Peter and Chris Masters have big plans for the old Bose headquarters in Stow; a year from now they will open the Masters Academy International (MAI) on the 82-acres.  Investing almost 84 million dollars to turn the buildings into classrooms, residences, and sports facilities, the campus will eventually be able to support 1,000 student athletes in grades 6-12.

Modelled after the IMG Academy in Florida, the Masters have hired Richard Odell, head of school for IMG from 1999 to 2016, to create the academic curriculum. But while students will have a full academic schedule, the focus here is sports and giving young athletes access to ice hockey, basketball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, figure skating, golf, fencing, and esports.

The brothers bring years of experience to their new roles having owned and coached Junior Bruins Hockey in Marlborough for over 25 years. Plans are to start with 300 students boarding at the school with 100 day students. The school will cost about $70K a year for boarders and about $50K for day students. During the summer, multiple camps will run concurrently.  

Initially the Masters Academy International will hire up to 190 individuals to teach, coach, and support the students. MAI’s students, staff, and parents will also need support from towns like Maynard close to the new school. Parents need hotels to stay in and restaurants to take their children to. Students need everything from haircuts to dentists and birthday parties and will leave the campus for those and other services.  Maynard is uniquely situated to benefit from this important project when it opens next September for the start of the school year.

While many of the students will be from Massachusetts and New England, the school also expects to attract people from across the country and internationally because of the level of coaching and training these student athletes will have access to. A prime example is USA Fencing is moving their headquarters from Colorado to MAI. It’s a training center for potential Olympians and the northeast is where many of their recruits are from. Students are expected to receive three hours of skill building and an hour of strength and conditioning work every day in addition to their five hours a day of academics.