Commonwealth School

The Commonwealth School is a small, independent college preparatory high school located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. The school is known for its high academic standards and offers rigorous college preparation as well as a balanced and well-rounded high school education.

Mission Statement
The mission of Commonwealth School is to educate young people from diverse backgrounds to become knowledgeable, thoughtful, and creative adults capable of careful analysis, fruitful cooperation, responsible leadership, and deep commitment.
Commonwealth aims to be a school.

• with the highest standards of academic excellence.

• where students learn to think for themselves and to exercise responsibility and initiative in their actions.

• with a community of talented teachers and promising students from diverse backgrounds.

• that takes maximum advantage of its rich urban setting.

• where the arts are a vital element of daily life.

• that equips students to effectively use a wide range of tools for inquiry and research.

• that promotes physical and emotional health and fitness

• that provides the friendly atmosphere of a small, supportive community that helps students establish the foundation for rewarding and productive lives.
  

Academics
Commonwealth School serves exceptional students who are dedicated to learning. The school teaches a broad curriculum at the university level, including arts, sciences, languages, and social studies, as well as good citizenship. Classes are small, and vigorous discussion is encouraged. Academics are demanding, but one-on-one help is easily available from faculty.

The school's college preparation has been helping students be accepted at very selective colleges, such as the University of Chicago, Tufts University, Brown University, Harvard University, Brandeis University, Columbia University, Cornell University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Washington University in St. Louis, Carleton College, and McGill University.

Independent projects
The school encourages students to pursue independent projects that follow their interests and passions. In a school-wide project week, students pursue, with the help of faculty, independent projects and take the lead in facilitating and organizing their venture. Community service projects are encouraged, and all students need to complete 70 hours of community service before the 11th grade.
For advanced students with a passionate interest in a particular subject, it is possible to work on an independent capstone project during junior year.

Clubs
Commonwealth offers a broad selection of activities after school in the form of clubs. This includes a diversity committee, model congress, environmental club, math team, robotics club, debate team, chess club, and newspaper.

Sports
All students of the school are eligible to participate in a sports activity, and all students must participate in the fall and winter seasons. The school offers varsity-level athletics as well as recreational sports.

The school’s fencing program is very competitive, and several students have gone on to compete with Division I colleges, including Penn, Harvard, and Brown. But in spite of the competitive level of the school, new fencers are always welcome to learn the sport.

Varsity level Sports offered include soccer, basketball, fencing, cross-country, and ultimate frisbee. Recreational sports include running, fitness, ballroom dancing, sailing, squash, dance, and yoga.