St. Paul's School

The week

Everyone sleeps at school

Every student at St. Paul's lives on campus.

The 2026–27 profile lists 538 students in grades 9 through 12, and there is no day-student track. The week follows from that: 17 mixed-form houses, Chapel four mornings a week, and a Saturday morning that may still be class.

An adult is on duty in every house from 7 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Friday, and from 8 to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday.

School-night checks are face to face and get later by form: Third Form at 8 and 10 p.m., Fourth at 8:45 and 10, Fifth at 9:15 and 10:30, and Sixth at 9:45 and 11. Saturday's final checks are later.

After check, students stay in the house until 6 a.m. Lights out is 10:15 for Third Form and 11 for Fourth Form. For the older forms, 11:30 is guidance.

Most students share with one or two roommates, and the handbook says to expect at least two houses over four years; second-year residents have priority to return. Saturday mornings can hold classes, afternoon commitments still apply, and the school runs shuttles to downtown Concord and the Heights plus Saturday-night programming.

Afternoons are program commitments: arts span dance, fine arts, music, and theater; private music lessons create an annual financial obligation; ensembles audition; and the Ballet Company auditions annually, trains six days and about 18 hours a week, and counts as a varsity commitment with no junior-varsity tier.

Academics

Five courses, and a few scarce programs

Students normally take five courses, and more than five requires permission. They need at least 12 credits to advance, and at least 25 across Fifth and Sixth Form.

Third-Form Humanities is double credit. It joins literature, history, religion, politics, discussion, writing, projects, and presentations, so a ninth grader can have five subjects scheduled and six credits earned.

The graduation rules explicitly adjust requirements by entry form: Physics First is the Third-Form starting point, followed by chemistry and biology in the recommended foundation, later entrants have separate physics routes, and honors science depends on prerequisites and department judgment.

The college profile cautions that even students with two previous years of a language may place into Level 1 or 2.

There is no honors weighting and no AP curriculum. Courses coded 450 or higher are college-level, grades sit on an unweighted A+–F scale, and the school does not rank.

Applied Science and Engineering admits 12 Fifth Formers a year, with registration in Fourth Form, a summer externship, and a Sixth-Form capstone; Classical Honors needs a final B+ in Honors Latin and at least two B+ Greek terms for students who start classics at SPS.

A Fifth-Form entrant reaches the ASEP selection point with less runway.

The 2026–27 handbook gives per-course assignment-time guidelines averaged across the week: for 100–200-level courses, 30 minutes for languages, mathematics, and science; 45 minutes for arts; and 60 minutes for Humanities; most upper courses average 45 minutes, with Humanities V at 60.

Major assessments belong in the scheduled class meeting, a student with three major assessments due in one day can request that the third be moved, Thanksgiving, winter, and spring vacations carry no expected academic work, and the first class after a weekend recess cannot contain a major assessment.

Help during the day includes teacher office hours, daytime and evening study hall, the Chapman Math Center, peer tutoring, and academic coaching in planning, organization, and self-advocacy; capacity and waits are not published.

Phones, leave, and breaks

The phone, the town, and the trip home

During the academic day the phone stays in the room: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, until 12:20 p.m. on Wednesday, and until noon on Saturday. Phones and headphones are also barred on paths and in dining halls, Chapel, the library, and academic buildings.

A medical exception goes through the Accommodations Committee. A college-recruiting exception goes through a dean.

Study hours run Sunday through Friday from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Third Formers stay in the house, review the planner with an adviser at 8, and turn the phone in. On school nights the phone is stored overnight.

Fourth Formers hand phones over from check until 9:45. Enforcement moves from a warning to confiscation and a dean.

Third and Fourth Form have no town hours on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday. The windows are Wednesday noon to 6:30, Saturday noon to 9, and Sunday 10 to 6.

Older forms have time after class and a later Saturday return.

Overnight leave goes through REACH at least 48 hours ahead. There is no strict cap on a standard weekend away, but short leave starts after Saturday commitments, and the school encourages students to stay engaged.

Long weekends: one a year for Third and Fourth Form, and none for Third Form in the fall; two for Fifth Form; three for Sixth Form, generally no more than one a term. New students are advised to wait until Family Weekend.

Weekends at the beginning and end of terms can be closed to overnight leave. The school may not observe a legal holiday, and it may not approve leave for one.

An outside pursuit must be approved in advance, fit within two Sunday–Friday evenings, avoid school obligations, return by 9:45, and generally use no more than six program days a term.

For 2026–27, Thanksgiving recess is November 19–30, winter vacation is December 17 to January 7, midwinter recess is February 5–9, spring vacation is March 10–29, and there is a late-April recess. Dates can change, and some varsity athletes report earlier.

Travel has to match fixed departure and return times. Family convenience does not excuse leaving early or returning late.

A student more than five time zones away may arrive one day early after winter or spring vacation only, must come directly from home, and may find food service unavailable.

Support and health

Clark House, and two pages that disagree

Clark House is a 14-bed health center, open 24 hours a day while school is in session, with a nurse on duty and a physician and counselor nearby and on call overnight. The school also lists psychiatric consultation by referral, a nutritionist, athletic trainers, and Concord Hospital less than a mile away.

There is a live contradiction. Clark House says the counseling director leads four full-time counselors.

The parent FAQ says three full-time and one part-time counselor in one answer, then says four counselors in another.

The handbook explains that health information is generally confidential but can be shared for safety, treatment, legal duties, or effective school functioning. The parent FAQ says parents are normally contacted after an overnight stay, a new prescription, or outside care.

Safeguarding

What the record shows, and what to ask now

In May 2017, a school-commissioned independent investigation substantiated sexual abuse or misconduct by 13 former faculty and staff, principally involving conduct from 1948 through 1988. It described serious failures to protect students and to respond.

A 2019 New Hampshire court order records that the Attorney General had intended to seek child-endangerment indictments, and that a 2018 settlement instead created a compliance program and an independent overseer for up to five years. That order is not a conviction, an acquittal, or a finding that the alleged endangerment never occurred.

The first independent overseer resigned in October 2020. The resignation letter alleged interference and resistance by school leadership.

Those are allegations in the letter, not adjudicated findings. A successor's February 2022 report found no noncompliance during that reporting period.

RAINN's 2022 review credited improvements and set three years of recommendations covering response-team roles, boundaries, training, victim support, policy review, and community input.

The routes a family can see now are 24/7/365 School Safety, Clark House, the Dean on Duty, trusted adults, the CARES network, an online misconduct form, police and emergency services, and anonymous reporting through external Lighthouse Services.

CARES warns that a private conversation may still trigger mandatory or agreement-based reporting, so private is not the same as legally confidential. The contact page lists Donald Sullivan as Director of School Safety & Compliance, not as an independent overseer.

The settlement's outside oversight was for a finite term.

Cost and aid

What $80,365 includes, and the $150,000 rule

For 2026–27, tuition, room, and board are $75,400, mandatory fees are $1,480, and estimated personal expenses are $3,485. Added together, that is the school's $80,365 attendance estimate.

Admitted U.S.-based families with annual household income up to $150,000 generally qualify for full tuition support. It is not an automatic award, and it does not necessarily cover the $1,480 in mandatory fees or the personal-expense estimate.

Demonstrated need is the school's calculation.

St. Paul's says it meets admitted students' full demonstrated need with grants and no gap.

It reports 37 percent receiving aid, a $13.6 million aid budget, and a $66,140 average need-based grant. Request aid during admission if you expect to need it.

A later request is considered only after a significant change. The school expects financial information from both biological or legal parents, and from stepparents where that applies.

Awards are recalculated every year.

International aid has its own limit. One page says the school meets demonstrated need for students admitted to the on-campus program.

The international questions say awards and the number of international recipients are limited, and that families are usually asked to contribute. For this policy, international means a student who needs an I-20.

Applying

January 15, 2027, for grades 9, 10, and 11

The date that matters is January 15, 2027. The admission file and the aid file are both due then, and decisions post on March 10.

The application opened July 1, 2026. Aid applications open November 20.

Interviews run from September 14, 2026 through January 23, 2027, on campus or online, and only after Gateway Candidate Profile, Part 1, is in.

Gateway lists Fall 2027 applications for grades 9, 10, and 11, which are Third, Fourth, and Fifth Form. The Gateway fee is $75 for a domestic application and $125 for an international one.

Gateway accepts its fee waiver.

Parts 2 and 3 collect candidate and parent statements, current grades, two prior years of records, four recommendations from current teachers, testing, and a graded writing sample.

A student on a block schedule may use current history or science in place of an unavailable current subject; the FAQ says there are only four Gateway Part 2 questions, and the sample should be longer current-year work with teacher feedback.

Every applicant essay must be the student's unaided work, including without AI.

Gateway's Fall 2027 display lists SSAT or ISEE for Grade 9; SSAT or PSAT for Grade 10; and SSAT, PSAT, SAT, or ACT for Grade 11, while the school's general page names PreACT as well and says testing is required for all applicants. The FAQ prefers testing by January 15 but accepts January retest results.

The general process says testing is required for everyone, while the international aid Q&A says an applicant unable to take the SSAT or ISEE may contact Admission for a waiver.

Applicants who do not speak English at home submit TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo, unless they have spent at least three years in a school where English is the language of instruction. The school says most international students score above TOEFL 100, Duolingo 125, or IELTS 7.5.

There is no ESL curriculum. Sixteen percent of the 538 students are international, and the student body represents 35 countries.

Nights, credits, counseling and safeguarding at St. Paul's

At a fully residential school, ask who answers at 2 a.m., how counseling waits work, how aid treats complex finances, and who audits safeguarding now.