Voice and Choice

We teach students how to think, not what to think.

The heart of the academic experience at Pomfret is our belief that students should be partners with their teachers in the dynamic business of acquiring knowledge. With a student-teacher ratio of 5:1, class blocks of 70 minutes, and 54 honors and advanced courses to choose from, our distinctive brand of education engages the mind, heart, and spirit. Here, you will learn how to solve problems, think creatively, make arguments, and build teams based on a carefully structured track and sequence of courses and learning opportunities.

Student Driven

We're more than student-centered. We are student driven.

At Pomfret, students and teachers are co-creators in the classroom, engaged together in making discoveries and pursuing new ideas. Under the careful guidance of experienced faculty who are experts in their field, our students design courses and investigate topics of their choosing, while also coming to understand their unique gifts and distinct strengths as students and people.

Interdisciplinary

The most successful entrepreneurs and creative thinkers today are those who work across disciplines.

Pomfret builds these essential skills into the curriculum through project-based learning. This focus, along with opportunities for independent and group projects in many classes, trains our graduates to ask their own questions, conduct research, and synthesize knowledge.

Collaborative

It's what we do together that sets us apart.

Classes at Pomfret are centered on collaboration and giving students the tools to understand how they learn best. With an average of ten students in a class, learning is a shared endeavor that relies on the contributions of every member of the class. Advanced and elective courses may be as small as two to five students working closely with their teacher.

Immersive

Students today are information-rich, but knowledge-poor.

Pomfret addresses this need through "long block" scheduling that allows classes to meet for longer periods on a rotating basis. This means that you will not attend six 50-minute classes a day, as you would at many other schools. Instead you will attend three 70-minute classes and have more time between classes to absorb what you have learned. The long block approach enables the exploration of material in greater depth and time for student projects that require ongoing research, experimentation, and hands-on construction. This schedule has been intentionally designed to create a more balanced pace in school life and to promote deep learning.

Course Pathways

A carefully designed track and sequence.

As a freshman and sophomore, you will be exposed to a broad array of choices and options — think of them as building blocks — that will branch and narrow as you grow and mature. By the time you reach your junior and senior course selections, all that careful planning will set you up for college, and life. The beginning of that journey is a trio of freshman core courses, each designed to provide a strong foundation for future coursework in the arts, sciences, and humanities.

In 2017, Pomfret launched Humanities 1, an interdisciplinary program that unites freshman English and Global Studies classes. These courses, combined with our Freshman Arts Immersion class, which introduces students to the major art forms, marked a new and thoughtful approach to how Pomfret welcomes our youngest cohort of students to the Hilltop.

* Freshman math and world language placements depend on the student's background, ability, and interests.

In 2018, Pomfret introduced the third freshman core class in science — shifting from a physics-based approach to an engineering-based approach. The idea behind the new class was to offer students a common foundation that will allow them to be successful at the next level of our science offerings, while seeking to spark an interest in science for those who may not have found an area of passion yet. Chemistry, biology, and physics will all continue to be offered for forms four, five, and six, in addition to our elective offerings in astronomy, forensics, and environmental science.

* Sophomore math, science, world language, and elective placements depend on the student's background, ability, and interests.

Building on the freshman Humanities 1 curriculum, Humanities 2 was introduced to all sophomores in 2018, uniting sophomore English and American Studies classes for the first time. In addition, sophomores now take a new one-term health and wellness course that addresses topics such as social issues, healthy relationships, and substance abuse. This ensures they receive important information that is both essential and developmentally appropriate, while also expanding the QUEST curriculum for our sophomores. For students enrolled in Global and Sustainable Development as a sophomore, this requirement is deferred to junior year.

For the other two terms, sophomores are free to choose from a long list of electives. More often than not, at least one of those electives will be an art course.