Contact Page - Private Boarding School in New York State

Darrow School:
Darrow is a Co-ed College Preparatory Boarding & Day School for Grades 9-12 in New Lebanon, a town in Columbia County, New York, 24 miles southeast of Albany. Darrow is located on Mount Lebanon in the central Berkshires in New Lebanon. Darrow School is celebrating 75 years as a pioneer in hands-on, active learning, and occupies the site and buildings of an original Shaker village that has been designated a National Historic Landmark. In 2005 Darrow School won the National Association of Independent Schools, "Leading Edge Honoree" for curriculum innovation.

Features:
- School Size: 125 students
- Classroom Size: Average class size: 9
- Student/Teacher Ratio: 5/1
- Financial Aid: Need Based Scholarships are available.
- Departments: Art, English, Mathematics, Language, History, Science, ESL.
- Percentage of Graduating Class: 99%.
- College Placement Support Services: Tutorial Program, College Counseling, Faculty Advisors, Residential Life Program.

The theme of our recent and successful capital campaign was Changing Lives: A Campaign for Darrow. Lives of students have been changed for nearly 75 years at Darrow School through rigorous academics, close relationships with faculty, an abundance of individual attention, life-long friendships, hands-on learning, and the special spirit of the Shaker mountainside.

On the expansive 365-acre campus, adjoining the Pittsfield State Forest, are 26 buildings (most are original Shaker structures), playing fields, tennis courts, extensive hiking and cross-country ski trails, ponds, sheep pastures, orchards, marshlands, and an expansive forest. The newest addition to the campus is the 12,000 square-foot Joline Arts Center, which houses studios for painting, drawing, ceramics, and woodworking, a photography lab, a multimedia graphics lab, and gallery space. The Samson Environmental Center houses the Living Machine, the first all natural wastewater treatment center at a school. The gymnasium, fitness center, theater, student center, and dining room are in the Dairy Barn, the site of the original Shaker dairy barn. The Meeting House, built in 1824, houses the 15,000-volume library.

Computer Capabilities: DarrowNet, a campus-wide computer network links all teachers, staff, and students, with a computer in every classroom as well as a complete computer lab in Wickersham and a resource computer bank in Heyniger Memorial Library. Dorm rooms are wired for telephones which provide connection to Darrow Net and the Internet (through outside Internet providers).


Programs
- Darrow School offers a challenging, hands-on college preparatory curriculum with a student/teacher ratio of 5:1. Darrow is known a pioneer in the field of active, hands-on learning, and is celebrating 75 years of inspiring confidence in students for college and in life. Darrow’s academic departments include: Art, English, Mathematics, Language, History, Science, and ESL.

- Darrow boasts a 99% college placement record and offers support services such as college counseling, faculty advisors, residential life program, and an individualized tutorial program.

- Athletics: Darrow offers M/W Basketball, M/W Soccer, Lacrosse, M/W Tennis, M/W Cross Country, Baseball, Softball, Ultimate Frisbee, Skiing/Snowboarding, Mountain Biking, and Outdoor Education.

- Extracurricular Events: Darrow has a committed faculty who are eager to enhance academics through extracurricular events. The School’s long-standing Hands-to-Work program and Spring Term are just a few examples of extracurricular activities that help to develop a well-rounded, college-bound student.