Proctor Academy

08/21/2026

Campus is quiet, but not for long! The newest members of our professional community hit the ground running on Monday morning for New Faculty/Staff Orientation. Wilderness First Aid training takes place midweek for our Wilderness Orientation leaders and by Friday morning the entire adult community will be back together in full swing as we prepare for an amazing year ahead! It’s quiet now, but campus will be buzzing soon and we can’t wait to get underway!

08/19/2026

Every August, in the weeks leading up to the start of the school year, members of our Admissions and Student Life teams field a familiar set of questions from families of boarding students new to Proctor. “What happens if my student doesn’t get along with their roommate, or struggles to connect with other students in the dorm?” Students arrive with their own version. “Will my roommate be messy?” “What if our sleep schedules don’t match?” These worries are reasonable. Asking a young person to leave home and share a room with someone they have never met is no small undertaking.

Proctor’s philosophy of residential life has not changed for generations. Dormitories are intentionally small – an average of twelve students – so that friendships have room to form and dorm parents and affiliates come to know each student well. Read more about Residential Life on The Buzz below:

https://www.proctoracademy.org/explore-proctor/the-buzz/buzz-details/~board/the-buzz-a-window-into-the-proctor-experience/post/residential-life-what-students-learn-by-living-together

08/18/2026

Kally’23 and Eloise ‘27 were two of just 13 students spending 30 days backpacking through the Talkeetna Mountains of Alaska with the National Outdoor Leadership School NOLS. Though they didn’t overlap at Proctor, they made an immediate connection. Kally shares, “Throughout the month, we bonded over our love for the community and shared stories about our similar experiences, bringing us endless conversations and laughs. We discovered so many shared teachers and classes, and that we even wore the exact same lacrosse uniform! The course embodied so many values that we have both learned from Proctor; 30 days of backcountry experiential learning with a focus on technical skills, teamwork, and leadership allowed us to build a foundation to return to our communities as empowered leaders. We quite literally lived to learn and learned to live.

Having another member of the Proctor community brought comfort and support that helped us through the hardest days of camping and hiking. It was absolutely incredible to know that even in the deep wilderness of Alaska, the Proctor connections persist! Our coincidental connection reminded me how special this community truly is, and I look forward to finding it again in future adventures! I hope that this story can brighten the day of other community members, and remind them, too, of how special Proctor is and how lucky we are to be a part of this community.”

Thank you Kally and Eloise for sharing your story! The Proctor love runs deep, and we’re so glad you found that even in the wilderness of Alaska! Proctor Alumni Association

08/17/2026

Thank you so much to our Andover, NH Emergency Services team and surrounding towns (some of whom are Proctor parents and Alums!) for your diligent care of our town and community! It's been a busy week for you and we're so grateful! Thank you also to Marie and Jim of Pizza Chef and Jen and John of JJ’s Market & Deli for always supporting this town. We appreciate you all!

08/16/2026

As the summer comes to a close, we share a heartfelt goodbye to Director of Dining Services, Barbara Major, as she retires after 30 years of service to Proctor Academy! With hundreds of thousands of meals prepared and a wonderful culture of togetherness stewarded in the Canon Dining Hall and Brown Dining Commons, Barb leaves a powerful legacy at Proctor. Thank you for your years of service, Barb. We will miss you!

08/14/2026

Think about your favorite Proctor memories: waking up to a desert sunrise on Mountain Classroom, jumping through the ice during Polar Swim, scoring a goal under the lights and sprinting to the student section, laughing with friends at the swinging bridge, playing hacky sack on the turf. Each of these moments have something in common: phones are not present. Read more about our new phone policy in a letter to students on The Buzz below:

https://www.proctoracademy.org/explore-proctor/the-buzz/buzz-details/~board/the-buzz-a-window-into-the-proctor-experience/post/a-letter-to-our-students-the-freedom-that-comes-without-phones

08/11/2026

This past Saturday more than 20 members of the Proctor family (riders and volunteers) joined the annual Highs & Lows Tour and helped raise $75,000 for NAMI New Hampshire. The ride started and finished at Plymouth Regional High School this year, with road, gravel, and (new for 2026) mountain bike routes at a variety of distances. NAMI is a “grassroots organization working to improve the quality of life for all by providing support, education and advocacy for people affected by mental illness and suicide.” Congratulations to the Proctor riders (some even rode more than 100 miles!) and thank you all for supporting and showing up for such an important cause and organization. A special shout out to former Proctor parents Eric and Kim Skinner P’23, ’26 for leading the charge!

Highs And Lows Tour NAMI NH

08/06/2026

This July, a group of Proctor students and members of our professional community traveled to South Dakota to spend ten days as guests on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations, living and working alongside the members of the Sicangu and Oglala communities who welcomed them. At a moment when technology makes it easier than ever to outsource human interaction and avoid friction, and when difference is more often argued about than understood, the case for authentic connection and for learning in a context that is not our own only grows stronger. Read more on The Buzz here:

https://www.proctoracademy.org/explore-proctor/the-buzz/buzz-details/~board/the-buzz-a-window-into-the-proctor-experience/post/rosebud-summer-service-trip-2026-completing-the-circle

07/31/2026

As the construction of Proctor Academy’s new $8M Health and Well-Being Center nears completion, Proctor, Lavallee Brensigner, and H.P. Cummings Construction are thrilled to report that after whole-building testing, air tightness performance far surpasses US Passive House and high-performance building standards. Read more on The Buzz below.

As the construction of Proctor Academy’s new $8M Health and Well-Being Center nears completion, Proctor, Lavalee Brensigner, and HP Cummings Construction are thrilled to report that after whole-building testing, air tightness performance far surpasses Passive House and high-performance building st...

07/29/2026

"Intentional relationships create the conditions for the kind of learning that only happens when a student feels both challenged and fully believed in.” A year in, Head of School Amy Smucker reflects on the culture that makes Proctor extraordinary, and how a community holds onto it while continuing to evolve. "Proctor’s culture didn't happen by accident...it is built daily through thousands of interactions that communicate to every student, You matter at Proctor." Read more on The Buzz below.

https://www.proctoracademy.org/explore-proctor/the-buzz/buzz-details/~board/the-buzz-a-window-into-the-proctor-experience/post/stewarding-proctor

“Intentional relationships create the conditions for the kind of learning that only happens when a student feels both challenged and fully believed in.” A year in, Head of School Amy Smucker reflects on the culture that makes Proctor extraordinary, and how a community holds onto it while continu...