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The Science and Art of Brimmer
Upper School
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very Upper School student at Brimmer is heading into a future full of possibilities. New careers, new technologies, new problems in need of solutions, and opportunities we can’t yet envision are on the horizon. Our graduates will be ready. We empower our students to weave ideas across subjects and disciplines, equipping them with the skills needed to work together to
solve real-world problems and to lead with confidence and empathy. The moment you step on campus, you can feel it: this is a place where curious students and passionate educators come together to explore, discover, and create. We work at the intersection of imagination and inquiry, where unexpected connections spark the best ideas, and innovation follows naturally.
Built for What’s Next
Experience Brimmer Through Our Lens Our Instagram captures dynamic moments on campus—and beyond! Get to know us, one post at a time!
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That’s the Science and Art of Brimmer.
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I love how much our teachers bring what we’re passionate about into what we’re learning. It makes even the most challenging course engaging and meaningful.” Grade 10 student
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Upper School
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Character Is Core to Our Curriculum
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trong character and strong academic achievement are deeply connected, but the values that help our students thrive together in the classroom also shape how they move through the world. Brimmer's five Core Values are Respect, Responsibility, Kindness, Honesty, and Equity. They form the moral and emotional foundation of our school community, guiding how our students, faculty, and staff treat one another and giving us all meaningful shared language to understand and navigate our world with confidence and compassion. In a world where algorithms take on increasing amounts of composition, calculation, and analysis, our students will bring these values to their lives, work, and communities: the judgment to navigate what's unclear, the compassion to show up for others, and the integrity to do what's right when no one is watching. These are the qualities that will set them apart— wherever their future takes them, To learn more about how into careers that don’t exist yet.
the Core Values shape our campus culture, scan here.
In the Upper School, especially, our students are partnering with us in finding ways to live out our values, whether through community service or on-campus initiatives that reflect what we care about. We want to support all their best instincts as exceptional young people.” Grade 11 teacher
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Upper School Community + Culture
Where Everyone Is In
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ur Upper School is a place where students speak up, step up, and make the world around them a better place. We believe in their voices, and we encourage them to be their best selves. Our students grow into strong problem solvers and critical thinkers: confident communicators and people of character who aren’t afraid to voice a difficult opinion, take on a leadership role, or advocate for what they believe in.
y urne o j l a person t their academic and Because Brimmer is small by design, everyone belongs, and friendships form across classes, interests, and activities. Our students run publications, lead organizations, and shape the culture of the school itself, using their voices for the good of the community. The result? An amazing community of students—and alumni out in the world—defined by their curiosity, capability, and character.
Your Corner
Always There for You Each Upper School student is paired with a trusted Brimmer adult to serve as their advisor. Advisors work with students to set and track annual goals and oversee the educational performance of their advisees throughout the school year. They also meet with parents to review each student’s academic, social-emotional, and leadership progress.
To learn more about DEIB at Brimmer, scan here.
Celebrating What Makes Our Community Great Brimmer’s diverse community of races, ethnicities, family structures, identities, religions, and countries of origin is one of our greatest strengths. We actively support this through student-led affinity groups, speakers, workshops, and attendance at local and national DEIB conferences focused on identity, equity, and leadership.
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The faculty are incredibly dedicated and hardworking. They love our students, and they are deeply committed to their success every single day. They are our greatest asset and our greatest differentiator, and our students leave this place having felt loved, encouraged, and seen.” Assistant Head of Academic Affairs
Your Curiosity
Has Met Its Match
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he Upper School is where Brimmer’s signature approach to academics culminates in an immersive, wideranging, and deeply integrated array of offerings. Our faculty-designed curriculum empowers our students to become problem solvers, critical thinkers, and effective communicators who will go on to make a profound difference in the world. And our faculty are just as eager to learn alongside them as they are to teach.
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Upper School Academics
Curation, Composition, and Calculation
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e offer a college-like breadth of courses, including the opportunity to go deep through specialized diploma programs in Creative Arts, STEAM, and Global Studies. These programs fuel the passion our students feel for what they love and help them build the kind of focused, distinctive profile that helps them stand out in the college admissions process. Our faculty develops courses inspired by our students’ ideas, giving them even more agency in their own education—and close faculty-student relationships mean that every student’s path is supported, personalized, and never lost in the shuffle.
Signature Academic Programs • The Honors Program offers an intellectual extension beyond standard coursework, emphasizing creative problem-solving, independent thinking, and research skills. • The University of Pennsylvaniadeveloped Social Innovators Program allows students to learn about entrepreneurship and experience it firsthand while earning a Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship. • The Scholar Society recognizes twelfth graders who have maintained a cumulative weighted GPA of 3.66 or higher and are actively contributing to School life. Members are selected by a vote of the Scholar Committee, composed of faculty and administrators, based
on their academic achievement, contributions to Brimmer, and how they embody our Core Values. • In their senior year, students complete a Twelfth Grade Author Study and Thesis Defense. It begins with deep independent research on a single author, writing a thesis that draws on both primary and secondary sources. Students then present and defend their thesis before a panel of four faculty members and two fellow students in a 20-minute presentation, followed by a Q&A. • During the final four weeks of the second semester through the Twelfth Grade Project, seniors work 25 hours a week under the direction of an on-site supervisor on an independent project or internship in a field of personal interest.
All in a Day’s Work Academic Support: Keeping Everyone on Track to Success These integrated resources ensure that every student has the support they need to stay on track and overcome any academic challenges or hurdles. The Library Learning Commons is a flexible space for research, independent study, collaboration, and academic support. The Writing Center, staffed by humanities faculty, supports students at every stage of the writing process. The Math Lab offers daily dropin support with a dedicated Math Specialist who coordinates directly with classroom teachers.
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The Learning Center provides faculty-staffed academic support, plus help with organization and study skills, during free periods and study halls. Peer Tutoring gives students the option of student-led support across subjects. Every student has a Faculty Advisor who meets with them regularly to track progress, set goals, and connect with families. A dedicated Upper School Support Team, led by the Division Head and including the School Counselor, Director of Academic Services, Dean of Students, and School Nurse, ensures no student falls through the cracks.
17 Advanced Placement (AP) courses available
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Upper School STEAM
Where the Cutting Edge Is Just the Beginning
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Upper School STEAM
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t Brimmer, quantitative and scientific thinking are interwoven disciplines that build on each other across four years. Our math courses develop strong problem-solving and reasoning skills from Algebra through AP Calculus and beyond. Our science courses emphasize curiosity, experimentation, and evidencebased thinking, with hands-on lab work at every level. Integrated STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) courses bring it all together,
challenging students to design, build, and innovate across disciplines. The Technology program prepares students to use digital tools thoughtfully and responsibly, from coding and computer science to AI and digital fabrication. The Makerspace offers electives where students can use laser cutters, a circuit board printer, and a CNC mill to bring their ideas to life.
Our STEAM students leave with an engineer’s toolkit. They can break down a problem into its constituent parts, do the troubleshooting, explore options, and then solve the problem. It doesn’t matter whether that’s a science problem or a math problem or even a social problem. They are rigorous, practical, and ready.” Director of STEAM
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Upper School STEAM
8 The STEAM Diploma Program The STEAM Diploma is for students who are equally at home in a lab and a studio, drawn to both data and sharing the story that data tells. Our students go deep across science, technology, engineering, art, and math—not as separate subjects but as one connected way of seeing the world. Students complete an internship, often between junior and senior year, with support from Brimmer’s extensive community network. This experience
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helps them develop essential skills like résumé writing, interviewing, and networking. We also welcome guest speakers who cover topics such as product development, securing patents, and lessons from start-up culture. This hands-on approach prepares students for real-world innovation. The program culminates in the yearlong STEAM Lab course, where students design, create, and sell products, gaining entrepreneurial experience.
Concentrations in the STEAM Diploma Biomedical + Life Sciences Architectural + Industrial Design Technology + Robotics Engineering + Physical Sciences
dedicated STEAM study and exploration spaces, including a full-service Digital Media Center
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Upper School Humanities
humanities AP courses
A Foundation of Critical Thinking
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humanities courses offered across disciplines
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ur humanities curriculum combines literature, historical inquiry, research, and evidence-based argument, with an emphasis on analyzing complex ideas and expressing thoughts clearly. We invite students to wrestle with enduring questions about culture, identity, power, and change. Our World Languages courses deepen that foundation, developing communication skills and a diverse cultural understanding that prepares students to engage thoughtfully with people and ideas beyond their own experience. The Honors Program offers students who want to go deeper an additional layer of challenge and independence.
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Upper School Humanities
From the earliest years at Brimmer, we focus on helping our students become global citizens who have a natural curiosity about the world around them. The Global Studies Diploma is the ultimate culmination of that work.” Grade 12 teacher
The Global Studies Diploma Program The Global Studies Diploma is for students who want to understand the world around them more deeply—learners who follow the news with genuine curiosity, feel at home across cultures, and value what it means to be a thoughtful global citizen. This program prepares students to engage thoughtfully with international affairs, world cultures, and complex global challenges. Throughout the program, students also earn points in three key categories: Global Action, Cultural Engagement, and Student Choice. Concentrations (students choose a major and a minor) • Economics • Journalism • Political Science and History • Science • World Languages
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Upper School Creative Arts
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t Brimmer, the arts are an essential element in a great education. Our students work across visual arts, theater, media arts, and music to build their skills and craft while also learning to reflect on and take risks with their creative work.
Moving from Passion
Discover Your Canvas Our acclaimed Visual Arts program empowers students to hone their artistic skills and expression through electives in drawing and painting, fashion design, sculpture, ceramics, and photography, including AP Arts coursework. We also welcome guest artists to lead master classes in specific techniques and disciplines.
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Concentrations • 3-D Arts • Digital Cinema • Music Performance • Musical Theater • Photography • Studio Arts • Theater
Finding Your Spotlight Three major productions anchor the year: a Fall Play, a Winter Musical, and student-directed works in the spring. Students experience the excitement of performing for a live audience in the Ruth Corkin Theatre, a professional 300-seat venue with a fully equipped light and sound room. These productions involve students at every level: acting, directing, designing costumes, and running the technical boards.
In Perfect Harmony Greenline, Brimmer’s Upper School choral ensemble, performs throughout the year in a wide range of styles, including at external festivals. The Gator Scales, the instrumental ensemble, performs at concerts and school events throughout the year and for the public at The Street in Chestnut Hill. Additional ensembles spanning jazz, blues, classical, and rock round out a rich musical life on campus. brimmer.org 20|21
Upper School Creative Arts Diploma Program
creative arts courses offered across disciplines
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The Creative Arts Diploma Program (CAP) CAP is for passionate student artists who are committed to developing their craft and pursuing it at the highest level. Over a minimum of two years, students work alongside faculty mentors, engage with Boston’s vibrant and diverse arts community, and develop a body of work that reflects their unique voice and vision. The program culminates in CAParet in the spring: a milestone event that showcases each student’s growth as an artist to the Brimmer community. CAP graduates earn a specialized diploma that sets them apart in the college admissions process.
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Upper School Winterim
Learning Is a Journey
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interim is one of the most anticipated experiences in the Upper School: a biennial program that takes students off the campus and into the world, with purpose, preparation, and a bold sense of adventure.
What sets Winterim apart from travel opportunities at other schools is what happens before we go. Before students ever board a plane, they research their destination, build connections with their travel group, and ground the journey in a real academic and cultural context.
Winterim destinations across the globe
and Sometimes It’s an Adventure
Wherever You Go, You’ll Come Home Changed Our students choose from a range of international, domestic, and local programs that take place the week before March break. Every program weaves in service learning, so students return with real community service hours and a deeper sense of their own place in the world. Our students are also guided to connect their travel to subject matter they’re learning in their classes, giving them extra context to fuel their academic curiosity. For many students, Winterim is the experience they talk about for years to come: a chance to visit their international peers and see how they live and learn and a golden opportunity to make new friends and deepen the friendships they’ve already made. brimmer.org 24|25
Upper School experiential learning
Beyond the Classroom
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earning at Brimmer is an active and dynamic process, and it stretches far beyond the immediate area of our campus in multiple (very exciting!) ways.
Upper School Camp Every year, before classes begin, the entire Upper School heads to an overnight camp together. It’s two days of getting to know each other, building trust, and having fun, which sets the tone for the year ahead. Programming is student designed, making it a true community experience from the very start.
Outdoor Education Brimmer’s Outdoor Education program offers optional special activity excursions across all three seasons, from hiking and rock climbing in the fall to skiing and snowshoeing in the winter and camping and backpacking in the spring. Students develop practical wilderness skills alongside something harder to teach in a classroom: leadership, trust, and the confidence that comes from meeting a real challenge head-on.
We start each year with a two-day camp experience where we reconnect with our friends, classmates, and faculty and bond with each other doing challenges and just spending time together. It’s the perfect way to start the year.” Grade 11 student
Community Service At Brimmer, community service is woven into the fabric of Upper School life. Each student graduates having completed a required 40 hours of service, but the experience goes well beyond a checkbox. Our students develop a genuine sense of responsibility for the world around them and learn how to have an impact by doing.
• The Upper School engages in a school-wide service project each year to support a local community. We respond to both local needs and global events, often driven by students, parents, and faculty working together. Our previous projects include building bikes for children and creating snack bags for the Newton Food Pantry. • Opportunities for in-school service, like mentoring younger students, supporting events, and contributing to the daily life of the community, are available year-round. • Students who are eager to do more can join the Community Service Club and take the lead on selfinitiated projects.
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Upper School College Counseling
Finding Your Next Academic Home
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support in their applications. Our process begins in Grade 10 with an introduction to Scoir, the school’s college and career platform, and builds intentionally year by year, including a College Counseling Class and a year-round College Counseling curriculum. Parents and guardians are included throughout with monthly College Coffees, grade-specific information nights, and individual meetings with counselors. Each fall, over 85 colleges and universities visit campus to meet with students and counselors directly.
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inding the right college is one of the most exciting journeys of a student’s life… but it can be overwhelming, too. Our College Counselors get to know every student personally, working alongside them from Tenth Grade onward to build a college list that’s tailored to who they are, what they love, what their goals are, and what they envision for their future. By the time senior year arrives, students feel prepared, supported, and confident. From mastering the Common App to crafting compelling essays to walking into interviews ready to shine, our College Counseling team is with them every step of the way, cheering them on from first draft to acceptance letter. Our small counselor-to-student ratio ensures every student gets hands-on, direct
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Upper School CoCurriculars
We Are Serious About Having Fun Around Here
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e want our students to embrace every bit of opportunity they can during their time at Brimmer, and that’s why every Upper School student is expected to be an active participant in school life, both during and after school. In addition to team sports and theater (three theater productions a year), our students explore the evolving field of Robotics and take part in student-led, facultysupported clubs.
You can find the latest issue of the Gator and its archives here.
Robotics Our Robotics team takes the concepts learned in our STEAM curriculum and gets even more hands-on with this evolving area of technology, including participation in VEX educational robotics regional events. Students who participate in our after school Robotics team may even receive team sport credit for their involvement.
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organizations and opportunities to put your agency to work at Brimmer
Student-Run Clubs Students are encouraged to form and lead their own clubs based on shared interests. Recent clubs have included Model United Nations, Quiz Bowl, Robotics, Stock Market Club, Chess Club, Acoustic Music, Community Service Club, Culture Club, AAPI Club, Tea Club, and Doodle Art. Student News Site The Gator is Brimmer’s very own student-reported and student-run news site, tackling issues on campus and around the world. The editorial team aims to engage and inform the wider Brimmer community while embracing new and emerging twenty-first century communication tools. Our student journalists honor and hone time-tested journalism and reporting skills while providing a space for students to amplify their peers’ stories and share their own voices. The Gator is one of the most awarded student publications in the country, including recognition from: • Columbia Scholastic Press Association • National Scholastic Press Association • New England Scholastic Press Association • Quill and Scroll • Suffolk University Greater Boston High School Newspaper Competition • Massachusetts Scholastic Press Association
Discovering Your Voice (and Putting It to Work!) Student voice plays an important role in how the curriculum, culture, and community at Brimmer are shaped. From the classroom to the broader community, there are real, meaningful ways for every one of our students to lead and advocate for themselves and others. • The Student Senate gives students a direct role in school governance, driving initiatives and representing the student body in decisions that affect daily life. • The Judicial Board puts students at the center of upholding community standards, working alongside faculty and administrators to promote honesty, equity, and accountability. • The Gator-Aides is a peer mentoring program where Grade 11 and 12 students mentor Grade 9 students.
• The Student Athlete Leadership Training Program (SALT) explores what it means to lead a team, including how to navigate conflict, communicate clearly, and respond to challenges that captains and teammates regularly face. • The Leadership Institute holds monthly lunches where student leaders, mentors, and club members learn practical leadership skills. Students build a “Leadership Toolbox”: a set of tools for running meetings, managing people, and leading by example. • Our Director of Upper School Leadership Programs ensures that leadership development is intentional, structured, and available to every student. • Our students also participate in student-led and faculty-guided Affinity Groups that encourage students to build community around their shared cultures and experiences in the midst of our diversity. brimmer.org 30|31
Upper School Athletics
Character, Competition, and Camaraderie
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t Brimmer, Athletics are about finding the best in ourselves and one another, whether we win or lose. Our Athletic Department is dedicated to developing student athletes who excel both on and off the field, fostering a culture of competition, integrity, leadership, and personal growth. Our Upper School students are required to play at least one season of interscholastic sports. We also offer other ways to stay active, like participating in recreational offerings such as golf, fitness, skiing, or yoga.
Our teams compete in the Massachusetts Bay Independent League (MBIL), the Independent Girls Conference (IGC), and the New England Prep School Athletic Council (NEPSAC), in addition to invitational matches. We field 20 teams across three seasons and ten sports. Brimmer athletes go on to play in Division I–III programs at colleges and universities across the country.
When we head out to play, we always want to compete and be successful—but we also know that part of that success is defined by how we work together to achieve our goals and the sportsmanship we display to other teams.”
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Upper School Athletics
Recreation & Wellness Center Our 26,000-square-foot Recreation & Wellness Center provides a dynamic and dedicated home for all of our athletics, recreation, and wellness programs across all divisions, including a college-level competition court, cutting-edge workout facility, and training spaces for all of our student-athletes to become their best.
To see our teams in action and to learn more about our programs, scan here.
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Upper School apply and visit
We Can’t Wait to Meet You!
The best way to discover Brimmer is to come meet us and experience what life looks, sounds, and feels like on campus.
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can to learn more about our admissions process, schedule a campus tour, and begin your application.
If you have any questions or need any additional support to get started, we welcome you to contact our admissions team at admissions@brimmer.org.
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Brimmer At-a-Glance • 400 Total enrollment • 160 Total Upper School enrollment • 12 Average class size • 6:1 Student-faculty ratio • 125 Total faculty/staff • 11 Years average faculty “tenure” • 80% Faculty with advanced degrees • 40% Students of color/international
69 Middlesex Road Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 617-566-7462