Campus Life
Worcester Academy is a thriving and diverse community home to day and boarding students from across Massachusetts and around the world. We intentionally build community through weekly activities such as morning meetings and advisory, and encourage students to display their Hilltopper Pride during pep rallies, spirit weeks, and grade-level competitions. We honor annual traditions including Mountain Day, Oskee Weekend, and World Language Week, while empowering students to organize and innovate. This past year, student leaders collaborated with faculty to expand our annual Halloween on the Hilltop event—the highlight being a campus-wide game of Humans vs. Zombies!
Be a Part of it
On a typical Thursday morning, if you walk through the Megaron, you’ll see an enthusiastic group of students playing Dungeons and Dragons. At another table, theater students eat breakfast and discuss upcoming auditions for the school musical. Outside Dexter Hall, members of WAGON are dropped off after serving breakfast at a local food pantry. Over in Kingsley, Math Lab tutors help their peers with algebra and geometry. In Kellner Student Center, students purchase smoothies from the Hilltopper Cafe and challenge each other to foosball or ping-pong while waiting for their first class to begin. This is life on the Hilltop, and there are so many ways to be a part of it!
Get Involved
Worcester Academy students excel beyond the classroom. Through athletics, clubs, community service, and leadership opportunities, students test their limits, engage with new ideas, make lasting connections, and ignite new passions. With over 40 clubs/organizations, 200 leadership positions, 50+ athletic teams, and over 15,000 community service hours logged by our students, there are countless ways to personalize your WA experience. Have an idea for something new? We will support you in making it a reality.
We can’t wait to see what you’ll add to the mix.
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Middle School Clubs and Organizations
Computer Programming/Scratch
Bell Choir
Cooking Club
Maker Club
Math Team
Open Art Studio
Sailing
Ultimate Frisbee
Wilderness Club
Yearbook
Don’t see a club that you like? Form a new club! All students are welcome to suggest and pursue the formation of new organizations. -
Middle School Leadership Opportunities
BOARD OF MONITORS
Founded in 1886, Board of Monitors is our highest level of student leadership. Our Middle School board is made up of five dedicated 7th and 8th graders who are elected by their peers and serve the entire community by upholding school traditions and perpetuating long-standing school activities.
DIVERSITY COUNCIL
Diversity Council consists of two students from each grade level (6-12). Students complete an application and are selected by the Office of Equity and Inclusion. Middle and Upper School students meet bi-weekly separately, and monthly all together to discuss issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Members of the council are a
voice for their peers and seek to better the school experience for all. SYNERGY Middle School students can choose to join Synergy, a group that works to uphold Worcester Academy’s mission through discussions about equity and inclusion. Members of Synergy put together the Middle School’s Diversity Day and work to educate and create community throughout the year.
AMBASSADORS
Ambassadors welcome prospective students and families to the Worcester Academy community and represent the Academy at special events and functions. OTHER
LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Grassroots leadership flourishes on the Hilltop as well! With Clubs, a host of community service programs, project-based learning initiatives in the classroom, and ad hoc student committees working on school policy frameworks, your opportunity to lead is never out of sight. -
Upper School Clubs and Organizations
American Sign LanguageAmnesty InternationalAutomotive ClubBest BuddiesBlack Student UnionClassics ClubContemporary BandDance ClubDebate ClubDiversity CommitteeDungeons and Dragons ClubFemCoFilm ClubFrench ClubGender Sexuality AllianceHabitat for HumanityHillpoppasImprOvskeesInvestment ClubKick Cancer ClubKnitting ClubLanceMandarin LabMandarin TutoringMartial Art ClubMath LabMedical ExplorersModel UNNational History Day ClubNewman SocietyOpen Art StudioOskeevisionPhotography ClubPoetry and Prose ClubPolitics ClubPolitical Forum ClubQUILTBAGRelay For LifeRobotics TeamScience OlympiadVoices Against Violence(WAGON) Worcester Academy Gives Others NourishmentStudent Activists and AlliesWhite Students Against RacismYearbook ClubDon't see a club that you like? Form a new club! All students are welcome to suggestand pursue the formation of new organizations. -
Upper School Leadership Opportunities
BOARD OF MONITORSMonitors embody the highest level of student leadership in the school. The Board of Monitors consists of conscientious and dedicated students who serve the Academy Community and uphold its traditions. Students self-nominate and secure a certain number of student signatures to affirm the nomination. Candidates then submit a platform sheet that outlines their ideas and initiatives should they be elected, followed by a brief interview with the Student Life Office. The final step is a speech given before the Upper School community. Based on their speeches, new members are elected by the student body in the spring. The Board serves as a liaison between students and faculty and administration. Class and club leaders must periodically report to the Board on the state of their classes and clubs respectively. In the fall of the new school year, the postgraduate students elect one of their group to serve on the Board. Elected offices include Head Monitor, Second Monitor, Sergeant at Arms, Master Prefect, Treasurer, Oversight Monitor, and International Monitor.CLASS OFFICERSClass officers are the official representatives for the students in their class. They will meet with the Upper School Office bi-weekly, lead class meetings, plan social activities, and coordinate fundraisers. It is their responsibility to get to know the class that they will serve and represent in school in planning school wide activities and programs.For the 2019-2020 Academic year, the class officer position will continue its current duties while focusing on these additional areas- Planning class meetings
- Fundraising for the class
- Point-person for implementing retreats and other grade level initiatives such as Community Lunches, Holidays on the Hilltop events, Winter Carnival events, etc.
- Help B.O.M. and other leadership groups
- Interface with advisories
- Announcements and other roles in assemblies
- Communications to entire class once per week and meet with other class officers
The Pillars program was built upon the foundation of Worcester Academy’s mission statement and core values (Honor, Respect, Community, Personal Growth, and Challenge). Each year sixteen to twenty Peer Educators are selected from the rising junior and senior classes after a lengthy and competitive application and selection process. Pillars Peer Educators teach their peers in education forums including grades 9 and 10 Health and Wellness classes, class meetings, advisory periods, assemblies, and other school-wide events. Pillars also play a significant role in the new student Orientation Program in order to support a smooth transition into the Worcester Academy community.DORM PROCTORSProctors are student leaders within the residential community. Three to five proctors are chosen per dorm through a competitive process. Successful candidates must be considered leaders for their scholarship and citizenship within the framework of the broader school community. Proctors are assigned to specific dormitories and work with both students and faculty to create a positive and inclusive living environment with clear channels of communication between boarders and the residential faculty. Proctors also work closely with the Board of Monitors and class officers to discuss general student issues and concerns.HEAD AMBASSADORSHead Ambassadors play an important role in welcoming and orienting prospective students and families to the Worcester Academy community and representing the Academy at special events and functions. They also have the responsibility of helping organize and run the Ambassador Program.DIVERSITY COMMITTEEThe Diversity Committee is the student leadership cohort of the Office of Equity and Inclusion. The Committee (comprised of student representatives from each grade and one student head) will plan programming for Worcester Academy and collaborate with all of the Affinity, Interest and Alliance groups on campus. The group would be responsible for scheduling Common Ground discussions, cultural celebrations, and other events.ALUMNI TRANSITION LEADERSenior year:- Educating fellow seniors re: the benefits and advantages of staying connected to the school and each other.
- Ambassador for Annual Fund (fundraising and programming).
- Event planning and execution of senior philanthropy programs that may include: Founder’s Day, Night ’19, Reunion, 100 days, China trip dinner, etc.
- Attend team meetings as scheduled.
- Organize class gift, including selection, fundraising, class participation etc.
Alumni Role:- Leadership beyond graduation, serving as a lead volunteer for your graduating class
- Educate & inform classmates on the value of a lifetime relationship with WA.
- Promote participation in area alumni event opportunities.
- Act as a lead contact for reunions.
- Join and encourage others to enroll in WorcesterAcademyconnect.org
BUDDY PROGRAM:Worcester Academy is committed to creating a seamless experience for students transitioning from the middle to the upper school program academically, socially and culturally. The Buddy Program provides each 8th grader a personal connection with an upper school student who will serve as a support and resource throughout their transition into 9th grade.
OTHER LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Grassroots leadership flourishes on the Hilltop as well! With over 40 Clubs, a host of community service programs, project-based learning initiatives in the classroom, and ad hoc student committees working on school policy frameworks, your opportunity to lead is never out of sight.
