Opening Fall 2025
The J.S. Bryant School, nestled in the foothills of the Berkshires, will be where students can be their most authentic selves with curiosity & passion through learning & wellness.
This private, not-for-profit therapeutic high school will be with and for LGBTQ+ high school students in grades 9th through 12th. Authentic learning experiences will be offered through the arts, farming, and project-based learning, integrating wellness in a gender-affirming and LGBTQ+ supportive environment. All teaching and wellness staff will have lived-experience and/or professional training in working with the LBGTQ+ teen community and their families. Students will graduate from this day school, career-ready or college-ready.
The J.S Bryant School is committed to and accountable for creating a high quality and culturally sensitive learning and caring school. This 12-month day school is an approved private school of the Massachusetts Central Berkshire Regional School District. All learning strategies and outcomes will meet the Massachusetts learning standards for academic excellence. Full admissions information for the J.S. Bryant School will be posted Fall 2024.
Co-Designing the J.S. Bryant School
We have sat on floors, at picnic tables, on porches and under trees. We have met with over 70 teenagers at local camps in Massachusetts, from the Berkshires to north of Boston. And to all of those teens we asked, “Where do you feel your most authentic self?” We wanted to learn where, when, and by whom do they feel comfortable, affirmed, and heard. Our team explored these thoughts more deeply through co-design with these teens. We asked: what could the queer high school of the future be where students can be their most authentic selves? And so with energy, creativity, and a bag of art supplies, teams of 2-3 students co-designed gender-affirming spaces and programs. They described the agency and autonomy learners need. They described outdoor, integrative, project-based learning. They insisted on strong and flexible wellness programs. We are grateful for what we have already learned from these teen co-designers. As our work continues, we are hopeful that the seeds of these ideas can help the J.S. Bryant School grow into the future.
The Name of Our School
The J.S. Bryant School is named after the youngest daughter of the Berkshire Poet and conservationist, William Cullen Bryant. He once owned what is now our school’s farming campus. In 1875, Bryant gave this farm to his oldest daughter, Fanny Bryant Godwin. But it is his youngest daughter, Julia Sands Bryant, we name the school after. She supported her father, Williman Cullen Bryant in his business affairs and managing his home for years, and nursed him until the end of his life. Once he passed away, Julia Sands left the country, and moved to Paris where she lived with her same-sex partner, Anna Fairchild for the last 29 years of her life.
So we name this school after Julia Sands Bryant because we hope that someday our children will not have to move away from their families, out of the state, out of the country to be who they want to be, and to be with who they love.
J.S. Bryant is a private 501(c)3 not-for-profit charitable organization.
Your donations are tax-deductible.