Every student, a beacon of what's possible.
BPD Academy serves 462 students from PreK through Grade 12 on a single 32-acre campus. Small classes, signature programs, and a community where every student is genuinely known.
Stories from Campus
Announcements, signature programs, and student spotlights from across the academy.
Class of 2025 Matriculates to 140+ Colleges
Every member of the senior class earned admission to a four-year college or university — 42% to their first-choice institution.
Head of School Previews Strategic Plan 2024–2029
Dr. Marquez shared three pillars guiding the next five years: deepen the academic program, strengthen community, and protect affordability.
Admissions Open for 2026–27 — Inquiries Up 22%
The Admissions Office has logged 304 inquiries since October — the highest in five years. Open House dates for fall are now posted.
BPD Academy Named to NAIS "Schools of the Future" Cohort
The National Association of Independent Schools selected BPD Academy as one of 40 schools shaping the next decade of independent education.
Signature Program Spotlight: Capstone Research
Twenty-six seniors presented two years of original research to a packed Heritage Hall on Friday — from an oral history of a Philadelphia shuttered trade to a chemistry investigation into tap-water stabilizers.
A Letter from the Head of School: Teaching in an AI Era
Dr. Marquez addresses the question every school is being asked this year — what do we do about the fact that students now have access to a machine that will write for them?
We owe each student a school that actually knows them.
This year at BPD Academy we have asked a simple question: does each student, every day, feel seen by an adult in this building? The honest answer — still — has to be earned. It is not something we assume from enrollment numbers or tuition dollars.
Schools that are famous for caring about students are usually schools that have chosen to stay small on purpose. That is the discipline we try to keep. We add a grade-level advisor instead of a dean of strategic initiatives. We spend on a second college counselor instead of a fourth marketing hire. We teach our faculty to slow down.
What I ask of our families in return is simple: trust us with the slow work. An education is not a product. It is a long, uneven apprenticeship in being a person, and the adults who do it best are the ones who agree to be patient.
Next on the Calendar
A three-word promise we live out on a 32-acre campus where no one fades into the background.
A journey from PreK to Grade 12.
Each of our three schools is built around how students learn at that age — their own head of school, their own rhythms, their own spaces. One seamless thirteen-year journey across one campus.
Lower School
Readers & Writers Workshop, Singapore-inspired math, two world languages, and daily outdoor learning. Where every reader, thinker, and friend finds their footing.
Meet the Lower School →Middle School
Advisory-centered, Socratic humanities, lab-based science, algebra readiness tracks, and a full arts & athletics program every afternoon. The identity years, made on purpose.
Meet the Middle School →Upper School
24 AP & honors courses, a required senior Capstone, three Signature Programs, and college counseling that starts in Grade 9. Rigor, range, and a real launch pad.
Meet the Upper School →Four programs that define a BPD education.
Deliberately small. Chosen with intention. Each runs from Grade 9 through graduation, open to every Upper School student who applies.
Capstone Research
A two-year independent research project, mentored by a faculty advisor and presented publicly senior spring.
Explore →Conservatory Arts Track
A pre-professional pathway in music, theatre, or studio art — culminating in a senior solo showcase.
Explore →Outdoor Leadership Semester
A trimester away in the Appalachians — backpacking, service work, and place-based humanities.
Explore →College Counseling from Grade 9
Every student gets a counselor in ninth grade and keeps them through graduation. Not a junior-year scramble.
Explore →A small school that takes each student seriously.
Class of 2025 matriculated to 140+ colleges.
A representative sample. Full matriculation list available in the College Counseling profile.
- Amherst
- Brown
- Bucknell
- Carnegie Mellon
- Cornell
- Dartmouth
- Davidson
- Dickinson
- Duke
- Emory
- Franklin & Marshall
- Georgetown
- Haverford
- Johns Hopkins
- Lafayette
- Lehigh
- Middlebury
- Notre Dame
- Penn
- Penn State
- Pittsburgh
- Princeton
- Rice
- Swarthmore
- Tufts
- UVA
- Vanderbilt
- Villanova
- Wake Forest
- Washington & Lee
- Wesleyan
- Williams
- Yale
Listed alphabetically. Does not imply a formal affiliation.
A website your team can actually run.
Most independent schools we meet are on a commercial school CMS — often Finalsite or Blackbaud. The site looks fine. The contract doesn’t. Here’s how the working relationship compares.
Typical commercial school CMS
BPD Academy on Bright Presence Digital
Come see the school in action.
Half-day visits, small-group tours, and three Open Houses each fall. Inquire today — applications due January 15.