Student Life

Conway students are part of a small, close-knit cohort.

This means that they spend significant time together, not only during class and studio time or field work, but also during their free time. Our building has a full working kitchen on-site, and communal meals are a regular event. You can often find Conway community members chatting in the kitchen over lunch. 

Students also spend time outside of program hours enjoying the many area activities and attractions. Destinations such as the Western Massachusetts Berkshires, Boston, New York City, and ocean coastlines are within a reasonable drive.

Our Campus

The Conway School operates out of the first floor of a renovated historic Coach House in the Village Hill neighborhood of Northampton, Massachusetts. Our campus includes classroom, studio, and meeting spaces, as well as an outdoor garden area for meeting and relaxing.

Take a virtual tour of the Coach House space: 

We are about a mile from downtown Northampton, and near conserved woodlands, farmland, and a large community garden.

From the campus, students and faculty can easily access, by foot, bicycle, or by a short drive, a diversity of designed and natural spaces: riparian corridors and wetlands, public parks with green infrastructure, both traditional and urban agriculture, suburban residential settlements, rail-trail bike path conversions, and conserved wild lands.

Our campus is:

• Within 300 feet of an electric-assist bike share station
• 0.2 miles from a bus stop for the local public bus network (PVTA)
• 0.4 miles from a network of rail trails extending into Amherst and Easthampton
• 1 mile from downtown Northampton, which contains grocery stores, shops, weekly farmers markets, pharmacies, and other amenities
• 1 mile from a regional bus hub connecting Northampton to Boston, New York City, and other metropolitan areas
• 1.5 miles from a train station providing access to Amtrak trains (bringing passengers to New Haven, CT, New York City, and Burlington, VT)
• There is trail access from the Coach House down to the Mill River Greenway, and a conservation area with multiple trails is a short walk away.

Student Housing

The Conway School is not a residential campus, so all students live off-campus. During the enrollment period, Conway staff do assist incoming students with finding appropriate housing for the year, and the school has developed relationships with some local rental property owners who regularly rent to students. In addition, Conway’s location within the Five College area means that there are many nearby options for student housing. Conway students will often look for shared housing together.