Academy at Penguin Hall to Bring Girls-Only High School to North of Boston

By ADAM SWIFT (Patch Staff)

WILMINGTON, MA - For years, there has been talk of opening an all-girls prep school north of Boston that would provide the same educational opportunities as the all-boys St. John’s Prep in Danvers.

This September, all that talk will finally become a reality.

A new all-girls independent college preparatory secondary school is opening at Penguin Hall, an elaborate 1920s estate in Wenham.

The Academy at Penguin Hall is set to launch with an incoming class in the fall of 2016 and will serve young women in grades 9-12 from over 40 communities.

The first year will see 100 girls across the four grades at the school as it ramps up to eventually serve 150 girls per grade.

The prospect of opening the Academy at Penguin Hall became a reality when Mullen Advertising put the Mullen Hall property on the real estate market last June, according to Molly Martins, one of the founders and who will serve as the first president of The Academy at Penguin Hall.

“We are thrilled to offer a unique educational opportunity to young women that has not been available, until now,” said Martins.

Martins brings her extensive experience as a higher-education business professional to help launch and to oversee the administration of the new all-girls school to open this year at Penguin Hall.

“Our students will thrive within a joyful, creative and supportive community that nurtures and supports them,” she said.

The academy is currently taking applications and holding interviews for girls from 40 communities across the North Shore and from communities north of Boston. In addition, the school will be welcoming students from Nazareth Academy in Wakefield, which is closing in June.

The mission of The Academy at Penguin Hall is to educate, enlighten, and empower young women to live and to lead exemplary lives, according to Martins. The new private school is a college preparatory secondary school for young women, rooted in the Catholic tradition of education committed to developing the whole person – intellectually, physically, spiritually, socially and creatively, she said.

Although the school is a new venture, Martins said the response has already been great from the community, local businesses, and potential students and their parents.

The curriculum at The Academy at Penguin Hall is focused on six core areas of development: Academics, Arts, Athletics, Community, Spiritual Life and Service. Students at The Academy will be able to select from a variety of signature programs ranging from entrepreneurship to computer science that encourage them to discover and delve more deeply into their interests.

Martins said the academy will be partnering with nearby Gordon College to take advantage of their athletic facilites for the athletic program.

The academy is also looking to partner with local businesses to provide internship opportunities for the students.

Tuition at the school will be $22,000 per year. The school has a website which has more information about the application process for both students and teachers for the 2016-17 school year.

The academy will be on a 50-acre campus with over 105,000 square feet of space. Penguin Hall has a rich history, built in 1929 by Ruby Boyer Miller, to serving as the educational home and residence as a Novitiate for the Sisters of Notre Dame, and most recently as the home of Mullen Advertising.

An open house at the academy is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 28 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Academy at Penguin Hall at 36 Essex Street in Wenham.

Photos courtesy the Academy at Penguin Hall.