Puneet Varma (Editor)

Prospect Hill Academy

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School type
  
Public, Charter school

Head of school
  
Jed F. Lippard

Staff
  
173

Number of students
  
1,139

Established
  
1996 (1996)

Early Childhood Principal
  
Nancy Alach

Phone
  
+1 617-284-7800

Prospect Hill Academy

Upper School Principal and Collegiate Institute Director
  
Danny Wilcox and Chris Douglas

Address
  
50 Essex St, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

District
  
Prospect Hill Academy Charter

National ranking
  
499 (2013 U.S. News and World Report)

Profiles

Prospect hill academy charter school recruitment video


Prospect Hill Academy Charter School (PHA) is K-12 college preparatory public charter school located on three campuses in Somerville, Massachusetts and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school was founded in 1996.

Contents

PHA has over 1,100 students from diverse racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. 64% of the students come from low-income families as defined by federal guidelines. 86% are from minority backgrounds.

After three consecutive silver medals, in 2012, Prospect Hill Academy earned a Gold Medal designation by US News and World Report placing it among the top 2% of all American high schools.

Campuses

Prospect Hill Academy is located on three campuses in Somerville, Massachusetts and Cambridge, Massachusetts:

  1. The Early Childhood Campus, serving grades K-3, is located at 15 Webster Avenue, Somerville, Massachusetts, in Union Square (Somerville)
  2. The Upper Elementary Campus, serving grades 4-6, is located at 17 Franklin Street, in East Somerville, Massachusetts
  3. The Upper School Campus, serving grades 7-10, is located in two buildings at 50 and 54 Essex Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Central Square (Cambridge)
  4. The Collegiate Institute, serving grades 11-12, is located at 54 Essex Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Central Square.

Collegiate Institute Curriculum

As the name implies, collegiate institute students undertake a college preparatory curriculum. English classes focus on American literature and identity in the 11th grade, then short stories, and the social contract in the 12th grade, with a required senior thesis. Prospect Hill's science offerings include physics. Electives include AP English, AP Spanish Language, AP United States History, AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP Statistics, and Anatomy and Physiology. Additional courses are offered in Spanish, Computer Science, and the Fine and Performing arts.

Athletics

Prospect Hill Academy is a member of the Massachusetts Charter School Athletic Organization. Sports offerings include soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, cheerleading, cross-country running, and track.

Clubs and publications

Upper School clubs have included the Art Club, Chess Club, EPICS, Gay Straight Alliance, Junior State of America, Knitting, Sign Language, Video Production, and the Yearbook as well as athletic clubs such as Dance club, Boys Fitness, and Girls Fitness. In the Fall of 2012 clubs included: Fundamentals of Art, Dance Club, 9th Grade Choir, HAIRitage, Hip Hop 101, Self Defense, Pumped Up Kicks, and Drum Line Upper Elementary clubs include: the drama club, the Improv Olympics club, the newspaper club, the dance club, the ski and snowboard club, the flag football club, and the basketball club.

References

Prospect Hill Academy Wikipedia