Oliverian School opened its doors in September of 2004, when a grand total of six students arrived in our beautiful pastoral valley in Pike, New Hampshire. The school's original mission - which still resonates in everything we do - was to educate students who, despite experiencing difficulties, wanted to succeed in a college preparatory setting. Our founders envisioned a school that would inspire and support students as they prepared to succeed in a complex, intricate, and ever-changing world. The founding ethos of Oliverian was perhaps most potently captured by one particular phrase in that original mission: “zest for living." This "zest" was embodied by a focus on outdoor adventure, stewardship of land and community, and self-expression through the arts. It now resonates with our core values of joy and discomfort, and is experienced through our ongoing commitment to those pillars of the Oliverian experience: adventure, stewardship, and the arts.
Over our 20 years of existence, that zest for living has taken many different forms. Our students used to wake up early to do cow chores; now they tend our gardens, fruit trees, and our flock of lively laying hens. Oliverian travel classes have visited Ghana, Ecuador, Peru, Honduras, Italy, and Iceland, among many other locations. Our students have rock-climbed, ice-climbed, camped, hiked, caved, paddled, skied, snowshoed, skated, and biked all over New Hampshire. Our students have served our local community through volunteer work at nursing homes, elementary schools, teen programs, animal shelters, and farms. We have delivered wood harvested from our land to families in need, and baked pies for the local food shelf at Thanksgiving time. Most importantly, through doing all of these things, our students have built confidence and competence, a sense of purpose and belonging, have experienced joy and demonstrated determination and resilience in the face of discomfort.
Many things have changed in these 20 years. Our campus expanded with the acquisition of East Campus in 2007, and a number of small expansions since. Founding Head of School, Barclay Mackinnon, served in that role until 2009, when Randy Richardson became the second Head of School. He was followed by Will Laughlin in 2014, and I had the enormous privilege of stepping into the role in 2021. Buildings have been repurposed to serve our students' needs: what once was a gym was converted into our beloved student center and library; Dargie, once a dorm, now serves as our admission building. Much has remained unchanged: community meeting in the Meeting House, with its majestic view of Mt. Moosilauke; our cozy and bustling academic building; our small, homey dorms staffed by full-time dorm parents; traditions like all-school ski day and our deeply personal graduation ceremonies. Most importantly, Oliverian remains a place where students experience transformational relationships with exceptional, caring adults.
As we embark on our next 20 years, we celebrate all of you, near and far, who are already part of the Oliverian community. We look forward with excitement to the many students - and their families - who we have yet to meet, but who will find their way to us here in Pike, New Hampshire. Young people in need of community and belonging, searching for self and purpose, looking for a place to find their place. We will be here, ready to embrace them with acceptance and love, to challenge them to grow, to share in all the gritty and joyful experiences of community life - just as we've been doing for 20 years.
With gratitude,
Abby Hood
Head of School
