About Walnut Hill School for the Arts

Walnut Hill School for the Arts is an independent boarding and day high school offering an immersive and intensive educational experience designed for student artists in Grades 9–12, with a postgraduate gap year also available. We offer world-class training in Dance, Music, Theater, Visual Art, and Writing, Film & Media Arts (WFMA), complemented by an innovative college-prep academic curriculum. Located on a safe and classic New England campus, we are situated right outside the cultural hub of Boston.

Every aspect of our program promotes our students' growth as bold artists, curious learners, and mindful citizens. Students from across the country and around the globe come together to form a dynamic community on our scenic campus in Natick, Massachusetts. Guided by master teachers and supported by peers from a variety of artistic backgrounds, Walnut Hill graduates are prepared to succeed in college, conservatory, and beyond.

Walnut Hill was founded in 1893 by Wellesley College graduates Florence Bigelow and Charlotte Conant, and remained at the forefront of education for young women for more than 80 years. Even as a traditional private boarding school for girls, Walnut Hill’s arts programs were strong. The School was home to acclaimed Fenway Studio artist and teacher Marion Pooke, Class of 1901, and Pulitzer Prize–winning author and Poet Laureate Elizabeth Bishop, Class of 1930. In the 1970s, in response to the changing landscape in education, Walnut Hill became a coeducational school for the arts and has been offering excellent artistic training and academic classroom experiences ever since.