FAQs for Students & Families

This collection of frequently asked questions (FAQs) will be updated throughout the 2024–2025 school year. Additional questions may be submitted via email.

Residential Life

How do I mail items to my student?

Please review our Mail Services Mailroom Policies to see where and when to ship items—and what items cannot be accepted.

What is the shipping address?

Please use our 180 Main Street address (see below) when shipping items to your student, not the street address of their dorm. Please use your student’s full formal name, no nicknames!

STUDENT FULL NAME
PHILLIPS ACADEMY
180 MAIN STREET
ANDOVER, MA 01810
 

When ordering online and using your information for billing purposes, avoid processing delays by making sure the shipping information has the student’s full name, not a parent’s or other individual’s name. 

Can I ship beverages to my student?

No. Beverages cannot be shipped to students. These packages are very heavy; the mailroom is unable to deliver them and no items may be delivered directly to dorms. Filtered water is available in every dorm and throughout campus. Having students refill a reusable water bottle is a sustainable option creating much less plastic waste. For athletes, please ship your child powdered sport drinks.

If your child requires a beverage for medical reasons, please email the Sykes Wellness Center team. 

What two options does my student have for doing laundry?

1) Your student can use the free washers and dryers located in most dorms*. 

2) Your student can sign up for the E&R laundry service, which returns cleaned, pressed, and folded clothes to students once a week. Learn more about E&R laundry here.

*A few very small dorms do not have their own washer and dryer. Students in these dorms are given access to an adjacent dorm’s laundry room. 

Can I have a refrigerator in my dorm room?

Boarders cannot have refrigerators in their rooms. All dorms have a common kitchen area that includes a refrigerator, microwave, and sink.

Exceptions are made if a refrigerator is needed for medical or religious reasons. Parents/guardians should complete a reasonable accommodation request form through the Medical Health Portal. If approved, the refrigerator cannot exceed 1.7 cubic feet or 40 pounds. 

Day Student

May day students drive to school?

Licensed day students may drive to school with parental permission. Day students who drive themselves to school MUST register all vehicles that will be driven to campus with Phillips Academy Campus Safety and display the blue student registration sticker on each vehicle’s driver’s side, back seat window. Students who do not register their vehicle(s) or park in non-student areas will be issued a parking ticket and a $25 fine. If parked in certain restricted areas, such as a fire lane, handicapped space without a placard, or blocking a driveway, the vehicle will be towed.

Students may park only in these student-designated parking areas:

  • West bank of spaces in the Graves Hall parking lot (once it is reopened)
  • The head-in gravel spaces at the Rabbit Pond Circle (Pine Knoll Cluster)
  • The bank of spaces facing Highland Road in the E.H. Stuart House lot
  • The gravel lot on Field House Road—all spaces

Day students who have completed their Junior Operators License and can drive other students must get permission from their parents. Parents/guardians can give this permission on the Travel Authorization form found under the “Required for Registration” tasks in The Hive. This covers Day Students driving BOARDING students—and both students must have parent/guardian permission. Students must get faculty approval EACH time. 

Where can day students keep their belongings?

There is a day student locker area located on the ground level of George Washington Hall. Each student is assigned a locker where they can keep their belongings.

Can day students eat all their meals on campus?

Yes. Day students are welcome to eat all meals in Paresky Commons, even on weekends.

Where are day students dropped off and picked up?

There is central and convenient day student drop-off at the circle on Salem Street across from the Shuman Admission Center and another drop-off location on Chapel Avenue just beyond George Washington Hall.

What to do if your day student is not feeling well?  

A parent/guardian must call the Wellness Center at 978-749-4455 as soon as they know their student will not be coming to school. 

My Student's Team

Point Person 

Each student, boarding and day, has a single adult serve as their point person for the entire year. The point person is the family’s main contact at school.  

  • For boarding students: a house counselor serves as point person 
  • For day students: the day student advisor serves as both point person AND advisor 

Families should always reach out to their student’s point person with questions and concerns. The point person coordinates communication among the various adults on a student’s core team (see below).   

Advisors (for boarding students) 

The advisor supports a student’s navigation of the program, ensuring the completion of diploma requirements, guiding choices around electives and extracurricular opportunities, and helping students develop the skills needed for success. Advisors oversee a student’s course selection and multiyear planning. Each advisee meets regularly with their advisor (weekly meetings, individually or in a group setting). The advisor will serve in this role for the duration of the student’s time at Phillips Academy and, in addition to the house counselor/point person, is another adult who will support and guide your student.

House Counselors (for boarding students) 

The primary adults responsible for the students living in their dormitories. Resident house counselors live within the dormitory buildings, while complementary house counselors are assigned to be on duty in dorms on certain nights and weekends, but do not live in the building.    

Day Student Advisor (for day students) 

The day student advisor is both the point person AND advisor for day students and will serve in this role for the duration of the student’s time at Phillips Academy. The day student advisor supports a student’s navigation of the program, ensuring the completion of diploma requirements, guiding choices around electives and extracurricular opportunities, and helping students develop the skills needed for success. The day student advisor oversees a student’s course selection and multiyear planning. Each advisee meets regularly with their advisor (weekly meetings, individually or in a group setting).   

Cluster Dean 

Each student, day or boarding, is assigned to one of our five “clusters” of dormitories in the same neighborhood: Abbot Cluster, Flagstaff Cluster, Pine Knoll Cluster, West Quad North Cluster, and West Quad South Cluster each comprise about 230 students (including day and boarding students) as well as a cluster dean (residential dean) and a group of faculty members, many of whom are house counselors and advisors for students in the cluster.   

Core Team for a Boarding Student: 

The house counselor/point person, advisor, and cluster dean form the student’s core team. These three adults provide steady support and guidance—both personal and academic—and a consistent connection throughout the entire year. 

Core Team for a Day Student: 

The day student advisor/point person and cluster dean form the student’s core team. These two adults provide steady support and guidance—both personal and academic—and a consistent connection throughout the entire year. 

Academics

What is the weekly class schedule?

To view the weekly class schedule, click here.

Are progress reports shared with midterms? 

At the mid-point of each term, students receive a Progress Report for each course in which they are enrolled. At the midpoint of each term, instructors report on each student’s progress using the following scale: Passing (P), Low Passing (LP), Not Yet Passing (NYP). At the midpoint of the fall and winter terms (Term 1 and Term 2), instructors also share written progress reports with students and parent(s)/guardian(s).

What is Andover's grading system?

At the end of each term, with the exception of courses graded on a pass-fail basis, all courses taken for credit are graded on the 0–6 scale described below. At the end of the fall term (Term 1), instructors share written reports with students and parent(s)/guardian(s), and they do so again at the end of the spring term (Term 3) for non-seniors.

6—Outstanding 5—Superior 4—Good 3—Satisfactory 2—Minimum Pass (and minimum college certifying grade) 1—Failure Pass 0—Low Failure

For more details on student grades, please refer to the Course of Studies.

What is the end term schedule?

To view the end of term schedule, click here.

Where can I purchase school supplies or personal items?

  • The Elson Art Store, right on campus, offers a wide range of class supplies, fine art materials, and creative materials for all projects at a 30%–70% discount off retail prices. The store is open Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
  • A large CVS store and pharmacy in downtown Andover (10-minute walk) stocks a good selection of school supplies plus snacks and personal care products. (A Whole Foods Market (1.3-mile walk) and a Stop & Shop grocery store (1.5-mile walk) are also located in Andover.)

What resources are provided to students at the Academic Skills Center (ASC)?

What is the process for my student to request accommodations?

Refer to the Student Accessibility Services (SAS) FAQ. You can also visit the Student Accessibility Services website or email SAS.

Health and Wellness

General information about the Rebecca M. Sykes Wellness Center 

There is at least one medical professional at the Wellness Center 24/7 and a physician and counselor on-call while students are on campus. The Wellness Center is open for routine care Monday—Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and after hours for urgent care. Call us at 978-749-4455.    

What to do if your student is not feeling well?  

For boarding students and day students on campus… 

Your student should go directly to the Wellness Center for evaluation and care by a member of the wellness team and, if necessary, to get excused from classes and/or co-curricular commitments.     

For day students who are at home… 

A parent/guardian must call the Wellness Center as soon as they know their student will not be coming to school. 

Will you tell me about my student’s visits to the wellness center?  

The goal of the Wellness Center team is to ensure that students have growing autonomy and independence to be their own best health advocate while partnering with families. If a student comes to the Sykes Wellness Center for a routine cold, we are not likely to give a family a call for this type of visit. However, the Wellness Center will notify families under certain circumstances which include off campus care such as a specialist visit or emergency room evaluation, prescription medications, testing beyond routine testing (such as x-rays, labs involving an external lab), and if we are concerned and believe that a parent/guardian needs to be informed of our concern.    

What do I do if my student has an upcoming health appointment or procedure? 

If your student has a health appointment/procedure that requires missing class time, please reach out to [email protected] or call 978-749-4455. If the appointment requires missing more than a day of classes, a request must be made to the Dean of Health and Wellness/Chief Medical Officer, and may require consideration from the Student Response Team (SRT).   

Transportation Options

What transportation options are available for my student?

For transportation to Logan (Boston) and Manchester (N.H.) airports or Boston’s South Station, arrangements can be made with private taxi and limousine service providers for students traveling along. A list of service providers regularly used by members of the PA community including information on greeter services for unaccompanied minors is available here.

Note regarding unaccompanied minors: Families are responsible for understanding the rules of various airlines regarding unaccompanied minors, knowing the age requirements, and making the necessary arrangements (departure and arrival points) if their child will be flying as an unaccompanied minor. Ages vary considerably from airline to airline.

Does PA offer transportation services during school breaks?

Phillips Academy will offer transportation during school breaks to and from New York City, with a stop in Darien, Connecticut. Students can sign up for one-way travel or round-trip. Details will be shared by the Dean of Students Office prior to each break.

Yearbook

All families are encouraged to order a 2025 Pot Pourri, Phillips Academy’s yearbook, by clicking this link: PA Yearbook. If prompted, enter school code 3591. Yearbooks—full color and typically about 300 pages—will be delivered to campus in May.

Senior Families: All information on yearbook orders, family messages, senior portraits, and class rings can be found here.