Academic Facilities

Exeter’s academic buildings facilitate exploration, discovery and discussion — because that is how learning happens here. Click below to take a virtual tour of our academic spaces. 

Academy Building

Academy BuildingThe heart of the Academy Building is Assembly Hall, where the community gathers several times a week for notable speakers, special programs and campus-wide celebrations. Classrooms for mathematics, history, religion, classical languages, anthropology, psychology and philosophy are here too, making this historic building part of daily life at Exeter.

 

 

 

Academy Library

Academy LibraryWithin the largest secondary-school library in the world, you’ll have access to more than 260,000 print and electronic volumes, an extensive reference collection and special collections containing such treasures that date back as far as the 13th-century. Designed by renowned architect Louis I. Kahn, the library contains 210 individual study carrels, several reading lounges and a ground-floor common area with cozy seating where you can study with friends or sip a hot beverage while you dive headlong into a good book. Read more about the library.

The David E. and Stacey L. Goel Center for Theater and Dance

Two Exeter students in a performance of The Secret GardenThe Goel Center for Theater and Dance brings expansive, state-of-the-art facilities to the performing arts at Exeter. Designed by award-winning architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, the building is host to two theaters (350-seat mainstage and 149-seat thrust stage), two dance studios (one for performance with 119 seats, another for classes and rehearsals) and Harkness classrooms, allowing a seamless transition from discussion to performance. The 63,000 square-foot facility serves all students — from generalists to expert performers — with an array of performing, teaching, rehearsal, technical and public spaces. Read more about The Goel Center for Theater and Dance.

Design Lab

Exeter students working in the Design Lab.Get hands-on in this well-equipped maker space where you can design, experiment and build in mediums ranging from robotics to woodworking. Located within Phelps Science Center, the lab has 3D printers, a laser cutter and other tools useful for innovative curricular, club and independent projects. A lab coordinator provides guidance to students working individually or in teams.  

Forrestal-Bowld Music Center

Forrestal-Bowld Music CenterHalf of all students participate in our flourishing music program, taking private lessons, practicing and performing in a professional setting. Our music facilities include grand piano studios; large rehearsal rooms; soundproof practice rooms; a keyboard lab; state-of-the-art musicianship studio; study areas; performance and classroom spaces; a music, media and recording library; and a spectacular new auditorium.

Read about the Class of 1959 Music Center Addition and “The Bowld,” a beautiful 250-seat performance space.

The Frederick R. Mayer Art Center and the Lamont Gallery

The Frederick R. Mayer Art Center and the Lamont GalleryThe art center and gallery combine teaching and exhibition space displaying works by students and faculty and local, national and international artists. The center houses professional, studio-style fine arts classrooms for a variety of mediums from painting and printmaking to photography and 3-D design.

Learn more about Lamont Gallery, which hosts exhibits of works by students and professional artists, and serves as a teaching space. 

Grainger Observatory

Grainger ObservatoryStudy the scale of the universe at Exeter’s on-campus observatory. With three domed observatories and a heated classroom building with library and research instruments, stargazing students have cutting edge tools at their disposal. In 2020, we installed a 0.70m PlaneWave CDK-700 Corrected Dall-Kirkham telescope which can be controlled on site or remotely via internet access.

Read more about the observatory and its instruments.
 

Lamont Health and Wellness Center

Lamont Health and Wellness CenterThis recently renovated center, featuring contemporary medical facilities and classroom spaces, houses our health care and counseling staff and serves as home base to the Health and Human Development Department. Courses you’ll take here will empower you to take ownership of your health and well-being. 

Read more about Lamont Health and Wellness Center.

Phelps Science Center

Phelps Science CenterYou’ll explore science and conduct research in a state-of-the-art facility of 22 classroom-labs with Harkness tables plus four common labs for interdisciplinary and independent student work. You’ll also find a humpback whale skeleton (assembled by students and teachers!), a 900-gallon tropical marine aquarium, a biology wet table, and a teaching garden with plant species native to New England.  
 

 

 

Phillips Hall

Phillips HallThe first building designed specifically for Harkness classrooms at Exeter, today it combines the best of the old and the new: A recent renovation preserved many original architectural features, but you’ll study English and modern languages in fully wired, media-equipped classrooms.