Berkshire Foothills, Massachusetts
Opening Fall 2025: A First of its Kind
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The J.S. Bryant School empowers LGBTQIA+ high school students to be their most authentic selves by integrating experiential learning with wellness in an LGBTQIA+ supportive and gender-affirming environment.
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Nestled in the foothills of the Berkshires with a 300-acre farm, we are the first private, not-for-profit therapeutic high school dedicated solely to the needs of LGBTQIA+ students in grades 9-12. All administrators, teachers, and staff have lived experience and/or professional training in working with LGBTQIA+ teens and their families.
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The J.S Bryant School is an approved private school of the Massachusetts Central Berkshire Regional School District. With a 12-month curriculum, all learning strategies and outcomes meet the Massachusetts learning standards for academic excellence. We are committed to, and accountable for, creating a high quality and culturally sensitive learning and caring community. For more Information on the school curriculum or wellness program, please see the Learning & Wellness Page
Full admissions information for the J.S. Bryant School will be posted Fall 2024. For current general admissions info or to submit an inquiry, see our Admissions page.
Co-Designing the J.S. Bryant School
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We have sat on floors, at picnic tables, on porches and under trees. We have met with over 70 teenagers at local camps in Massachusetts, from the Berkshires to Boston. And to all of those teens we asked, “Where do you feel your most authentic self?” We wanted to learn where, when, and with whom they feel comfortable, affirmed, and heard. Our team explored these thoughts through co-design with these teens. We asked: what could the queer high school of the future be where students can be their most authentic selves? And so with energy, creativity, and a bag of art supplies, teams of 2-3 teenagers co-designed gender-affirming spaces and programs. They described the agency and autonomy learners need. They described outdoor, integrative, project-based learning. And they insisted on strong and flexible wellness programs. These ideas and more inform our design of the J.S. Bryant School.
The Name of Our School
The J.S. Bryant School is named after the youngest daughter of the Berkshire poet and conservationist, William Cullen Bryant. He once owned what is now our school’s farming campus. In 1875, Bryant gave this farm to his oldest daughter, Fanny Bryant Godwin. But it is his youngest daughter, Julia Sands Bryant, we name the school after. She supported her father by helping him manage his business affairs and his home for many years, and then nursed him until the end of his life. Once he passed away, Julia Sands left the country, and moved to Paris where she lived with her same-sex partner, Anna Fairchild, for the last 29 years of her life.
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So we name this school after Julia Sands Bryant to honor her and to remind us of our goal to create a future where our children will not have to move away from their families and their community to be who they want to be with the people they love.
J.S. Bryant School is a private 501(c)3 not-for-profit charitable organization.
Your donations are tax-deductible.