Articles

From the top floor of the Main School Building, Associate Head of School for Student Life and Language Teacher Amie Creagh and Assistant Athletic Director and 10th Grade Class Dean Drew Philie answered the question, “ What are the top three things stolen on campus?”   “Bikes, Scooters, Food,” responded Mr. Phillie. “Food, Scooters, Bikes,” said Ms. Creagh, rearranging the order of the short list.  Stolen items on campus have been a longstanding issue, from unlabeled food bei

Deerfield Academy admitted both boys and girls when it was founded in 1797 up until 1948 during Headmaster Frank Boyden’s time. It was a single-sex institution until 1989, when the Board of Trustees voted to return to co-education by admitting an equal number of boys and girls. Over the thirty-six years that Deerfield has been co-educational, but as alumni and current students describe, what it means to be a “Deerfield girl” thirty years ago is not the same as it is today. L

Q: Why did you choose to be a teacher, and who inspired you to do this profession?   A: Since my grandfather was a teacher, I certainly think that teaching was something that sort of seemed appealing to me. In graduate school, I grew less passionate about research and sort of stumbled upon boarding schools as an option where I could teach and coach, so that seemed like a nice fit. I'd say my department chair, John Ford, when I was working at Choate was one of the most incredi

In 2012, former Math Teacher Darnel Barnes and current Math Teacher Sheryl Koyama took a group of Deerfield seniors out to dinner. The math teachers had been observing for years how these different students adapted to Deerfield. During this dinner, they posed a question: What could we have done better? The students proposed a pre-orientation program for Deerfield, and that idea has since become the Rising Scholars Program, colloquially known as RSP. Initially established to

When he was 15 years old, former Art Teacher David Dickinson planned to become a professional musician. Instead, he and his wife, former French Teacher Claudia Lyons, ended up founding the Koch Friday Concert at the beginning of an almost four-decades-long career at the Academy.  Inspired by talk shows like David Letterman’s, Mr. Dickinson and Ms. Lyons brought in Josh Binswanger ’80, who worked in comedy at the time, to MC the event. Originally a once-a-year event in 2007,

From the Vietnam drafts of the 1970s, nuclear threat of the late ’80s, and Middle Eastern crisis of the early ’90s, international war of the late 20th century marked eras of the nation—and eras of Deerfield. The Cold War began between the United States and the Soviet Union in the aftermath of WWII and reached its peak during the Cuban Missile Crisis of the ’60s, the closest nuclear threat came to turning into warfare. The Cold War continued until the fall of the Iron Curtain

COURTESY OF DEERFIELD COMMUNICATIONS After over a year of construction, Deerfield Academy’s new dining hall is finally nearing completion. Director of Food Services Michael McCarthy says that the space is designed to honor tradition while bringing the campus dining experience into the modern era. The new building is scheduled to open its doors over winter break. The Academy’s construction leaders designed the new dining hall with student and faculty experience in mind. The

YONG DING/DEERFIELD SCROLL “The way life goes is not always in a straight line,” History & Social Science Teacher John Leistler said during his Convocation speech on September 1. As the 2024 recipi- ent of the Greer Chair Award, Mr. Leistler had to deliver a speech at Deerfield’s Convocation ceremo ny. Ringing the whole auditorium with stories of his voice and experience, he hoped to provide a unique message that would stick with students, faculty, and staff. For Mr. Leistl

Why do we matter? The real-world practice of traditional journalism continues to falter, and common newsrooms are slowly losing significance. To many, it seems futile to chase this falling practice. To us, it’s not. For the past century, the Scroll has built generations of communicators, listeners, writers, questioners, and leaders. We learn, we laugh, we experiment, we mess up, and we find purpose in language, in community, and in remembering. We see value in learning to cha

JONATHAN XU/DEERFIELD SCROLL In 2007, His Majesty King Abuella II ’80 founded King’s Academy, starting what would become more than a decade-long partnership. His aim was to bring his “Deerfield Days of Glory” to fellow Jordanians and other international students, and, as Head of School John Austin put it, “[to] educate the next vanguard of young leaders for the Middle East." From its inception, King’s held close ties with Deerfield. Dr. Austin—Deerfield’s current Head and t

Any Deerfield student who came during their freshman year can share their experience at Camp Greylock during their orientation day. Camp Greylock is a long-held Deerfield tradition, where new freshmen are kept from unpacking in the Village and instead, ushered off on buses for an overnight stay in Becket, Massachusetts in matching class t-shirts. Camp Becket was the original camp where Deerfield held freshmen orientation, but after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Becket stop

COURTESY OF THE GORDIE CENTER In the spring of 2024, Deerfield’s Class of 2004 started a memorial fund in memory of their classmate Lynn Gordon (Gordie) Bailey, who was hazed to death by his college fraternity on September 17th, 2004. Gordie’s Bench and Overlook memorialize the victims of hazing incidents on campuses across the United States. According to Hazing Info, a database made through a partnership between the University of Maine and the University of Washington Info

French Teacher and avid polyglot Matt Westman will switch from teaching to Advancement, a new face, energy, and perspective for the...

Andy Newlon has been teaching at Deerfield Academy for three years. Throughout her time, she taught AP Statistics, Data Science, and...

Director of Educational Initiatives and History Teacher David Miller came to Deerfield Academy 13 years ago. During his time here, Mr....

Economics Teacher Kristin McVaugh starts every class by asking students what they read in the news since they last met. As a teacher, she...

History Teacher Tara Keegan has been teaching at Deerfield Academy for three years during which she has taught U.S. History and senior...

Classics Teacher Anna Delwiche grants one special exception to mild tardiness: food. “If you’re late and you have a snack for her, she...

JOANNA CHANG/DEERFIELD SCROLL On Tuesday, May 6, 2025, the Deerfield Film Club listened to guest speaker Howard Gordon share life...