Talk to admission
Concord, MA
Talk to admission
COED, AGE THREE THROUGH GRADE 3 · CONCORD, MA
Known by name from the year your child turns three.
Fourteen children in a class. Visual art, theater, and music every single week for every single student. Morning clubs from 7:30 a.m. and care until 5:30 p.m. All on thirty acres in Concord, at a tuition thousands below comparable independent schools.
IS YOUR CHILD STRUGGLING TO READ?
We build curiosity, confidence, and critical skills—and instill in each student a lifelong love of learning.
14
AVG CLASS SIZE, LOWER SCHOOL
Age 3
WHEN YOUR CHILD CAN START
60+
CLUBS AND ACTIVITIES
7:30–5:30
CARE AVAILABLE
1928
Founded
Avg Class Size, Lower School
When Your Child Can Start
Clubs and Activities
Care Available
Founded
Why Families Choose Nashoba Brooks
Small enough that your child is never a face in the crowd. Big enough that you never have to choose.
Four things here that you will not find assembled this way anywhere nearby.
One community from age three.
Preschool at three, a new Transitional Kindergarten, then Kindergarten through Grade 3 on the same thirty acres with the same teachers who already know your child. Not a preschool, then an elementary school, reassembled from scratch each time.
Fourteen in a class.
Not a target, an average. Your child's teacher can tell you what they were stuck on last Tuesday and what finally made it click.
Arts and public speaking are required, not optional.
Visual art, theater, and music for every student, every week, Preschool through Grade 8. Not a club to sign up for. Not the first thing cut when the schedule gets tight.
Built for how working families actually live.
Morning clubs from 7:30 a.m., care until 5:30 p.m., and more than sixty clubs and activities. You should not have to build a second schedule around the school day.
“My daughter is in Kindergarten and my son is just starting Preschool. I myself am an alumna of the school, and I can't be more thrilled with Nashoba Brooks. The faculty and staff are truly amazing. The school does a great job of meeting each child where they are in their learning journey, and not just providing them with a superior education, but instilling them with a love, curiosity and confidence to continue to keep learning throughout their life. The community is welcoming and incredibly supportive.”
"Both of my children go here, as did I many years ago. My children love going to school in the morning."
Nashoba Brooks alum and current parent
HOW WE COMPARE
The comparison you are already making.
You are looking at more than one school. So here is the honest version, with our own numbers next to everyone else's.
We have left in the row we lose.
| Nashoba Brooks | Other independent schools nearby | Concord Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children can start at | Age 3 | Usually age 4 | Integrated Preschool, lottery, Concord residents only |
| Average class size | 14 | Varies by school | [[CONFIRM: Concord Public elementary average class size]] |
| Visual art, theater, and music every week | Required, every student | Varies by school | Varies by school and year |
| Public speaking for every student | Yes | Varies by school | Varies by school |
| Care from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. | Yes | Varies by school | Varies by school |
| One continuous community from age 3 | Yes | Most begin at PreK or JK | No, three separate schools |
| Tuition | Thousands per year less than comparable independent schools, with assistance for about 22% of families | Higher | Free |
Every figure here is either from our own records or published by the school in question.
Concord's public schools are genuinely excellent and genuinely free, and we say so below.
THE HONEST COMPARISON
Concord's schools are excellent. We are built for a specific kid.
We are not going to tell you we beat the public schools on test scores. We do not, and Concord-Carlisle was named the number one STEM-focused high school in Massachusetts. About twenty percent of our own graduates go there on purpose.
Your child is one of fourteen.
Not one of twenty-five. That is not a philosophy, it is a class list, and it is the difference between a teacher who knows how your child is doing and a teacher who knows how your child is scoring.
Visual art, theater, music, and public speaking are required, not elected.
Every student, every week, Preschool through Grade 8. Not a club to sign up for, and not the class that gets cut when the budget vote goes the wrong way.
One community from age three.
Not a preschool, then an elementary school, then a middle school, reassembled from scratch each time, with a new set of
adults learning your child from zero every few years.
A place for a child who could get lost in a bigger room.
Some children do fine in a class of twenty-five. Some go quiet in one. You already know which one
you have.
If your child is the one who goes quiet when the room gets big,
that is the difference you are paying for. Not better scores. A different room..
If your child is the one who goes quiet when the room gets big,
that is the difference you are paying for. Not better scores. A different room.
“I am the product of public schools and never planned to send our kids to private school. When we realized our daughter would do better with a smaller class for kindergarten to solidify her reading basics (10 in each kindergarten), we decided to visit the school. What they do here is truly special. It is not the image of a New England private school many have. Teachers are warm, welcoming, happy, energized and creative. Kids are curious, active, joyful, getting muddy. There are no starched uniforms. We knew it was the right environment for her, for our son, and for our family. An adjustment for me, but so worth it.
Zero regrets. Go visit!”
Nashoba Brooks parent, both children now in college
The Question Every Parent Asks
Will "small" actually mean less?
It's the quiet worry behind every small-school tour: fewer kids, fewer opportunities, fewer challenges.
At Nashoba Brooks, small is the reason she gets more of all three — not less.
60+
clubs and activities, from morning clubs at 7:30 a.m. through care until 5:30 p.m.
30
acres of fields, woods, and nature trails, plus two gymnasiums and a renovated fitness center. Recess is never an afterthought here.
100%
of students have visual art, theater, and music built into the schedule every week. Not a select few. Every single one.
“We are a very academic family and wanted nothing but the best for our daughter. We found it at Nashoba Brooks. This is a school with a creative, engaged faculty that embraces academics with a sense of genuine enthusiasm and depth of instruction. She was already a very strong student so we did not expect to see much academic improvement, but the incredible faculty found a way to make her an even better student.”
Nashoba Brooks parent
Movement & The Arts
Your child does not have to choose between the stage and the field.
Every student gets both, built into the regular week, not bolted on as extras.
We have built our schedule around a simple fact: children do not learn best sitting still all day. Physical education happens up to three times a week across our thirty-acre campus, the fields, the trails, and our newly renovated fitness center, on top of scheduled recess breaks throughout the day.
The arts get the same weekly commitment as math. Visual art, theater, and music, for every student, in every grade. Our drama program runs through the academic curriculum from Grade 3 up, so what your child works on onstage is the same voice they use in a classroom, in an interview, and in front of a room of adults. And they get off campus: overnight trips run from the woods of Maine to the Connecticut coast to historic American cities for our older students.
“For five years, our daughter has loved going to school. The teachers know her so well. They have delivered a curriculum that has her not only excited about her academics, but has her learning skills from a very young age that will serve her well for the rest of her life: thinking critically, being open minded, advocating for herself, giving and receiving feedback, speaking in public, and being organized.”
Nashoba Brooks parent
AND THEN WHAT
What happens after Grade 3.
For girls: five more years, right here.
Our Middle School starts in Grade 4, two years earlier than most schools nearby, and from Grade 4 it is all girls. She gets five years to grow into a leader instead of three, in a building where every team captain, every lead in the play, and every kid running the robotics table is a girl.
For boys: the right next school, and we help you find it.
Our boys move on after Grade 3 to a school built for the next stage, most often The Fenn School, which begins in Grade 4 and with whom we share transportation and a lot of families. This is a planned path, not a door closing. We know these schools, we know their admission teams, and helping your son land in the right one is part of what you are enrolling in.
Ask before you rule us out.
We are thousands of dollars a year less than comparable independent schools nearby. Not a little less. Thousands.
We also commit more than $1.2 million in financial assistance every year, to about twenty-two percent of our families. And from 2022 to 2024 we lowered tuition five percent a year, three years running, through our reVision Tuition Plan, because we would rather stay reachable than look impressive.
If cost is the reason you have not called, that is exactly the conversation to have with us first.
Tell us where you are and we will be straight with you about what it would take.
One incoming Grade 4 student receives our STEAM Scholarship: full tuition, for five years.
Applications close [[CONFIRM: STEAM Scholarship deadline]]. Ask us about it on your visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions parents ask us most.
Concord's public schools are excellent and free. Why would we pay?
They are excellent, and for a lot of kids they are exactly right. About twenty percent of our own Grade 8 girls choose Concord-Carlisle. We are built for a specific kid: the one who could get lost in a class of twenty-five, or who needs a smaller room to find their voice. Fourteen to a class, all girls from Grade 4, and arts and public speaking required for everyone. That is the difference you are paying for, not better test scores.
What does it cost, and is financial assistance realistic?
We are thousands of dollars a year less than comparable independent schools nearby, and tuition varies by grade and, in Preschool, by how many days a week your child attends. We commit more than $1.2 million a year in assistance to about twenty-two percent of our families, and we lowered tuition five percent a year from 2022 to 2024. One incoming Grade 4 student also receives full tuition for five years through our STEAM Scholarship. Ask us for the current tuition schedule and we will send it the same day.
Why is Preschool through Grade 3 coed but Grades 4 to 8 all girls?
Because the years from about age nine on are when a lot of girls start holding back, and an all-girls classroom is the most effective thing we know of to keep that from happening. Younger children benefit from a coed community. Older girls benefit from a room where every hand that goes up is a girl's.
What happens to boys after Grade 3?
They move on to a school built for the next stage, most often The Fenn School, which starts in Grade 4 and with whom we share transportation and many families. This is a planned path, not a door closing. We help you find the right next school for him.
Do you support students who learn differently?
We know every student as an individual and we provide individualized support, including school-recommended tutoring at a discount for families receiving aid. We are also honest about what we are not: we are not a special education school, and we do not build a custom curriculum for each student. If your child needs more than that, tell us on the first call. We would rather help you find the right school than be the wrong one.
Do you offer after-school care?
Yes. Morning clubs start at 7:30 a.m. and care runs until 5:30 p.m., with more than sixty clubs and activities across the week. Tell us your actual schedule on your visit and we will walk you through what a normal Tuesday looks like for a family like yours.
Is transportation available?
[[CONFIRM: transportation answer, carry over from current page]]
Is 275 students too small?
[[CONFIRM: carry over the existing answer from the current page, and reconcile the enrollment number against the school's own current figure]]
When are your deadlines?
Applications are due [[CONFIRM: regular deadline]], with decisions [[CONFIRM: regular decision date]]. If you are a Nashoba Brooks alum, an employee family, or already have a child here, there is an earlier round with a [[CONFIRM: early deadline]] deadline and [[CONFIRM: early decision date]] decisions. After those dates we admit on a rolling basis when space allows.