West Campus Dorm Arrives at Deerfield by 2027

AARON HAN/DEERFIELD SCROLL

The Board of Trustees recently approved Deerfield Academy to proceed with the construction of the West Campus Dormitory during their Trustees Meeting in January. The dormitory will open in the first week of August 2027 as the Academy’s newest dorm. It will be adjacent to Barton, providing rooms for 38 girls, four faculty apartments, and serving as a connector between Barton and the north playing fields on campus. 

Chief Financial Officer Matt Sheehy explained that the West dorm was “built as a part of the ten-year vision of projects,” which included the Simmons dormitory and the Brick Dining Hall. A girls’ dorm was part of that development plan as “the most recent build for new dorms has been boy dorms. Having the new dorm come gives the school more flexibility for admissions, for future residential life priorities,” said Associate Head of School for Student Life Amie Creagh. 

The initiative for the new dorm also included increasing connections between students and faculty. Mr. Sheehy explained, “We have a desire to have more faculty living [in proximity] to students. This dorm will add four faculty apartments to the center of campus.” 

Deerfield is currently in the bidding phase of the process and working with the Fontaine Brothers Inc., with whom Deerfield collaborated for the construction of Simmons and the Brick Dining Hall. The school has begun initial construction work this summer and will begin removing the Temporary Dining Hall concrete mound once students leave for Spring Break. 

Mr. Sheehy expressed excitement about the West dorm completing the twins-and-quads model of Deerfield. “Barton is the only dorm without a twin,” he said. “That commitment to [our] residential program has been very successful — [the West dorm] completes that.” 

The third-floor common room will have vaulted ceilings, and residents will be able to see the river from the main entryway, as the school will clear the obstructing landscape. Ms. Creagh elaborated on these features, saying that “[one] enter[s] the West dorm from east to the west, … which I think will be so nice… You can leave the dorm out onto that road and out down to the river.”  

The new addition to the campus will also bring challenges as Mr. Sheehy said that “there will be people who think it's fabulous and people who lament the change.”

With the completion of the West dorm, Deerfield will become a full-boarding school. This change to the Academy has not been officially announced, as the school just received approval. Mr. Sheehy explained that “we want to be careful about talking about a project until we get approval to do it.” Ms. Creagh shared, “We will probably start communicating [about] more details this [new dorm] this coming summer when housing goes out.”

The following redistribution of upperclassmen and underclassmen dorm specifics still remains in discussion. Ms. Creagh said, “We’re probably gonna preserve that flexibility to make sure that we have a holistic form at residential life on campus.” 

Although the administration will determine the logistics of this dorm, the school aims to include student voices and feedback. “We will probably have a student advisory group that helps us make some decisions about residential life and its implications,” Ms. Creagh said. 

The future culture of the West dorm will also be up to the students. “The culture of that dorm is made largely by the people who live there, the students and the faculty. Each dorm has its idiosyncratic vibe, I would say,” Ms. Creagh explained. Regardless, Ms. Creagh continued that “across all dorms, we just want to ensure that it is a welcoming, comfortable, lively, pleasant place for students and faculty to live.” 

By 2027, West Campus Dorm will complete the twins-and-quads model at Deerfield Academy and mark the transition to a full-boarding school. Its proximity to the river and the inclusion of more faculty in the center of campus are additions that the Academy looks forward to bringing to campus.