The Sharon Academy

“It’s the people that make the place”

Interim has come and gone at The Sharon Academy and with it the excited energy of this year’s musical, The Wizard of Oz. With any musical production, there is the diversity of artistic skills at work: set design, costuming, choreography, acting, and music performance. But at the Sharon Academy, there is an additional, more important element in the works: community. For while most theatre departments that I know of depend on a small group of dedicated students to design and perform their school’s musical, TSA has over 96% student involvement. In fact, we take off an entire two weeks of normal classes to dedicate to this unique production. Why? We do this because we want to build, and support, and sustain our community.

In fact, unlike any other school I have known, the TSA community truly stands outside the rigid confines of the typical school social hierarchy. It is a community that expects its students to make responsible choices and holds them accountable for their behaviors. It is a community that encourages students to discuss worldly issues, and challenges each other to form intelligent, and thoughtful opinions. A community where students are expected to depend on one another in group projects, yet excel independently in their exhibitions and other class work; where each student is a leader; where each student is known and supported.

As proud as we are of our school and strong community, The Sharon Academy would not exist without its supportive families and friends. Whether volunteering to landscape our lawn, or donating laptops for our computer room, or contributing financially to support the senior science energy class or add to our endowment, we depend on the larger community to recognize the importance of our work and support our initiative.

After all, it is only through the generosity of our many donors, friends, and family members, that TSA is able to maintain our low tuition costs, retain top-notch faculty, and invest in student life through our small classroom size, the arts, theater, travel, and athletics.

To make a donation to TSA, plan a gift, or learn more about how you can get involved, please contact Elly Boerke, Director of Development, at eboerke@sharonacademy.net or 802-763-2500 ext. 116.

“As I…embark on my next adventure, I realize how fortunate I am to be a part of the TSA Community...and I am proud of who I have become” -Heidi Conner, alumnus