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Uncommon Community

Uncommon Curiosity

Uncommon Opportunity

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

Hanna-Gialil-2

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

aritra-ghosh-thumb

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

Melissa Glenn Haber teaching

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

Chloe-Li-home-thumb

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

Earth-Day-assembly

Commonwealth students have a reputation for asking thoughtful, probing questions, whether in class or in the hallway with friends in between periods. On April 3, 2025, Commonwealth’s first Earth Day Assembly afforded students the opportunity to discuss some of the most complex and nuanced questions they will tackle in their lifetimes: Who or what is responsible for climate change? What can be done about it? What can I do about it?

Why I Made It: “only when the clock stops…”

In the fall of 2023, I approached Mr. Hodgkins, our Director of Music, about writing a piece for the Commonwealth Chorale.

Usually, when I write a piece, the music comes first and the title comes later. But this was different. The only thing I ever knew for certain was the title. It comes from a phrase I overheard at a concert hall in Cambridge: “only when the clock stops does time come to life.”

Wondering if it was nothing but a clever philosophical conjecture made by an intellectual concertgoer, I looked up the phrase. I was wrong; it came from William Faulkner’s 1929 novel, The Sound and the Fury.

So I decided to read it. It was one of those books where I didn’t understand a single thing. You could have asked me “what happened?” two days into reading it, and I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. But I did notice one thing: Faulkner’s narrator repeats himself—a lot. Identical pieces of description, word for word, syntax for syntax, would come back again and again, phrases like “Caddy smelled like trees in the rain” or “I could hear the bright, smooth shapes” or “I’m not going to mind you” or “I wasn’t crying, but I couldn’t stop.” From those repeated phrases, I began my work on “only when the clock stops...”

Meet Commonwealth Faculty: Michael Samblas, English Teacher

Commonwealth students and alumni/ae consistently—and overwhelmingly!—praise our teachers for being undeniably, unabashedly enthusiastic about their subject material, whether that be differential calculus, photography, neuroscience, ancient history, or anything in between. For Michael Samblas, his life-long love of literature not only colors his English 10 and Dive In classes, but bubbles over into lunchtime and after-school activities, where he leads similarly enthusiastic students in conversations about Caribbean literature and hosts movie screenings to augment lessons on beloved classics like Frankenstein. Read on to learn more about this Miami native and discover a few more of his passions.            

The Missing Link

The United States produces more than enough food to feed all of its citizens. The longstanding myth of scarcity is quite simply that: a myth. But if this is the case, why does food insecurity persist?

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), as of 2023, more than thirteen percent of American households—and thirty percent of Massachusetts residents—were food insecure, which means they lacked consistent resources to obtain nutritious, affordable food and were often forced to make tradeoffs between buying food and paying for other necessities such as housing, transportation, and medication. Food-insecure households are everywhere, in every community, including those perceived to be affluent.

Rachel Albert ’93, Executive Director at Food Link, a food-rescue nonprofit in Arlington, Massachusetts, explains that food insecurity is the inevitable outcome of economic and social policy decisions. “We talk about food insecurity as its own issue,” she says. “And I think that makes it a little more palatable, and it also makes it an issue that can be more unifying across political lines. But the reality is, if you’re going to trace its causes, it’s all economic,” referring to the deregulation, wealth inequality, low wages, and frayed social safety net at its root. “The bottom line is that food insecurity is no mystery to anyone. And the government has left the nonprofit sector to pick up the pieces.”

At Commonwealth, we’re looking for inquisitive, driven, and creative students from a wide range of backgrounds. We encourage you to visit us, talk with teachers and students, and see if Commonwealth is right for you.