The Gunnery, a co-ed boarding and day school for students in grades 9-12 and a post-graduate year, was founded in 1850 by Frederick Gunn. Mr. Gunn took a principled stand against slavery and spurred students (and the town at large) to examine their beliefs. He also had a deep appreciation for the natural world, believing that students understand themselves as humans and their place in the world in nature. In addition to the habits and skills students will need in college and life beyond, we teach them to follow Mr. Gunn's example: to cultivate wisdom, to be trailblazers, to act with conviction, and to value character as highly as intellect and achievement.
The Gunnery offers many things only possible in a school of 300 students: the chance to know and is known by every fellow student, the individualized care for students only possible when every faculty member knows every student by name, multiple early opportunities for leadership discovery. If you enjoy being known well by your friends and your teachers if you enjoy developing friendships with peers from around the country and the world, and if you enjoy learning, playing, and creating in an environment in which it is safe to try, fail, and try again, then you'll love our school. We believe that real learning happens best when put into action, whether the topic is physics, the violin, a zone defense, or leadership – and when students take real, incremental risks. The Gunnery, you will have more opportunities than at larger schools to put theory into practice – to experience the rewarding thrill of learning from risk – and, as a result, will learn exponentially.
Our founder, Frederick Gunn, cared about. We continue to emphasize today through our programs, people, and place, are you developing your character such that you are ready to put it to work in the world as an active citizen. It is not just doing the right thing, but getting comfortable challenging yourself and being challenged, secure in knowing that the teachers and friends around you believe in you.
So when you choose your bucket – and choose your school – think about how you can become that person you cannot even imagine yet a person who can go out into the world with an appropriate kind and level of confidence and be someone who makes the world a better place by engaging with it and serving other people. That is what our founder did, and that is the definition of a Gunnery graduate. If you are up for the challenge, we hope you see yourself here.
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