Phillips Academy in Andover is the best high school in America
We visited Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts to see what makes it the best high school in America. The school is often confused with Phillips Exeter. There are 1,154 students on Andover's campus. Tuition for students living on campus is $53,900. Tuition for day students is $41,900. Andover has a need-blind admissions policy which means they accept students based on merit, not wealth. There are 44 states and 44 countries represented in the current student body. Following is a transcript of the video.
Jenny Elliott: Folks who are not so close to Andover or who haven’t experienced something like this will say, “you were sent to boarding school.” And, a sense of agency for kids to feel like, “I wasn’t sent anywhere. I wasn’t sent by my parents. I chose to go to boarding school.”
David Tsai: I’m a senior from Natick, Massachusetts. I have attended Andover for four years. And it is a distinct pleasure of mine to bring all of you around on what I believe is the best school in the world.
The most important thing you learn on this campus is how every single faculty member and every single student, when they are walking on, these are called the paths, they’re smiling. They’re clearly enjoying themselves at this school.
I believe that the boarding experience is so much more beneficial to the student because they get to live on their own and they get to experience high school as most people experience their college years.
John Palfrey: What we’re trying to accomplish here is to be absolutely excellent in the classic ways of academics, of sports, of arts, of community engagement — all of those things — while also really focusing on the young person in their wholeness and to make sure that we encourage kids to have wellness as central to their experience. To make sure they’re getting sleep, to make sure that they’re eating well, to make sure they’re exercising. All of those things I think go together with this idea of excellence. And I think that that combination of things is working really well right now.
Elliott: We don’t post grade point averages. We try to take some very specific steps not to elevate competition in those ways. We do a lot of collaborative work in classes, we do a lot of collaborative work on teams, we do a lot of collaborative work outside — and we do, in terms of our leadership positions for students, there are many positions where there’s actually co-presidents or there are co-leaders to send a clear message to our kids — collaboration is a skill that you’re going to need to develop well in order to be able to move forward here with success.
Tsai: 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.
Palfrey: The most distinctive thing about Andover’s program is the need-blind admissions policy in our 11th year. How can you have a morally responsible high school with a $1 billion endowment? It’s when you actually do admit kids solely on the basis of their admission criteria that have nothing to do with wealth.
Tsai: I am so happy that I made the decision to come here because there is so clearly a universal commitment to being loved and to love that you don’t find at any other school.
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America's Stonehenge on the Autumnal Equinox in Salem, New Hampshire
SALEM, N.H. — Using the astronomical chart on a table in the covered tower, visitors aim their gaze along worn arrows to huge, upright stones hundreds of feet away. Beyond each slab of granite, clearings stretch the eye to the horizon on a dazzling day in late summer New Hampshire.
On Wednesday's autumnal equinox, people will flock to the woods near the Massachusetts state line, watch the sun rise or fall over the huge chunks of granite and decide for themselves whether they're standing amid relics of ancient history or pure hooey.
This is “America's Stonehenge,” a weird, one-acre grouping of rock configurations named for the mysterious formation on England's Salisbury Plain. It has drawn believers who say it's a thousand or more years old and skeptics who say the evidence suggests it was the work of a 19th century shoemaker.
For $12, visitors get to meander along well-trod footpaths through walls of stacked granite, some overtopped with slabs that weigh several tons to form cave-like enclosures like the “Sundeck” chamber and “V-hut.” The spooky centerpiece is the “Oracle” chamber, complete with what is billed as a secret bed and a speaking tube where words spoken from inside the chamber could be heard outside at the equally eerie “Sacrificial Table.”
Owner Dennis Stone firmly believes the site — called “Mystery Hill Caves” when it opened in 1958 — is as much as 4,000 years old, the work of Native Americans or perhaps ancient Europeans who arrived millennia before Columbus.
Stone said three carbon dating efforts indicate the site was used about 4,000 years ago and one fire pit is 7,300 years old. (Scientists say the research proves only that there was a fire and that none of those dates is linked to human activity.)
Anthropologists and archaeologists believe America's Stonehenge was more likely the homestead of shoemaker Jonathan Pattee, who settled here in 1823.
In his 2006 book “The Archaeology of New Hampshire: Exploring 10,000 Years in the Granite State,” Plymouth State University archaeologist David Starbuck called America's Stonehenge “unquestionably provocative, puzzling and, above all, controversial.”
Starbuck notes the 19th century quarrying marks on many of the stones and said the site has been altered so many times over the decades — particularly by owner and researcher William Goodwin starting in 1936 — that there will never be a way to settle the argument over its genesis.
“There is probably no serious, trained archaeologist who believes that it was created thousands of years ago,” Starbuck said.
“There's a huge burden of proof when you make controversial claims,” he said. “They've always had that problem. That doesn't take away from the inherent interest in that site. It is a curious place and it is worth visiting.”
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Dunkin' Donuts - Lawrence, MA
Since I had to wait quite a bit for the next MVRTA Bus back to Haverhill, I decided to go the Dunkin' Donuts off of Essex Street in Lawrence as well. Of course, I knew that I had to place my order in English because I know Lawrence is primarily a Hispanic community (Many Lawrence residents are bilingual because they are fluent in Spanish as well as English). But regardless of that, Dunkin' Donuts is still a great donuts and coffee chain. Enjoy!
La Quinta Inn & Suites Andover, Andover, Massachusetts - United States (US)
for reviews, prices and info.
La Quinta Inn & Suites Andover, Andover, Massachusetts - United States (US)
Location.La Quinta Inn Suites Andover is located in Andover, close to Methuen Memorial Music Hall and Lawrence Heritage State Park. Additional area points of interest include Addison Gallery of American Art and Robert S. Peabody Museum.Hotel Features.La Quinta Inn Suites Andover features a restaurant and a bar/lounge. The hotel serves a complimentary continental breakfast. Recreational amenities include an indoor pool, a spa tub, and a fitness facility. This 2.5-star property has a business center and offers small meeting rooms, audio-visual equipment, and business services. Complimentary wireless and wired high-speed Internet access is available in public areas. Guest parking is complimentary. Additional property amenities include coffee in the lobby.Guestrooms.There are 181 guestrooms at La Quinta Inn Suites Andover. Refrigerators and coffee/tea makers are offered. Bathrooms feature designer toiletries and hair dryers. Wired high-speed and wireless Internet access is complimentary. In addition to desks, guestrooms offer complimentary local calls (restrictions may apply). Televisions have premium cable channels, video-game consoles, and pay movies. Air-conditioned rooms also include complimentary bottled water and irons/ironing boards.You must present a photo ID when checking in. Your credit card is charged at the time you book. Bed type and smoking preferences are not guaranteed. Your reservation is prepaid and is guaranteed for late arrival. The total charge includes all room charges and taxes, as well as fees for access and booking. Any incidental charges such as parking, phone calls, and room service will be handled directly between you and the property.
Hotel Features
General
Pet Friendly, Disabled Access, Air Conditioned, Non-Smoking Rooms, Refrigerator, Cable / Satellite TV, In Room Movies, Kitchenette, Coffee / Tea Maker, Microwave, Hair Dryer, TV, Disabled Accessible Rooms, Wheel Chair Access, Spa/Jetted Tub, Family Room
Activities
Fitness Room/Gym, Swimming pool, Tennis Courts, Billiards, Fitness Facilities, Jacuzzi, Pool Indoor
Services
Business Center, Dry Cleaning, Banquet Facilities, Meeting Rooms, Desk, Audio/Visual Equipment
Internet
High-speed Internet is available at this hotel. Wireless internet on site. Internet via modem/data port is available.
Parking
The hotel has free parking.
Check-in
From 1:00 PM
Check-out
Prior to 12:00 PM
** Visit for more info, reviews, prices and booking. **