Wenham all-girls prep school closes its doors amid low enrollment

The Academy at Penguin Hall, an all-girls preparatory high school in Wenham, announced its closure due to declining enrollment and limited donations. Board chairman George Balich stated that the school exhausted all options to secure funding for the next academic year. Founded in 2016, Penguin Hall experienced peak enrollment of 150 students in the 2020-2021 academic year, but numbers have steadily declined since then. The latest IRS filings reveal a negative balance of over $6. 5 million, indicating ongoing financial struggles.

Although President Molly Martins noted a temporary uptick in enrollment post-pandemic, the current count of about 120 students remains insufficient. This closure reflects a troubling trend; other all-girls schools in Massachusetts have also shut down in recent years. The Boston Globe reported that private school enrollment across the state has dropped over the last 40 years, while charter and vocational schools have gained popularity. Despite this, some all-girls schools, such as Stoneleigh-Burnham and Dana Hall, have maintained stable enrollment figures.