DA Goes "Boarding Only"

 https://recorder.com/2026/07/07/deerfield-ends-day-students/

From Greenfield Recorder 7/7/26

DEERFIELD — Deerfield Academy is no longer admitting day students as the school transitions to a full boarding school, with construction of a new dorm underway.

Jessica Day, director of communications at Deerfield Academy, described the shift as a “rolling transition.” Current day students at the school can continue to commute from home, but those planning to attend in the future can only apply as boarding students.

The new dorm, which will contain 38 rooms for female students, will allow enrollment to remain steady at 650 students as the school admits more boarding students, Day explained.

“This is really a mission-driven move and a core-values move, so we’re really leaning into the idea of Deerfield being a shared experience,” Day said. “We really believe it’s a transformative experience when kids go to school here and live together, and so we’re really excited to be able to offer this to local families as well.”

In the 2025-2026 academic year, Deerfield Academy has 75 day students and 575 boarding students, according to the school’s profile online.

According to Day, the shift promises students joining the school in the fall of 2027 and beyond the “fully immersive experience” of learning and living at Deerfield Academy, including academic support from teachers outside of class and time to bond with classmates at the dorms.

Day said the shift will “[support] student health and well-being” by eliminating day students’ stress around traveling home. Between classes, athletics, arts and other responsibilities, day students often commute home late at night, she said.

For the 2025-2026 school year, tuition and fees for boarding students came to $77,420 — $21,400 more than the cost for day students to attend.

Two years ago, Deerfield Academy introduced a new financial aid initiative that guaranteed free enrollment for qualifying families earning less than $150,000. Given that the median household income in Franklin County in 2024 came to $74,907 and $87,001 in Hampshire County, according to the U.S. Census, Day describes the financial aid initiative as “an amazing opportunity for local kids.”

“We did want to make that available because we truly believe in admitting and having as Deerfield [Academy] students the most promising students, regardless of financial means,” Day said.

Steve Kramer, now a Mashpee resident who commuted from Greenfield to Deerfield Academy in the late 1960s, predicts the school’s switch to a full boarding school could deter local residents from attending Deerfield Academy.

“Even though our [experiences] weren’t as extensive as those who lived there, it was still valuable enough when were able to live at home that it made it worthwhile,” Kramer said.