Academics

Photo by Tricia McCormack

Academics

We take you seriously as scholars and as thinkers.

We believe your ideas matter. In small classes with lots of individual attention, you’ll get an education that’s about connecting and synthesizing—not memorizing and regurgitating. As you study science and math, languages and literature, the social sciences, and the arts, you’ll learn how to learn.

  • You’ll find that asking insightful questions becomes second nature, and discover commonalities and connections no one noticed before—a surprisingly rare skill, and one that’s highly valuable in graduate school, the workplace, and life.

Academic Overview

9th + 10th Grade
High School 		 Faculty
AA Degree Program Areas of Study
BA Program Advising + Support
Dual-Degree Engineering Program Study Abroad
Bard Academy - Sample Courses Simon's Rock - Sample Courses
We Invented Early College. And We’ve Been Attracting Inventive Minds Ever Since.
Simon’s Rock is the best choice for students ready to make a deliberate break with the standard educational track. No one comes to Simon’s Rock because it’s what their parents expect them to do—or what all their friends are doing.
Learn About Campus Life

9th + 10th Grade
High School 

Why high school for two years? What’s the rush? We’re not condensing high school: It’s quite the opposite. 

Bard Academy at Simon’s Rock is the nation’s first independent boarding and day school where students prepare to start a full-time college courseload after two years. At the end of the 10th grade, they begin full-time study at Simon’s Rock at Bard College. We offer an ambitious, involved Liberal Arts and Sciences curriculum to answer and challenge the serious intellects of our students. 

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Faculty

Simon’s Rock professors are talented educators and accomplished scholars active in their respective fields. With an 8:1 faculty-student ratio, you’ll work closely with professors in small classes, one-on-one advising, and special projects. The faculty at Simon’s Rock are a lot like you: deeply curious, constantly questioning assumptions, and passionately dedicated to their interests. They facilitate small, intense, exhilarating classes with lots of individual attention, where you’ll be expected to read texts and approach assignments actively, independently, and creatively.

Get to Know Our Faculty

AA Degree Program

All students at Simon’s Rock earn their associate’s degree (AA) after two years. It’s a liberal arts framework that is individualized but also rigorous and well-rounded. You’ll be asked to choose courses that appeal to you in all the required disciplines.

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Areas of Study

Education at Simon’s Rock isn’t just a series of classes: It’s part of the fabric of your daily life. We encourage you to see the connections between your courses, to wrestle with unfamiliar and complicated ideas, and to dream up new ways of thinking about the world. Our academic programs are demanding, exciting, and designed to support your growth—because the journey matters as much as the destination. Courses are taught in the following divisions:

  • Performing and Visual Arts
  • Languages and Literature
  • Science, Mathematics, and Computing
  • Social Studies
  • Interdisciplinary Studies

BA Program

After earning your associate of arts (AA) degree, you can directly matriculate to Bard College to continue your studies to complete your bachelor of arts (BA) degree.

Learn More About Bard College

Advising + Support

Advising is different here. It’s not an administrative formality. It’s a deep, meaningful, and ongoing conversation with someone who is invested in you. You’ll meet with your adviser every week for your first semester, and regularly in the weeks, months, and years that follow, both in formal and informal settings. Your adviser will connect you with the resources you need to stay organized and succeed in your classes, and keep you on track to meet deadlines for enrolling in study away opportunities.

Dual-Degree Engineering Program

The Simon’s Rock/Bard/Columbia University Engineering Program is an ambitious, popular program that offers three years at Simon’s Rock and Bard College, two years in the engineering school at Columbia University in New York City, and, at the end, a B.A. from Bard College and a B.S. from Columbia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. Simon’s Rock and Bard also offer similar arrangements with the engineering school at Dartmouth College. In these programs, students study the liberal arts and foundational science and math at Simon’s Rock and Bard, and then engineering at the affiliated institution.

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Study Abroad

Simon’s Rock students in the A.A. degree program have the opportunity to spend a semester, usually in the sophomore year, studying on the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean. Simon’s Rock in Montserrat is a program operated by Simon’s Rock, at our own Field Station. The curriculum focuses on Tropical Ecology, but can also expand coursework and research into other fields, and this is a great opportunity for students of all areas of interest.

Learn More about Study Abroad in Montserrat

For students who continue on to the B.A. degree program at Bard, there are numerous opportunities to study abroad through Bard Abroad and through partnerships with other colleges.

Learn More about Study Abroad through Bard Abroad

Bard Academy - Sample Courses

  • Coming of Age: Rites of Passage from Around the World
  • Writers and Questions
  • Exploring Genre, Exploring Our World 
  • Climate Change
  • Beginning Chinese
  • Computer Coding Essentials
  • 3-D Design Studio
  • Algebra IIT
  • Acting

Simon's Rock - Sample Courses

  • Anthropology 228 Preternatural Predilections: Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Possession in Cross-Cultural Relations
  • Biology 276 Animal Physiology
  • Biology 222 Marine Conservation
    • Taught at the Simon’s Rock Field Station on the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean
  • Chinese 321 Chinese Supernatural Tales: Immortals, Ghosts, and Fox Spirits
  • Computer Science 252 Discrete Mathematics
  • Dance 126 Flamenco Dance
  • Film 238 New Wave, New Hollywood: A Revolution in the Frame
  • Literature 235 Medicine and Narrative  
  • Math 235 Undergraduate Research Seminar in Mathematics
  • Natural History 140 Volcanology and Geology on Montserrat 
    • Taught at the Simon’s Rock Field Station on the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean
  • Photography 103 Introduction to Black and White Photography
  • Psychology 203 Social Psychology
  • Sociology 115 Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender
  • Theater 103 Foundations of Acting: Action, Movement & Character

Academic Pathway

From 9th grade to a bachelor’s degree—in six years instead of eight.
  • Year 1 and 2 or 9th and 10th grades.
    Bard Academy
    Start college at Simon's Rock after 10th grade.
    You can enter the Bard Academy in 9th or 10th grade.
  • Year 3 and 4 or First and Sophomore years of college.
    Simon's Rock
    Earn your AA degree
    in 2 years.
    You can attend Simon's rock without going through the Bard Academy.
  • Year 5 and 6 or junior and seniour year of college.
    Bard College
    Earn your BA in
    2 additional years.
    You can directly enter Bard College after earning the Simon’s Rock AA.

Bard Academy

High School. Reimagined.
Photo by Tricia McCormack

High School. Reimagined.

Since 1966, Simon’s Rock has welcomed intellectually curious young people who are ready for an academic challenge.
In 2015, the Academy was founded to continue that tradition and meet a need for young people in 9th and 10th grade who are ready for an academic challenge at an even earlier age. We expect students to be inquisitive and enjoy the process of learning.
Learn More About Bard Academy →

The Early College: Simon's Rock

Students enter Simon’s Rock at Bard College as a first-year college student and begin their undergraduate career in a community of peers—students their age who share an intense appetite for learning. You will discover your passions through courses you select in the four required academic divisions: Arts; Languages and Literature; Science, Mathematics, and Computing; and Social Studies. After earning your associate of arts (AA) degree, you can directly matriculate to Bard College to continue your studies to complete your bachelor of arts (BA) degree.

The First Year

  • Writing and Thinking Workshop
    The Workshop—a five-day, all-day, intensive seminar held before the start of your first semester at Simon’s Rock—is a common experience for all new Rockers. This is where you’ll gain the foundational skills in critical reading and writing you’ll need for advanced study in any discipline.
  • First-Year Seminar
    Across two semesters, you’ll engage with a variety of works that embody diverse styles and perspectives, representing a range of academic disciplines. In small-group discussions, you’ll discover that your opinion not only matters, it’s essential to meaningful discussion with your peers. Together, you’ll hone your abilities to read, think, and write critically.

The Second Year

  • Bard College Courses
    Sophomores can draw from the expansive Bard College course catalogue, getting to know faculty on the main campus who specialize in your areas of academic interest. You can take up to two main campus courses each semester of the sophomore year. At the same time, you will continue to develop your academic relationships with Simon’s Rock faculty.
  • Sophomore Planning and Moderation
    Moderation is a collaborative process by which students planning to enter the BA program at Bard College work with a faculty committee to select their major. Each department designates 4-5 classes as pre-moderation requirements, and as students work toward completing these courses, they submit two short Moderation Papers—the first assessing the work they've done in their first two years, and the second identifying their goals for the final two years at Bard. Students also submit a work sample for the department to review—for example, a paper, short film, or performance. Finally, students meet with a Moderation Board made up of three faculty members who review the student’s past performance and discuss their plans for the years ahead. Students typically moderate in either the spring semester of their sophomore year or the fall semester of their junior year.
What has been a memorable experience at Simon’s Rock and why?
Photo credit: Tricia McCormack Photography

What has been a memorable experience at Simon’s Rock and why?

“Simon’s Rock has an incredible study abroad program on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. It was just such a potent experience. When we were doing volcanology, we weren’t just learning the basics of geology in two weeks. We spent the next six weeks going to Montserrat’s volcano observatory, working with the scientists there and learning about each of their fields in depth. For marine biology, we were diving and taking notes underwater.”

Why did you choose Simon’s Rock?
“I chose Simon’s Rock because I was coming out of a tumultuous period in my own life. I was struggling to fit in at multiple high schools. I think oftentimes I had a desire for more academic rigor, more academic complexity than the high school curriculum could offer. So when I heard about Simon’s Rock, I was instantly intrigued.”

What’s your favorite place on campus?
“I love the Massena campus grounds. There’s so many little forested areas; to just be able to wander around that, through little fields and along trails, and the gorgeous pond that’s tucked away.”

Anything else you would like to share?
“Simon’s Rock is what you make it to be. Your interests and your passion dictate your experience here. I think that that attitude is expressed at Simon’s Rock. It is an open-ended experience.”

- Owen '24

Meet the Faculty

Learn more about Simon's Rock from Dr. Chris Coggins, Faculty in Geography and Asian Studies.

Read to Take Your First Steps?

Learn More About Admission →