To alleviate existing housing pressure and to give upperclass students more choices, the decision was made to renovate Pibly Gym into townhouses with living suites for upperclass students. However, renovation was not quite complete when school opened. The new dorms are expected to be ready by the end of October. Meanwhile, the contractor has rented three trailers for students to live in and installed a computer line so they can get their work done easily. The college is planning to build a new dormitory, not because it has plans to continue to increase the size of the college, but in order to enhance students' quality of life.
Plans are also in the works for the construction of a new arts center.
We're getting a lot of national coverage. It's appropriately busy and full but we are at a size where we can still pay attention to the individual students. The test scores and talents of the students who have left high school for Simon's Rock's challenging and unique program have made the school competitive with other selective liberal arts colleges such as Wesleyan, Williams, and Brown. This year's entering class is a diverse group that includes a ballet dancer, a CEO of his own business, an organic farmer, a political activist, a wrestler, two professional musicians, and numerous poets. They tested 30 points higher on their Scholastic Aptitude Tests than any previous classes, with an average verbal test score of 660, and an average score of 620 in math.