Let's begin here in Samuel Phillips Hall, named for Samuel Phillips, Jr., who manufactured gunpowder for the American Revolution and founded PA in 1778 when he was only 26 years old. The first class of 13 students met in an old carpenter's shop. In more than two centuries since, Andover has bought or built more than 160 buildings and actually moved several others in order to make more beautiful quadrangles and vistas on its 450-acre campus.

Sam Phil (the building's nickname) was built in 1924 as the central classroom building on campus and dominates the main quad with its six massive columns and, on a cupola, a cobalt blue clock that looks neon at dusk. Inside are classrooms for history, economics, and world language, and on the ground floor is the first all-digital language laboratory in the country, the Language Learning Center.

Q: What is the blue clock face made of?

A: Blue glass

Q: What exactly is Andover's "all-digital language laboratory"?

A: It's a computer center that offers digital language learning programs including video and audio files, which enable students to tackle interactive assignments in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Teachers can listen in or respond later with comments on student work.