Sanderson Academy opened in 1816 under the direction of Reverend Alvan Sanderson in Ashfield, Massachusetts. Mary Lyon attended the school in 1817, and then became a teacher. She served as principal from 1827-1828. Interest in the school declined in 1832, but it reopened in 1879. The school was destroyed by fire in 1939. Later that year it was reopened in a new building.