[{"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.alluremedia.com.au/assets/bi-theme/img/businessinsider/placeholder.png", "src": "https://static.alluremedia.com.au/assets/bi-theme/img/businessinsider/placeholder.png", "formatted_filename": "placeholder", "alt_text": "Allure Media"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f2528e3e9d251d008b5da5-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f2528e3e9d251d008b5da5-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image", "alt_text": "Phillips Academy Andover"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f24cc63e9d25db458b47e1-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f24cc63e9d25db458b47e1-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f24925bcf93d47008b4d24-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f24925bcf93d47008b4d24-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f2499fbcf93d46628b4702-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f2499fbcf93d46628b4702-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f368403e9d2521008b62ed-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f368403e9d2521008b62ed-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f251e0bcf93dc5068b4d0b-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f251e0bcf93dc5068b4d0b-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f2522bbcf93dc5068b4d11-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f2522bbcf93dc5068b4d11-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f21ea43e9d2521008b5a2f-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f21ea43e9d2521008b5a2f-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f21e63bcf93d48008b4b34-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f21e63bcf93d48008b4b34-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f21e3abcf93d46008b4b2d-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f21e3abcf93d46008b4b2d-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f220f9bcf93d46008b4b4a-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f220f9bcf93d46008b4b4a-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f26c24bcf93d46008b4e66-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f26c24bcf93d46008b4e66-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f24a12bcf93d23008b4d32-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f24a12bcf93d23008b4d32-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f24a84bcf93d48008b4d27-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f24a84bcf93d48008b4d27-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f24d483e9d251d008b5d40-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f24d483e9d251d008b5d40-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f24aef3e9d251d008b5d0f-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f24aef3e9d251d008b5d0f-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f36889bcf93d20008b51bb-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f36889bcf93d20008b51bb-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f237e53e9d251c008b5c16-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f237e53e9d251c008b5c16-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com.au/phillips-academy-tour-2017-10", "unformatted_src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f238343e9d251d008b5bd2-400/image.jpg", "src": "https://static.businessinsider.com/image/59f238343e9d251d008b5bd2-400/image.jpg", "formatted_filename": "image"}, null, null]
Inside America's best high school -- a boarding school that costs $US53,900 a year and has a teacher for every 7 students

Abby Jackson, Emma Fierberg
Oct 30, 2017, 10:28 AM Facebook/Phillips AcademyPhillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.

Phillips Academy, a prestigious boarding school located in Andover, Massachusetts, is the best high school in America.

Its founding dates back to the American Revolution — where its roster of early supporters reads like a “who’s who” of American exceptionalism. George Washington, Paul Revere, and John Hancock all have ties to Andover, which the school is called for short.

That history, and the fact that the school originally educated students as a feeder school into Yale, likely contribute to the stereotype that Andover is a school for effete academics and wealthy families set on receiving a country-club style education, complete with uniforms, sports coats, and ties.

And yet, for all its stereotypes of elitism, the Andover of today — formerly all male and all white — would be unrecognizable to the forefathers of America. More girls than boys attend the school, 48% of the class are students of colour, and the school’s mission is driven by a charge to actively recruit even students who can’t pay their full way.

So Business Insider toured the school’s idyllic New England campus to see what makes Phillips Academy the best school in the nation. Phillips Academy Facebook

The 200ha campus was perfectly manicured, and students hustled across the school's quad to get to their morning classes.

We started walking toward our first-period class, and learned a bit more about the make up of the student body. Phillips Academy/Jessie Wallner

There are currently 1,154 students who attend Andover in grades nine through 12. Of those students, 851 are boarders and 303 are day students.

Annual tuition to attend the school rivals the cost at elite-private colleges, with boarding tuition running families $US53, 900-a-year, and day tuition running $US41,900.

But not everyone pays the full amount, a benefit of Andover's more than $US1 billion endowment and need-blind admissions policy. More on that later. Emma Fierberg/Business Insider

That seems incredibly low for a high school. In fact, it's a little higher than the 5:1 student-teacher ratio for the entire school. The average class size is 13 students.

This is one of the first things that seems to set Andover apart and why graduates go on to lead successful college careers. The small seminar-style classes mimic the learning environment at many colleges.

At Harvard, the student teacher ratio is 7:1 and at Yale it is 6:1.

The class is taught by head of school John Palfry and dean of students Jenny Elliott. 
And it didn't feel like a typical high-school class. Rather than a lecture, the class felt like a rolling conversation between students and teachers. Palfry would ask a question of the class, and students would answer as he probed deeper for answers.

It was a unique experience, with Palfry and Elliot working off of each other. After Palfry discussed some of sources for facts students might use in an essay about Jacksonian democracy, Elliot brought the conversation around to self-awareness about how they process information.

'Some of us are super logical thinkers, so as we respond it just comes out in an organised fashion,' Elliott said. 'Others of us have a (bunch of different ideas) and we need to impose some structure on ourselves in order to establish coherence. It's important for you know yourselves.' 
'We were one of the founding AP schools in the 1950s,' Palfry said during class. 'We have decided over the time that teaching to the AP is not the best way of teaching.'

After taking their US history class, we went to Palfry's office to talk more in depth about Andover. 
Elliot is an Andover alum and Palfry attended rival Phillips Exeter Academy. Both said that the students, faculty, and administrators are what make it a special place.

As for why it is the best school in America, Palfry thinks it has to do with the diversity they are able to attract, thanks to an admissions policy which doesn't take into consideration a family's wealth. 
'I do think that the most distinctive thing about Andover's program is the need-blind admissions policy, now in our 11th year,' Palfry said. 'How you have a morally responsible high school with a billion dollar endowment is when you actually admit kids solely on the basis of their admissions criteria,' not wealth, he said.

'Need-blind' is typically phrase used in college admissions, and at schools like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, which have multi-billion dollar endowments.

A former Andover student submitted an essay to The New York Times which discussed feeling like an outsider compared to the wealthy students whose families paid full price.

'I don't think that stigma will ever go away in our lifetimes,' he said. 'I think the stigma of wealth and inequality is a hugely important American story. That's not going to go away because we're at Andover or because we give someone a laptop, or a class ring, or a prom dress, or a winter coat. But that is something we are super conscious of and that we try and do the best that we can.' Amma Fierberg/Business Insider

'If you have something you want to pursue and a passion, that is something you will be able to do and find,' at Andover, she said.

'I think we attract kids who are really excited about striving for excellence ... and that doesn't feel scary, it actually feels invigorating.' Abby Jackson/Business Insider

He told us the course offerings are vast: students can take classes like existentialism, anthropology, architecture, religion, and philosophy.

'When you're put into a school like this, where the competitive environment brings the best out of you, at the same time, you need to ask yourself everyday, 'What am I doing to make sure that I am ok intrinsically?' he said.

'Mental health here is one of the most important things on campus because the only way for you to show your affection for someone, to love someone else, to build connections and build bonds, is to firstly love yourself.'

He took us to Paresky Commons where everyone gets their meals. We learned that the stir fry is the best item in the dining hall. 
As he showed us around we noticed that the Andover students style of dress was noticeably laid back. We were expecting to see a bunch of sports coats and dresses, but most students were in jeans, sweat shirts, sweat pants, sports hoodies, or flannel shirts. 
There's no dress code at Andover. That sets them apart from other boarding schools which -- like rival Exeter -- require boys to wear ties. Andover also doesn't have Saturday classes, another difference from Exeter. 
On Exeter Geek Day, Andover students dress up in red (Exeter's school colour) and dress like 'nerds.'

Students told us that Andover is typically seen as the more 'laid back' of the two schools.

Famous alums from Andover include former US presidents George HW Bush and George Bush. Famous alums from Exeter include Mark Zuckerberg and Gore Vidal.

When we met with dean of admission and financial aid Jim Ventre he told us that the admissions committee looks for certain qualities in applicants. 
It interviews all of the students who apply to get a good sense of their stories, and relies on recommendation letters from parents and teachers to confirm that students can meet academic expectations.

It also reviews standardised test scores from The Secondary School Admission Test and the Independent School Entrance Exam, though Ventre said there is no exact cut off for test scores. Every applicant is their own unique case. 
But it's not just the culture, studying at Andover clearly pays off when it comes time to apply to colleges. 
When we stopped by Chase House, a girls dormitory, students were celebrating the birthday of one of the girls in the dorm. 
Students from all over the world lived in Chase. We talked to students from Australia, Bahrain, Connecticut, and New York City.

They looked ready to relax after a busy day of school.

On student explained to us why they chose Andover. 'For me, I think it was really about finding like-minded people, and really being able to challenge myself,' she said. 




boarding schools education features phillips academy thelife warroom-us