Andover Bread Loaf

Created in 1987 and directed with unflagging energy by Bread Loaf graduate and Phillips Academy faculty member Lou Bernieri, Andover Bread Loaf Writing Workshop (ABLWW) aims is “to enhance the teaching and learning of writing and to help catalyze educational renewal in classrooms, schools, school systems, and communities.”

Students participate in a series of workshops at Andover on writing, educational theory and methods, literature and the arts, and using technology in the classroom. ABLWW has focused its efforts on teachers from a number of U.S. cities, among them Lawrence, Trenton, and New Orleans. In Massachusetts, Lawrence is the flagship city for ABLWW, which has worked with teachers there every year for over two decades.

The Bread Loaf/Vermont Connection

Each summer the group spends a day at the Bread Loaf campus in Vermont, going to classes and meeting with Bread Loaf faculty and staff. Bread Loaf offers one unit of credit (the equivalent of one three-semester-hour course) to all participants who successfully complete the workshop. We encourage workshop participants to apply to Bread Loaf to continue their education, and over the years many of them have done so and earned an MA.

A Diverse Community

ABLWW welcomes teachers from all disciplines. Most come from U.S. urban centers, but the workshop also draws teachers from Native American reservations, rural schools, community organizations, and, internationally, from India, Kenya, and South Africa. The program, funded by contributions from individuals, foundations, schools, and school systems, is cost-free to participants; the funding is usually reserved for specific school districts, for which ABLWW has been able to secure funding.

Learn More

Learn more about Andover Bread Loaf and its application process.