Founder Katy Boucher first envisioned The Accord School in 2013, while squished around a crowded TEAM meeting table in caring, but overstretched South Shore public middle school. As the frustrated family struggled through a tense conversation with equally distraught educators who, ironically, shared the same goal of helping their child get to school on a regular basis, Katy became distracted with thoughts of a school where middle schoolers might just be OK... even happy. 

As the director of Skills for Living, a lively social learning community she had started out of her car in 2007, Katy spent most of her time with students who marched *slightly* to their own beat. These students were often incredibly bright, had unique interests, and were overflowing with kindness, but just couldn't survive middle school. Katy built the Skills for Living program as a place where they could meet like-minded peers in social education groups to work on interpersonal skills, but more importantly, where they could make actual friends. By 2013, the program was serving 250 South Shore students in kindergarten through college, in two centers, every week, and was being replicated around the country.

Students of all ages were thriving at Skills for Living, but Katy kept running into the same problem again and again: the 11-13 year olds who were bottoming out in middle school. At best, they were sitting alone at lunch, losing their sparkle. At worst, they were sinking into themselves, suffering through hospitalizations for anxiety and depression. 

Katy began looking for school programs where these students, often (but not always!) diagnosed with ADHD, autism, NVLD, and similar profiles, could learn, grow, and thrive. She visited programs in MetroWest, on the North Shore, and in California- and met doppelgangers of her students at Skills for Living who were happy and thriving at school.  The South Shore didn't have anything similar. 

Between running Skills for Living and raising two toddlers, Katy didn't have time to start a school, and with a background as a public school guidance counselor, she didn't have a clue about how to start a school. But with so many brilliant kids emotionally wilting in middle schools across the South Shore, she didn't really have a choice.

Around this time, Katy was invited to visit a 50-acre former llama farm in East Bridgewater that just happened to be for sale, As she stood in the grass and felt the sunlight hit her face, she envisioned a graduation ceremony on that very field, and decided the farm was the perfect place for the South Shore's newest school. She maneuvered a mortgage, moved her young family, and began the process of founding The Chapman Farm School. 

But schools take more than a moment to start- and the kids at Skills for Living couldn't wait. So in the fall of 2014, The Chapman Farm School began it's first school year out of the Skills for Living facility with 8 middle schoolers. The students, well-loved in their small school with caring teachers, thrived as Katy and the staff figured out how to run a tiny, but robust school program. The school doubled, then tripled in two years at the Skills for Living facility, while Katy and a dedicated Board of Directors worked though the mounting logistical, financial, and legal challenges of establishing the campus in East Bridgewater. A small group of neighbors opposed the project, putting up roadblock after expensive roadblock until in 2017, broken-hearted but not broken-spirited, the decision was made to let go of the farm and focus on building a sturdy school in Norwell. 

The school moved into a rental unit next door that was better laid out for the evolving school, and the Skills for Living program was phased out so that Katy, the staff, and the Board could focus on building the newly named Accord School. 

With the distractions of the farm project removed, a team of experienced educators were recruited to deeply develop the academic, social, and emotional components of The Accord School. Immediately challenged but unphased by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Accord School stayed open and in-person through the 2020-21 school year, quietly and thoughtfully serving a small group of South Shore kids while their peers struggled with hybrid learning. 

In 2022, The Accord School began pursuing accreditation through the Association of Independent Schools of New England (AISNE), which it achieved in 2024 at the conclusion of it's 10th school year. 

In the same year, the school was offered the opportunity to reclaim the original Skills for Living facility, doubling it's footprint, and allowing for the addition of The Accord Center, a full-circle moment in our story that will return much of the original social, emotional, and recreational programming that The Accord School grew out of to South Shore kids and families. 

The Accord Center is just beginning to grow and change lives for young people across the South Shore, but in many ways, has been here all along. We hope you join us. 

SOUTH SHORE ENTREPRENEUR: Quincy woman teaches life lessons in Norwell.