Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Spring 2016 | Page 16

Thornton Academy’s “Pillars” of
Respect, Responsibility, Investment, and Compassion

THORNTON
ACADEMY
One of the oldest independent

Students were invited to submit logos for a contest to
visually depict the pillars and remind our community of the
values. Several of these submissions will be used throughout
the school. Logo at left by Michael Perreault ’18.

schools in the country

Maine’s first high school diploma endorsement partnership
with University of Maine College of Engineering

Diverse student population
Students created this 3D model to display the pillars. Each
plastic tube has since been filled with notes about what the
pillars mean to students and staff.

Extensive offering of

An accreditation process leads to reflection on Thornton
Academy’s core values and a mission refresh.
BY EMMA DEANS

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
reviews and accredits independent schools like Thornton Academy
every ten years. The process involves an internal and external
review to identify strengths and plan for improvements. By fall
of 2015, one recommendation to emerge was to identify the
school’s core values. Faculty and staff spent many weeks discussing
the components that make Thornton Academy a unique place
of learning. Inspired by the middle school’s pillar values, the
upper school instated four values to represent our community:
Respect, Responsibility, Compassion, and Investment. Thornton
Hall’s unique architecture on campus offered a visual connection
between the core values and the structural pillars. “Students have
been engaged with the pillars through theme weeks and activities
planned during daily advisory periods,” said NEASC review co-

16 MISSION

chairs Katy Nicketakis and Ben Grasso. “Good institutions are
able to clearly define their core values and we thought this was
important for Thornton, too.”

“Good institutions are able to clearly define their
core values,” said Katy Nicketakis and Ben Grasso,
co-chairs of the New England Association of Schools
and Colleges’ accreditation review process.
Top photo—the winning artists (L to R): Carmen Abollado Mugica ’11,
Mackenzie Jurgen ’12, Hannah Gorham ’11, Michael Perreault ’10, Greg
Kalaigias ’12, and Abigail Stevens-Roberts ’12.

24 Advanced Placement courses

Inquiry-based STEM education for the 21st century
First-in-the-nation high school precision machining
collaboration with the National Tooling and Machining
Association
Preparing students for a changing world

thorntonacademy.org

since 1811
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