Phillips Academy is the oldest incorporated academy in the United States, established in 1778 by Samuel Phillips Jr. His uncle, Dr. John Phillips, later founded Phillips Exeter Academy in 1781. Phillips Academy's endowment stood at just over one billion dollars as of February 2016. Andover is subject to the control of a board of trustees, headed by Amy Falls, who succeeded Peter Currie, business executive and former Netscape Chief Financial Officer, who himself had taken over as president of the Phillips Academy Board of Trustees on July 1, 2012. On December 5, 2019, Dr. Raynard S. Kington, 13th President of Grinnell College, was named the 16th Head of School.

Phillips Academy admitted only boys until the school became coeducational in 1973, the year of Phillips Academy's merger with Abbot Academy, a boarding school for girls also in Andover. Abbot Academy, founded in 1828, was one of the first incorporated schools for girls in New England. Then-headmaster Theodore Sizer of Phillips and Donald Gordon of Abbot oversaw the merger.

Andover traditionally educated its students for Yale, just as Phillips Exeter Academy educated its students for Harvard, and Lawrenceville prepped students for Princeton.

The school's student-run newspaper, The Phillipian, is the oldest secondary school newspaper in the United States, the next oldest secondary school newspaper being The Exonian, Phillips Exeter Academy's weekly. The Phillipian was first published on July 28, 1857, and has been published regularly since 1878. It retains financial and editorial independence from Phillips Academy, having completed a $500,000 endowment drive in 2014. Students comprise the editorial board and make all decisions for the paper, consulting with two faculty advisors at their own discretion. The Philomathean Society is one of the oldest high school debate societies in the nation, second to the Daniel Webster Debate Society at Phillips Exeter Academy.

Phillips Academy also runs a five-week summ
What is the oldest incorporated academy in the united states, with multiple u.s. presidents as alumni?
Phillips Academy Andover, Massachusetts