Student Life
Student life at Buxton reflects a sense of family and community. Girls live in the Main House and the Gate House; the Barn is home to the boys. Roommates are assigned at the beginning of the school year. Three times a year thereafter, students choose new roommates and change rooms. Room Change keeps life at Buxton interesting and vital. Students benefit from the opportunity to live with a variety of people at every grade level, and the constant mixing-up keeps social relationships fluid and inclusive.
Faculty members live either in apartments in the dorms or with their families in houses on campus and are always available to students.
Meals are prepared by a chef trained at the New England Culinary Institute and his staff. Lunch and dinner are family style, served in the dining room of the Main House. Faculty members have assigned tables and students choose where they want to sit. Student waiters serve, bus, and clean their designated tables.
Although the dress is casual much of the time, Sunday nights, the All-School Trip, and other special occasions do require more formal attire such as jacket and tie for the boys and dresses or slacks for the girls.
Health services are provided by the Williamstown Medical Associates. A nurse is present on campus every weekday morning to check on students who are ill, provide medicines, and help schedule doctors’ appointments. An annual physical exam is required.
Student Organizations
Students at Buxton take responsibility for shaping and enriching their own lives and the life of the group. Student-created organizations such as the Multicultural Awareness Alliance, Student Voice, and fundraising groups for particular causes work to unite, encourage, and educate the school community.
Dormitory Supervisors
There are many opportunities at Buxton for students to develop their leadership skills. One such opportunity is serving as a dorm supervisor or DS. Each morning the entire student body attends to minor tasks within the dorms. These chores are organized and overseen by a small group of dedicated students, the dorm supervisors, who also serve as mentors and guides to the younger students as they navigate the complexities of dorm living.
Student Services
Composting
Buxton, since its inception, has met many of its needs through the thoughtful intent and useful work of its students. Individuals select tasks ranging from stoking the stoves in the Classroom Building to driving to the supermarket to shop for Sunday teas to caring for the animals in the biology lab or mixing and stocking chemicals in the darkroom. The list of tasks is generated each year by faculty and students.
Recreation Committee
Each Friday evening an activity for the whole school is planned and organized by the Recreation Committee, a group of four student-elected individuals. It is expected that all students attend these creative activities.
Recreation Committee
These activities range from the ridiculous to the sublime and include everything in between. One Friday might be Skit Night, with students and faculty together acting out absurd situations or engaging in improv games. Next week might be an all-campus game of Capture the Flag or Bears. Or there might be a talent show, or a dance party, an outing to the local bowling alley, or the infamous “Mud Night.” Always the evening requires the effort and goodwill of the entire community. Whatever the activity may be, however silly it seems, the value of these Friday nights is that the students and faculty are making exciting things happen together and with each other. In an age when so many are accustomed to the passive entertainment of TV, film, the Internet, and computer games, Rec Committee activities provide an opportunity to actively engage and direct one’s own amusement.
Weekends
All weekends, except for the two designated home weekends, are spent on campus. Friday night activities are organized by the Recreation Committee. Saturday morning is reserved for Work Program, and in the afternoon and evening, students are free to go into Williamstown to do errands or attend a movie or cultural event. Saturday meals are planned and prepared by students. After Sunday brunch, the afternoon is available for academic work and recreation. The formal Sunday dinner is often followed by outside speakers or by student performances in the arts. Students wishing to do so attend religious services locally.
Home Weekends and Vacations
Two weekends, one during the fall and the other during the winter, are designated as times when students may leave campus to visit family or Buxton friends. In addition to the two home weekends, there are three-week winter and spring vacations. Following the Fall Arts Weekend there will be a one-week Thanksgiving vacation after the final arts performance on Sunday.