In this section:

Philosophy and Approach

Student Life

Getting Here

Faculty Contact Information

Faculty Biographies

Message from
Barclay MacKinnon,
Head of School

An Inspiring, Supportive and Challenging Alternative

Nestled on a 1,800-acre campus in beautiful Northern New Hampshire, The Oliverian School provides an inspiring, supportive, and challenging educational alternative for students in grades 9-12. Here in the mountains of New Hampshire, in a unique school environment that combines stewardship, academics, and adventure, students who march to the beat of their own drummer will find support, inspiration, challenge, and success.

Our Mission

Our mission is to educate students, who, despite experiencing difficulties, want to transition to a college preparatory setting where they are inspired and supported as they prepare to succeed in a complex, intricate and ever-changing world. We promote and support a "zest for living" by encouraging self-exploration, spirituality, character formation and integrity, as our students learn to balance their individual needs with those of the community.

Our Students

At The Oliverian School we try to define our students by who they are, rather than by who they are not. That said, we know in the placement process it is important to clearly define the kind of student we know will succeed at Oliverian. Oliverian students typically come from all over the country and from a variety of different circumstances and traditions. The school aims to serve students who are academically capable of serious work and aspire to a college education, but who are not succeeding or have not found success in traditionally structured schools. A student with minimal learning difficulties will find success at Oliverian. Given our size, faculty can focus on the kind of 1:1 relationship that carefully paces each student, while being consistently supportive and challenging.

A student comes to Oliverian knowing they are coming to change their lives. They are imaginative and self-aware, and are struggling with a variety of adolescent and maturational issues. At the same time, they have become disillusioned with larger and more unreceptive schools. A student typically arrives at Oliverian with a desire to grow academically, psychologically, emotionally and socially. Concurrently, they are anxious and apprehensive about the challenge of honest self-assessment, as they grapple with learning to see the good in themselves, while continuing the process of self-improvement. Diverse, motivating and thought-provoking offerings at Oliverian afford possibilities for each student to build competency and character in a secure and healthy school setting. We expect each of our students to graduate feeling self-assured about the next phase of their life, and with a clearer sense of who they are and how they relate to the world around them.