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Congratulations to Acton-Boxborough RHS and Ashland HS for their performance at Nationals!

The state champions and runners-up placed 5th and 3rd in their respective divisions in Frisco, Texas on April 19-21.

testing Ashland team photo at Nationals 2018! 2008 Super Quiz Quincy winning 2nd place in Large Schools at 2018 States! Quincy High School 2015 2013 State Interview at St. John's 2013 State Super Quiz at St. John's Tewksbury High School 2015 Avon High School 2014

What is Academic Decathlon?

Massachusetts Academic Decathlon is an academic competition in which teams of 9 high school students battle in 10 different events:

  • 7 objective tests based on a college-level, academically rigorous curriculum linked by a common theme
  • 3 subjective events that challenge us to develop, connect, and communicate ideas and personal experiences under pressure
  • one high-pressure, high-stakes Super Quiz relay open to the public
Along this epic adventure, beginning when the new theme is released in May and continuing until the United States Academic Decathlon National Finals the following April, students from all academic backgrounds have the opportunity to be a part of something greater than themselves, to discover and embrace the thrill of learning and academic exploration that soon turns into a lifelong pursuit of knowledge, and to gain the skills and build the relationships that no classroom experience could ever hope to match.


It's about daring to push your limits, to master college-level material and to practice skills, like public speaking, that might be wholly new to you. It's about the people you'll meet along the way -- the coaches who will mentor you, the competitors who will challenge you, and the teammates who will become your lifelong friends.

Dr. Les Martisko

Latest News

2018 Nationals Results

On Thursday-Saturday, April 19-21, 2018, Acton-Boxborough RHS and Ashland HS joined seventy other top teams from around the world to face off at the National Finals in Frisco, Texas!

Acton-Boxborough placed 5th in Division I with their highest medal count since 2004, and Ashland took 3rd place in Division IV!

Acton-Boxborough Regional High School:
Acton-Boxborough took home a total of 16 medals, their highest count since 2004, and set a new team record by having all nine of their students earn medals! Pratheek Hegde also set two team records with his medal count and overall score, and the team as a whole earned medals in nine of the ten events.

In addition to their 16 medals, the team took home two special awards: Pratheek Hedge won the B. Franklin Reinauer Economics Prize for his perfect score on the Economics test, and Matthew Zheng earned the Dr. Robert D. Peterson Founder's Scholarship for improving his overall score by nearly 1,000 points from States!

Medals received:

  • Janet Qi (Honors): Silver, Mathematics
  • Wendy Wu (Honors): Silver, Interview; Bronze, Mathematics
  • Alicia Yang (Honors): Gold, Mathematics
  • Pratheek Hegde (Scholastic): Gold, Economics; Gold, Art; Gold, Essay; Bronze, Social Science; Bronze, Science; Bronze, Mathematics
  • Stefan Quaadgras (Scholastic): Bronze, Music
  • Victor Wang (Scholastic): Bronze, Mathematics
  • Ashish Dasu (Varsity): Bronze, Interview
  • Sanjana Cheerla (Varsity): Bronze, Mathematics
  • Matthew Zheng (Varsity): Gold, Mathematics

    • Ashland High School:
    Ashland placed a whopping third overall in Division IV and took home 14 medals! Additionally, team top scorer Arthur Wang took first place overall in the Varsity division, an outstanding achievement.

    Medals received:

  • Neeraj Padmanabhan (Honors): Bronze, Mathematics
  • Andrew Dunn (Honors): Bronze, Economics
  • Brianna Doucette (Scholastic): Bronze, Social Science; Bronze, Literature
  • James Lee (Scholastic): Gold, Science; Bronze, Essay
  • Arthur Wang (Varsity): Gold, Music; Gold, Social Science; Gold, Mathematics; Gold, Science; Gold, Art; Gold, Essay; Bronze, Economics
  • Alon Efroni (Varsity): Bronze, Mathematics

    • A press release can be found here.

    For photos, check out our Facebook page!

    Contact Us

    We'd love to hear from you! Connect with us through social media, or send us your questions, comments, and ideas at info@massdecathlon.org

    Competition Schedule

    Date Competition Location
    November 17, 2018 Round 1 Tewksbury Memorial High School
    February 2, 2019 Regionals TBD
    March 2, 2019 State Finals TBD
    April 25-27, 2019 USAD Nationals Bloomington, Minnesota

    Curriculum

    2018-19 Theme: The 1960s

    Africa

    Click HERE to preorder next year's curriculum!

    From the State Director's Desk

    Two Thumbs Up - Eric Zhou, Aisha Chandraker, Jimmy Thai
    Two thumbs up for our volunteers!
    Decathlete
    A quick smile for the camera before the Art test begins.
    Developed and maintained by Massachusetts Academic Decathlon. Academic Decathlon, United States Academic Decathlon, U.S. Academic Decathlon, USAD, Super Quiz, and the USAD logo are trademarks and service marks of The United States Academic Decathlon Association and are used under license.