What Makes Berkshire, Berkshire?

What Makes Berkshire, ? e r i h s k Ber

W W W. B E R K S H I R E S C H O O L . O R G

Berkshire was named a Green Ribbon School by the Department of Education in 2013, one of 64 schools in the nation and one of only 10 private schools. The award honors schools and districts for “exemplary efforts to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, promote better health, and ensure effective environmental education, including civics and green career pathways.” (US Department of Education)

What Makes Berkshire, ? e r i h s k r Be Our signature programs:

Advanced Math/Science Research • Pro Vita • Advanced Humanities Research • Aviation Science • Ritt Kellogg Mountain Program • STEAM • Independent Study • Sustainability and Resource Management

and students who are...

inspired engaged

leaders

collaborators

driven

curious

competitive diverse perceptive passionate

like you.

That Bear Spirit Like all great schools, Berkshire has deep-rooted traditions that help define the Berkshire experience, like Mountain Day, Winter Carnival and Green and Gray to name a few.

Green and Gray All new students are assigned a color during Orientation, and thus begins their foreveraffiliation with the Green or the Gray. Points for each team can be earned for stellar performances in everything from arm wrestling to academics. The winning team’s flag flies in Buck Valley, and the winners have bragging rights until the next quarter!

Mountain Day The unexpected Mountain Day announcement is always a highlight of the fall semester.

Mountain Day is a break from the rigorous academic schedule and an opportunity to enjoy and explore the outdoors together. The day may include a hike to Guilder Pond and South Pinnacle, a canoe ride on the Housatonic River, a trip across the summit or simply time spent with friends playing Ultimate Frisbee, a bike ride or going for a walk.

Winter Carnival Every year the whole school eagerly anticipates Winter Carnival, which takes place in January. Each dorm and the day students compete against each other for the title, with points being tallied throughout Spirit Week, the week leading up to Winter Carnival Weekend. Dorm skits, broomball, tug-of-war, figure skating, Trivia Night and a snow sculpture contest are just the tip of the iceberg.

“Everyone comes out for Winter Carnival.

Friendships form, rivalries heat up, and it brings all the dorms together.” – Zeiko, Bermuda

Academic Excellence Berkshire offers one of the best college preparatory programs with all the fundamentals required for students to excel academically, artistically, and athletically.

But what sets our School apart is what happens at the periphery of this exceptional core—allowing students to explore an intellectual passion or nurture a new interest.

Advanced Math/Science Research (AMSR) AMSR is a year-long course that offers students an authentic independent laboratory experience to design and execute an original research project of their choice in the biological, physical, or social sciences. Each student works in collaboration with a faculty mentor and a professional research scientist in a format determined by the student, the mentor, and the instructor. n The INTEL Science Talent Search is the nation’s most distinguished and competitive science competition for high school seniors.

Over the past five years, five AMSR students were named INTEL semifinalists, a distinction earned by only 300 students in the country per year.

Advanced Humanities Research (AHR) AHR students spend the first quarter learning about critical approaches and research methods across humanities disciplines, then determine a specific field of study and compile a reading list in the second quarter. In the second semester, students propose and execute a lengthy scholarly project, with oversight from the AHR teacher and guidance from at least one off-campus mentor.

Class trips include: The Mount, the home of Edith Wharton • The Chapin Library at Williams College • The Watkinson Library at Trinity College • The Yale Center for British Art

The Sky’s the Limit Pro Vita Learn to Fly Aviation Science is a semester-long course that prepares students to pass the FAA Ground School Certification Exam, an initial requirement for earning a pilot's license.

“Flying gives the kids a tremendous sense of accomplishment and makes them better decision makers.

They realize that flying is the ultimate freedom and the ultimate responsibility at the same time.

And then they start applying that principle to the rest of their lives.”

– Michael Lee, Aviation Science instructor and father of three Berkshire graduates

For one week each winter, Berkshire students move beyond the core curriculum to participate in three unique, intensive courses of their choosing, taught by Berkshire faculty, parents, alumni and friends. With more than 80 courses offered, students have the opportunity to explore the larger world around them and to apply the school motto, Pro Vita Non Pro Schola Discimus, “Learning—not just for school but for life.” Students also have the option of pursuing site-based excursions during the week. Recent trips have included studying marine life in the Bahamas, working in local Mayan elementary schools in Guatemala, and backcountry skiing and leadership in Wyoming.

A Selection of Pro Vita Courses: Learn to Play the Bagpipes • “Build” Africa • Android Apps • Tour de Sol: Solar Power • Yoga • Making, Branding, and the Science Behind Mineral Cosmetics During Pro Vita, some students traveled to Germany and learned about its rich history as they visited the Berlin Wall while other students hit the airwaves on our own WBSL Radio 91.7 FM.

Chart Your Course Independent Study

rin g Architecture and En ginee

Berkshire students may work with a faculty mentor to design a course that allows them to pursue an academic interest beyond the core courses and electives offered in the regular curriculum, and which mirrors the academic rigors of college.

Recent Independent Study Projects: Advanced Astro-Imaging • Arduino Robotics • Biodiesel Fuel Engineering • Child Development • Digital Music Composition and Sound Design • Mathematical Modeling and 3D Art

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) The STEAM program gives students a hands-on experience with the design and construction of three-dimensional objects. This program is designed to be interdisciplinary, allowing students to use a variety of tools including 3D printers, laser cutters, and shop bots. Students learn the basic elements of design theory and how to use CAD software. Projects have included suspension bridges, mathematical sculptures, robots and more.

3D Bridge Project

Climb New Heights Ritt Kellogg Mountain Program (RKMP) Berkshire School boasts an asset no other college preparatory school can claim: Mount Everett, the second highest mountain in Massachusetts. Berkshire celebrates the mountain it lies beneath with the Ritt Kellogg Mountain Program, named after a 1985 alumnus who died in 1992 while climbing Mount Foraker in Alaska.

What will RKMP teach you?

Backcountry Skills • Rock Climbing • Boat Building • Winter Mountaineering • Canoeing • Mountain Biking • Maple Syrup Production

Our Diverse Community Berkshire’s students and faculty represent a variety of ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds. This diversity inspires the new perspectives, understanding, and exchanges of ideas that profoundly impact how our community learns and works together, both in and out of the classroom. Berkshire’s Global Initiatives, a multidisciplinary commitment to fostering a global perspective, are woven across all disciplines increasing our students’ awareness and understanding of the diverse cultures of today’s community.

Student clubs include: MSA (Multicultural Students Association), JSA (Jewish Students Association), GSA (Gay/Straight Alliance), and VOCA (Voice of Cultural Awareness)

Festival of Colors A student introduced Berkshire to its first-ever Holi celebration, also known as the festival of colors, an ancient Hindu religious festival celebrated at the approach of the vernal equinox.

7 Jackman L. Stewart Athletic Center

5 Fine Arts Center 2

8 12 10

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11 9

3 Bellas/Dixon

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Math & Science Center

An Inspired Setting The 400-acre Berkshire School campus is located at the base of Mount Everett (2,624 ft.) in Sheffield, Massachusetts, in the heart of the Berkshire Hills. The area is a popular tourist destination for world-renowned arts and culture, health and wellness retreats and spectacular nature, including the Appalachian Trail, which is a short hike from campus.

Approximately 2 ½ hours from Boston and New York City and 1 ½ hours from Albany and Hartford, Berkshire is centrally located. Nearby Great Barrington (named the 2012 “Best Small Town in America” by Smithsonian magazine), Lenox and Salisbury, Conn., are frequent destinations for restaurants, shops and movie theaters.

Home Away From Home Berkshire has ten student dorms on campus with no more than two students per room.

Dorms are organized by “vertical housing,” which means that every dorm has students from each grade, allowing upperclassmen to serve as role models.

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Campus Facilities “Once we’re here, we’re all from the same place.”

Berkshire provides first-rate facilities and programs that support and enhance our students’ learning and living experience under the Mountain.

Our facilities provide quality academic, artistic, athletic and residential environments for the entire Berkshire community.

– Olivia, Jamaica 1 Allen House and Theater

• A ll-School Assemblies

• Barbara Kenefick Center for Learning

• R adio Station (WBSL 91.7 FM)

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Dixon Observatory

2 Berkshire Hall

• Humanities Classrooms

• C ollege Counseling

• Head of School Office

• Technology

• Language Lab 3 Bellas/Dixon Math & Science Center,

LEED Gold Certified

• The Sabin Center for Math/Science Exploration

• 6 Math Classrooms

• 8 Science Classroom Labs

• C rawford Family Lecture Hall

• R ain Gardens 4

Dixon Observatory • 14" Meade LX200gps Mount/ Telescope with Equatorial Wedge • SBIG ST-7E CCD Camera • Software: CCD Ops and The Sky 6 • Image Intensifier

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5 Fine Arts Center

• T he Art Gallery

• D igital Printing Lab

• D igital Art, Digital Photography and Digital Music Classroom

• Sculpture Studio

• Studio Art and Ceramics Classrooms

Berkshire Green

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Geier Library

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Jackman L. Stewart Athletic Center • 2 Ice Hockey Rinks • 14 Locker Rooms • A thletic Training Suite • Fitness Center • Stadium Seating & Press Box

Berkshire is a leader among independent schools in advancing the principles of sustainability, with a culture of conservation and environmental responsibility ingrained across campus and throughout all programs. Berkshire’s Sustainable Resource Management course has been the driver for many green initiatives including the recently constructed eight-acre, two-megawatt solar field with 8,332 photovoltaic solar panels that produces approximately 40% of the School’s energy needs. It is the largest solar field of any school or college in New England.

8 Gymnasium

• 4 Squash Courts*

• 3 Basketball Courts

• 3 Volleyball Courts

• D ance Studio

• C limbing Wall

• Locker Rooms

Outdoor Facilities • 2 Turf Fields • 4 -Lane 400-Meter Track • 1 2 Tennis Courts • 4 Soccer Fields • B aseball and Softball Fields • F ootball Field with Lights

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Buck Valley

10 Benson Commons (Dining Hall) 11

Rovensky Student Center • Music Center • Recording Studio • Shawn’s Place (Student Lounge) • Student Life Office • Bookstore • Post Office

12 Arthur C. Chase Sugar House 13 Chase House (Admission Office) 14 James C. Kellogg ‘33 Alumni Center 15 Eight-Acre Solar Field (across the street) 16 Student Health Services 17 Undermountain Child Care

Dorms • • • • •

Allen Buck Crispin-Gordon-Rose de Windt Eipper

* A Squash Center expansion is underway which includes 10 courts and a central viewing gallery.

• Godman • MacMillan • Senior House • Spurr • Stanley

Our Mission Rooted in an inspiring natural setting, Berkshire School instills the highest standards of character and citizenship and a commitment to academic, artistic, and athletic excellence.

Our community fosters diversity, a dedication to environmental stewardship, and an enduring love for learning.

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245 North Undermountain Road, Sheffield, MA 01257 admission@berkshireschool.org 413-229-1003 www.berkshireschool.org