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Commonwealth is a co-ed independent day school welcoming curious, highly motivated students in grades 9–12. Our close-knit community thrives on making meaningful intellectual and personal connections, while tapping into the opportunities surrounding our home in Boston’s Back Bay.
Meet Faculty and Students
I've never seen a school like it before, from the building to the close-knit community. I look forward to going to school everyday, as I never know what will happen next.
Hanna '25
It is humbling and exhilarating to come to work every day to a place where people are working for a common goal with such a mix of competence and humanity.
César Pérez, History and Languages Teacher
I was first interested in Commonwealth by the small class sizes and the very rigorous environment. Visiting and having a virtual class was what drew me in. I'm very happy about making the choice to come here. The classes are intriguing, to say the least. There is difficulty but nothing I can’t handle. And the opportunities, such as Project Week, are unique, and they allow us to develop our own interests.
Aritra ’25
Really exciting classrooms are where the student is part of the circuit and the electricity is jumping between them and the sources and the teacher. At the beginning of the Enlightenment unit, instead of saying, 'This is what the Enlightenment is.' We say, 'Here's Newton's laws of natural philosophy. Here's a poem about sinful bees. Here’s a little Montesquieu with a little Benjamin Franklin and a little Smith.' And then we try to figure out what they have in common.
Melissa Glenn Haber ’87, History Teacher
I was kind of shocked at how everyone talks with each other at Commonwealth. In my old school, people just stuck with their own friend groups. I thought it would be like that here—but it turned out to be exactly the opposite. I didn't expect to be able to communicate with seniors and juniors and sophomores at all. I feel really good in small communities. You feel seen.
Chloe ’27
I get a real burst of energy when I’m able to help students navigate the complexities of the research process. I feel so lucky to have such an incredible patron base of high-level readers and thinkers in our students.
Jake MacDonnell, Librarian and Registrar
You know, I was hearing about all these other schools, and they definitely had a lot to offer, but Commonwealth spoke more to me because I know they take academics seriously here, but they also care about you as a person and finding yourself.
Sumaya ’26
By the Numbers
157
students in grades 9–12
62%
self-identified students of color
$1.5 million
financial aid granted for 2023–2024
86%
teachers holding advanced degree
5:1
student-to-faculty ratio
2
all-school getaways each year
1450
average SAT composite score (Class of 2025)
Happening Now
How many academics have dreamed of their own bespoke class, a course shaped around their own niche interests: a specific historical event, an obscure artform, a technique used by a favorite poet, or anything in between. Commonwealth’s Senior Capstone program is designed to give students with such passions an opportunity to explore them in depth. This year, two seniors embarked on distinctly different yet similarly imaginative endeavors.
Milana Zivanovic ’25 let her original drawings lead her to the construction of a fictional scientific journal, encompassing literary, historical, scientific, and artistic passions. Sarin Chaimattayompol ’25, with an interest in zoning regulations, composed and designed a newspaper to document community voices and share perspectives on Boston’s changing landscape.
Read on to discover how their projects came to life this past year.
Lillian ’28 looks before she leaps—but she does leap. The result? New adventures from the classroom to the kitchen to the dance floor. “Just try,” she says. Keep reading for more wise words from this ninth grader...
During her senior speech, Ayala '25 reflected on her time at Commonwealth through the lens of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," including regaling the audience with her own "very Commonwealth" riff on the T.S. Elliot's classic.
When Felix ’27 first set foot in our building, he felt a bit like he was wandering “a maze of rooms.” While he’s (mostly) learned his way around Commonwealth’s serpentine halls, Felix has uncovered labyrinths of a much greater magnitude in rigorous classes and compelling assemblies that have opened his eyes to just how much more exploration awaits him, whether in his remaining years at Commonwealth or in life beyond our walls. Read on to get to know this tenth-grader from Cambridge and discover his favorite quality in Commonwealth teachers, why he doesn’t mind waking up early on a Friday morning, and where those pencils you left lying around went…
Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor under Franklin D. Roosevelt, felt a calling, “for Jesus’ sake,” to find a way to better the world, to shield those who could not shield themselves from the “unnecessary hazards to life,” and she spent her life answering it, writes Amanda '26 in her history research paper. Keep reading for a closer look at how Perkins' faith colored her work as a public servant.