Bard Academy and Bard College at Simon’s Rock Announce Relocation to Bard College in New York’s Hudson Valley

GREAT BARRINGTON, MA (November 19, 2024) – The Bard College Board of Trustees and the Bard College at Simon’s Rock Board of Overseers today jointly announced that Simon’s Rock will be relocating from its Great Barrington, MA, campus to a new campus on the property of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. The school’s new home, recently acquired and adjacent to Bard’s existing campus, will open its doors to Simon’s Rock students in Fall 2025.
 
Founded in 1966, Simon’s Rock allows students to begin college after 10th or 11th grade; the Academy was launched in 2015 to prepare 9th and 10th grade students to enter the Early College program. The move will provide the Academy and Early College students with the same rigorous educational programs, creative opportunities, and tight-knit campus community they currently enjoy, while also giving them access to Bard’s existing facilities and programs.

Current students will remain at the Great Barrington campus through the end of the next semester, Spring ’25, and those opting to continue their program of study and degree completion at Simon’s Rock and Bard can do so in the new location next fall.

“Simon’s Rock has been the pioneer of early college, and as a result of its success and track record, there are now 10 public early college high school campuses founded by Bard in six states and more than 1 million high school students nationwide taking early college courses this year,” said Bard College President Leon Botstein. “Because of that success, and the larger national movement which it inspired, demand for the original residential model is less strong than it was when Elizabeth Blodgett Hall founded Simon’s Rock in the 1960s. With Bard’s recent purchase of the Massena Campus, we now have more flexibility in space that can allow for a more financially viable and educationally rich future for Simon’s Rock by placing it physically proximate to the institution that has owned and run it for 45 years.”
 
Botstein added: “By moving the institution, we are giving Simon’s Rock the opportunity to continue its mission. We’re grateful to the community of Great Barrington in the Berkshires for being home to Simon’s Rock’s founding and a good neighbor for its nearly 60 years there. I’m pleased that this move has the backing of the Simon’s Rock Board of Overseers and our leading donors—all of whom are either alumni or parents of alumni.”

Along with amenities and programming that will be available to them on the Massena Campus, Simon’s Rock students will have access to the educational and cultural resources on the main Annandale campus. This includes the Reem-Kayden Center for Science and Computation, the Frank Gehry-designed Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, the Stevenson Library, the Hessel Museum of Art, and more. Simon’s Rock students will also be able to participate in Bard events, clubs, musical groups, and sports teams.

“We are now at a pivotal moment for Simon’s Rock,” said John B. Weinstein, Provost and Vice President at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. “Departing from our beloved Great Barrington campus is heartbreaking—the campus has been my professional home for more than 20 years and my literal home for nearly five. It is full of memories for so many people. But this move is the only course of action for the school to preserve the viability of a residential early college experience in an unpredictable time for institutions of higher education nationwide.”

Simon’s Rock will continue to secure and maintain the Great Barrington campus following the relocation and will work with local officials during the search for a suitable new owner for the property. Bard and Simon’s Rock will also work with New York officials in the village of Red Hook to ensure the timely renovation of Massena Campus facilities and a smooth transition for faculty, staff, and students to their new home.

“This is a bittersweet moment for all of us who know and deeply love Simon’s Rock and were privileged to become members of the amazing community fostered at the school,” said James M. Clark Jr. ’76, Chair of the Bard College at Simon’s Rock Board of Overseers. “Yet rest assured that along with the physical relocation of the school comes a transfer of the spirit and ethos that has guided Simon’s Rock since its founding. We are excited for this new chapter in the school’s history.”

“I have loved and supported Simon’s Rock for many years because I have remained confident that we offer an outstanding education for young people,” said Emily H. Fisher, Bard College at Simon’s Rock Chair Emerita, and parent of a Simon’s Rock graduate. “I truly believe that the new Massena campus is the beginning of a brighter, more secure future for Simon’s Rock.”

Students will be given individual consultation on the move and what it means for their course of study. For students who do not wish to relocate to the Massena Campus, Simon’s Rock is working with partner institutions in Massachusetts for transfer pathways.

For more information on the relocation and the future of the Great Barrington site, please visit simons-rock.edu/announcement.

Media, please contact Liz Benjamin: [email protected], 518-424-0356.

About Simon's Rock
Bard College at Simon’s Rock is the only college in the country specifically designed for highly motivated students ready to enter college after the 10th or 11th grade. Simon’s Rock offers a challenging program in the liberal arts and sciences, taught exclusively in small seminars by supportive, highly trained faculty, who are leading scholars in their fields. The College grants degrees in more than 35 majors. The Princeton Review’s Best 380 Colleges rates academics at Simon’s Rock higher than Harvard and Princeton.

Bard Academy at Simon’s Rock is the nation’s first two-year boarding and day program designed to prepare 9th and 10th graders to start college early. A student entering Bard Academy as a high school freshman will earn an Associate of Arts degree from Bard College at Simon’s Rock after only four years and a Bachelor of Arts degree after only six years. The Academy curriculum is designed and taught by students’ future college professors who are leading scholars in their fields.

For more information, visit simons-rock.edu, bardacademy.simons-rock.edu, and bqlp.simons-rock.edu.

About Bard College
Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year, residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place estate, Bard’s campus consists of nearly 1,200 parklike acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in more than 40 academic programs; graduate degrees in 13 programs; eight early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 164-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal arts education. The undergraduate program at our main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.

This event was last updated on 11-19-2024

Back to Top