About MX

On the edge of Concord, Massachusetts, just 20 miles outside Boston, beyond an entry column of overhanging maples, you’ll find the sprawling green campus of Middlesex, an independent secondary school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12. Keep heading to your right and you’ll see the main schoolhouse, where a small community from across the world gathers to pursue an education built upon a curriculum of outstanding breadth and depth. Peek inside a classroom to see an intimate group of passionate students as they discuss, analyze, listen, laugh, strive and thrive. The houses you’ll see on campus belong to our faculty, who open their doors day and night to talk with students about Hemingway, Newton, Caesar, the big game, that great concert, or nothing in particular. Academic expertise, commitment, and eternal energy, however, only partly define the faculty at Middlesex. Their passion for the careful development of complete, ethical teenagers is the true reason they’ve dedicated their lives to Middlesex. You’ll notice facilities that foster our cherished sense of community. Stop by our theater and maybe you’ll catch one of our full ensemble Broadway musicals. Head over to our non-denominational Chapel to hear a speech from one of our seniors, or maybe some Beethoven from our chamber music ensemble. Check out the Student Center and shoot some pool before the school packs in for an a cappella jam. If you want to enjoy some athletic competition – elite or otherwise – head out to our fields, where every student wears the Middlesex colors with pride. When you come to Middlesex, you’ll find a place full of opportunity, challenge, and friendship. A place to take risks and become a leader. A place to discover passions, talents, and yourself.  A place, as our founder so aptly put it, to find your promise.  

Life on Campus at Middlesex

You just finished your microeconomics test. Now what? You could head over to the student center and celebrate over a game of pool, ping-pong, or foosball. Need to reenergize after some pick-up hoops in the gym? Grab a smoothie at the grill, plunk down on a comfy couch, and wait for the protein and glucose to kick in.  If you prefer peace and quiet, take a stroll in the woods past the turf fields or visit the dock at Bateman’s Pond to catch some sun (or maybe a largemouth bass). Our chapels and assemblies bring us together as a whole.  Our dorms, the many common  spaces around campus, and even the way we sit in the dining hall constantly collects and shuffles smaller groups.   The energy of students spills out of our spaces and into our programs.  We have over 60 extracurricular organizations, from community service projects like Open Table to academic groups like The Short Story Society to some less scholarly gatherings (that’s you, “Cute Small Animal Club”). We want campus life to be satisfying, healthy, and well-supported within our boundaries.  Our dorms, our advising system, and our community life program see to that.  And, of course, your life at Middlesex can and will extend beyond our 350 acres.  An afternoon off campus can complement a week on campus smartly:  Concord, Cambridge, Boston, and points beyond are only a shuttle and a plan away.  

Diversity at Middlesex

When Frederick Winsor founded Middlesex in 1901, it was an act of diversity. In conceiving a non-sectarian school, Winsor welcomed boys of all faiths, believing such an inclusive spirit would enrich the educational environment. In 1934, Middlesex instituted a National Scholarship Program so that boys who earned admission to the School could enter regardless of economic means—a historic initiative for the time. Since then, the doors of Middlesex have opened wider as it has become international, multicultural, and coeducational.  Today, we welcome students from 35 States, 15 foreign countries, and myriad backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. Our vertical housing structure provides shared space where students from grades 9 through 12 learn amidst the different ages, experiences and interests of their peers.  Throughout the campus, the nature of our architecture and landscape brings us together in shared spaces—and some of the most valuable teaching and learning we do owes a debt to the diversity we experience together. The diverse background of the student body and faculty remains a critical component of a Middlesex education. Students and faculty build a community of ideas, creativity, and purpose that no homogeneous group of individuals could achieve.  The school’s original non-sectarian spirit continues to guide Middlesex and make it a welcoming place of cultural and intellectual exchange.  

Academics

Whether exploring the parameters of vector calculus, the human mind in psychology, or the night sky in astronomy, Middlesex students’ academic interests burn brightly –but never out. With an average class size of 12, students will find support, challenge, and inspiration in partnership with a brilliant faculty whose enthusiasm for their disciplines is surpassed only by their passionate commitment to their students. The classroom journey at Middlesex begins with a comprehensive progression through the academic divisions, departments, and disciplines. This core, along with signature programs like The Writer’s Workshop and our 4-course rotation in the fine arts, provides our students with the confidence, creativity, and capacity to experience the academic program to its fullest: from over 20 AP classes to dozens of electives. Ever wanted to write your own song? Try our Composition and Music Theorycourse.  Learn Chinese? It’s one of our 5 language offerings.  Want to know the connection between Shakespeare and Harry Potter? There’s a class for that. Willing to go from the 21st century to the 12th and back in 20 minutes? A Smartboard and a smart teacher will guide you. At Middlesex, you will stretch your academic limits under the caring tutelage of a whole faculty, and indeed, a whole school.  

Arts at Middlesex

We want our students making art, not just talking about it or passing it by. That’s why we ask them to stow the textbooks for a moment and pick up an instrument, a paint brush, a script.  That’s why we take them to the MFA or the ICA in Boston to experience art in its living setting.  After all, what is intelligence and discipline without creativity, expression, and a sense of the sublime?  In the Art Department at Middlesex, we start with exposure: a four-course rotation through music, drama, art history, and drawing in which our freshmen and sophomores deepen knowledge and confidence in the Arts while discovering new passions. From there students can refine and master their skills through an array of electives and extracurricular pursuits. From A.P. Studio Art to student-directed one act plays to one of our nationally recognized a cappella groups, Middlesex students turn practice into performance. We ensure that everybody has the appropriate facilities, faculty support, and schedule flexibility to become fully engaged in the Arts—to stretch, create, and experience fully the life of the heart and of the mind.  

Athletic Facilities

Middlesex athletes are graced with the good fortune of great facilities. Our teams sprint on immaculate fields, row on a picturesque pond, work out in a spacious fitness center, and scoop up lacrosse balls on two state-of-the-art turf surfaces. They hold serve in eight international squash courts, skate on a rink that transforms into indoor tennis courts in the spring, and dance in a bright, airy studio. They pitch on manicured diamonds, rally on eight outdoor tennis courts, sink three-pointers on two hardwood courts, and have the privilege of running along the same wooded paths Henry David Thoreau walked in 1840. Our spectators cheer from the stands, finish-line, sidelines, and dock. They easily move from one game to the next; both indoor and outdoor facilities are connected through a proximity that naturally brings fans and teams together. They cheer on our athletes, indoors and out, rain or shine: on the Middlesex campus, it’s always a great day to play.