At Washington Square Academy, we provide gifted and talented students in Grades 4 – 8 with a transformative education in the thriving, urban setting of Brookline, Massachusetts. Students receive academically-rigorous instruction in small, seminar-like classes from some of the region’s most accomplished teachers. Daily interactions with similarly-gifted peers allow students to intellectually thrive.

Where Washington Square Academy’s program differs from many other similarly rigorous programs is in its emphasis on students’ social-emotional well-being as a corollary to their accelerated academic growth. We recognize that, given their gifts, students at WSA will in all likelihood become the next generation of leaders, intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and innovators. When that happens, we want them to be not only personally healthy and happy but also mindful of the humanitarian effects of their actions and decisions.

Students at WSA therefore receive instruction in the principles of social-emotional well-being and human connection alongside their academic studies. These principles pertain to a wide range of skills. Some involve interacting at the personal level (conversing; listening; empathizing; demonstrating essential good manners; considering alternative points of view). Others involve self-care and understanding (practicing mindfulness; recognizing the difference between healthy and unhealthy levels of stress; acquiring strategies for dealing with negative emotions; adopting a habit of gratitude; finding joy in trifles; having fun; expressing themselves creatively; recognizing and accepting human fallibility–and learning to forgive!). Yet others pertain to making a difference at the societal level (engaging in charitable and philanthropic activities; fund-raising; applying abstract academic knowledge and skills to real-world problems). In our experience, as students begin to master these skills, they increasingly thrive as humans while simultaneously giving themselves permission to take intellectual flight.

Our day-school program for students in Grades 4 – 8 is supplemented by numerous evening and summer programs for all local students in Grades 2 – 12. We encourage you to explore our site and to discover how much we have to offer.