A good school is always on the move, always considering ways to improve the program and/or the facilities, always looking to the future. That is certainly true of Suffield Academy, whose most recent plan for improvement is a new dormitory on its main campus. Actually, the idea was formed some years ago, when the school renovated a large red barn that can be seen from Main Street, with the idea of building a matching dorm to its south. From the beginning of the planning period, the town’s Historic District Commission was involved, and the approvals for both buildings were obtained from the town in 2016 and recently renewed.
The new structure is not being built in order to increase enrollment. The Academy decided some years ago that its present size, about 400 students in grades nine through twelve, is ideal. The school’s goal at this point is to improve residential life on the campus. The new dorm will provide 13,000 square feet, meant to accommodate two faculty units and 17 to 19 students. Groundbreaking will take place during May, and the building will be completed by January 2022.
Interest in Suffield Academy, as is the case at many independent schools these days, is booming. The large number of applications each year allows the school to be selective and to build a student body of variety and diversity. Its programs are stellar, and it is important that the quality of its residential life be just as good. We are fortunate to have an educational institution of its quality in Suffield.