Home - Portsmouth Abbey School

What it means to be a Raven

As you browse our website, or visit our campus, you will note our beautiful location and our rich offerings. I hope you will also get a sense of our community life and the value we place upon it as an equal part of our 3 Rs: Reverence, Respect, and Responsibility

Mr. Daniel McDonough
Headmaster

Daniel McDonough

Headmaster

"As my family and I begin our 32nd year at Portsmouth, it's easy to look back and realize how quickly the School became not just a job, but a home. It's the same feeling a great number of our students have, as the School becomes their home away from home, sometimes to their surprise. As someone who left Portsmouth after three years, and then returned "for one more year" 28 years ago, I can say with assurance that Portsmouth has a way of growing on you."

Communities don’t just happen; rather, they require individuals to engage honestly and fully in the experience, and our students understand that. I don’t think any school does community quite like the Abbey.

Mrs. Corie McDermott-Fazzino
Director of College Counseling

Mrs. Corie McDermott-Fazzino

Director of College Counseling

“Communities don't just happen; rather, they require individuals to engage honestly and fully in the experience, and our students understand that. As a houseparent, I often observed genuine care and kindness between roommates. As a varsity coach, I am always impressed by how my squash players strike a balance between competitiveness during ladder play and supportiveness as teammates. As an English teacher, I am impressed with how my students embrace seminar discussion and work together to understand the literature. Maybe I'm biased, but I don't think any school does community quite like the Abbey.”

Portsmouth Abbey not only gave me a strong academic background rooted in Humanities, which transitioned well into a liberal arts environment, but also instilled in me a work ethic that propelled my career.

Whitney Connell
Class of 2004

Whitney Connell

Class of 2004

"In my freshman year of college it became very clear: I had an advantage over my peers as I was accustomed to balancing homework, sports, travel, and social life thanks to Portsmouth Abbey’s structure. Although I was not a varsity collegiate athlete, I was still able to compete in club and intramural sports, earn scholarships and stipends to travel the world, and graduate magna cum laude with a double major and minor."

I love that I get to work with kids outside the classroom. I believe that being someone's coach or houseparent helps provide a better classroom experience for that person.

Mr. Elliot Moffie
Coach, Math Teacher, Houseparent

Mr. Elliott Moffie

Math teacher; football, basketball, and softball coach; Houseparent in St. Martin's

"The Abbey is unique because it is so welcoming. Our kids are all very different, yet they all seem to find a place where they can fit in and have a good experience. Our community really knows how to embrace people."

525 Acres on Campus

360 Total Students

1.2 Miles of Coastline

25Varsity Teams

7:1 Student:Teacher Ratio

80%Faculty With Advanced Degrees

6Annual Study Abroad Trips

3Plays Performed Each Year

6Visual Arts Courses

78Courses Offered

The Aim of Portsmouth Abbey

Helping young men and women grow in knowledge and grace.

Grounded in the Catholic faith and 1,500-year-old Benedictine intellectual tradition, we foster:

Reverence for God and the human person
Respect for learning and order
Responsibility for the shared experience of community life

About Portsmouth Abbey

For 90 years, our liberal arts curriculum has been preparing students for lives of significance and purpose.

Part of our mission is to live in a community that values each of its members. This enables students to better understand themselves and the world around them. We celebrate our achievements and we offer help to those in need in an effort to make this a more gracious community.

Securing our Academic Future

Science in the 21st Century at Portsmouth Abbey

Our newest capital campaign features an astounding state-of-the-art science education facility. The new building will feature seven laboratories & seven classrooms, a multi-purpose seminar room, a multi-story commons, and more.