of 2010, ESA administrators were planning a "green campus" competition to encourage students to participate in environmental initiatives.