The fully residential ASP is built to evoke the academic community of a college.
Students, interns and faculty study, eat, play and live together in single-sex dormitories. The program makes use of virtually every facility at the School, from the Astronomy Center and the Engineering Lab to Orhstrom Library and the Athletic and Fitness Center.
This depth of shared experience — with students invited from over 80 high schools across the state — allows for academic experimentation, personal growth and connecting with the natural world throughout the 2,000 acres of the grounds. Graduates of the ASP know that as they look ahead to their life after high school they are prepared academically and socially to excel in college.
Ready to learn more? Explore a Day in the Life below.
Four mornings a week, students and faculty members begin their day in Chapel. They gather to hear presentations and personal narratives from members of the ASP community and from guests, sing, and reflect on current events. Although St. Paul’s School is affiliated with the Episcopal Church, the chapel program is ecumenical and inclusive in expression and practice.
Classes begin at 8:45 a.m. and run until lunch at 12:45, with fresh air and conversation during the mid-morning break. Afternoons include a 90-minute rec period and plenty of downtime before jumping into the evening’s homework.
During rec, students can choose from a variety of activities, from strenuous, competitive soccer to quiet, contemplative yoga. They can run cross country on the 25+ miles of wooded trails around St. Paul’s School or play tennis on the School’s 12 outdoor courts. Rec is meant to create new talents, develop current abilities and create a deeper sense of community by fostering interaction and engagement outside of classes and the dorm.
Coffee houses, theater performances, and study hall run after dinner — in the dorms, Ohrstrom Library or the Lindsay Center for Math and Science — until 9:30 p.m. Students then return to their dorms for further study, socializing in the common rooms or to engage in weekly inter-dorm pizza feeds and serenades. With the exception of Saturdays, lights-out is at 11 p.m.