Worcester Academy
| Worcester Academy | |
|---|---|
|
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| Pictured: Walker Hall | |
| Rector : | Dexter P. Morse |
| Establishment date: | 1834 |
| Motto: | Έφικνού τών Καλών (Achieve the Honorable ) |
| Place: | Worcester |
| State: | Massachusetts , USA |
| Sponsorship : | Private |
| Campus: | Urban, 67 acres (0.271 km²) |
| Pupil : | 501 upper school 154 middle school |
| Teacher : | 80 |
| Class size: | 13 |
| Ratio teacher to student: | 8: 1 |
| Homepage : | www.worcesteracademy.org |
Worcester Academy is a private, religiously neutral educational institution in Worcester , Massachusetts ( USA ). The school is divided into a middle school (6th to 8th grade) with around 150 students and an upper school (9th to 12th grade) with around 500 students. In addition, there is also the option of enrolling as a so-called postgraduate (this is mainly used by people who want to write a (renewed) college application). About 80 students from 10 nations are currently enrolled.
The school's motto is the Greek phrase "Έφικνού τών Καλών" (in English: "Achieve the Honorable"), which can be roughly translated as "Achieve the honorable".
history
The school was founded in 1834 under the name Worcester County Manual Labor High School , but was renamed Worcester Academy 13 years later . In 1869 the school moved to its current location on Union Hill in Worcester. The school was not open to women until 1856 and also from 1890 to 1974, but has been mixed since then. In 1987 a middle school was added to the school (before it only offered upper school attendance ) and in 1996 the 6th grade was added.
campus
The Worcester Academy campus is currently spread over four campuses: the main campus, the Francis A. Gaskill Field (just two blocks from the school itself), the New Balance Fields and a renovated house near the campus that is mainly used for administravie purposes and is needed for the care of the alumni. In 2006, the school bought additional land between Gaskill Field and the school grounds to build sports facilities there.
Several of the old brick buildings on the main site were included in the American national historic register , including the Chester W. Kingsley Laboratories , Joseph H. Walker Hall , the Reverend Robert J. Adams Hall and William H. Dexter Hall . The rector lives in the so-called Daniel W. Abercrombie House , named after the head of the school from 1882 to 1918. A new building on campus is the Harold G. "Dutch" Rader Hall , in which the library and the classrooms of the middle school are located. On the campus right next to Walker Hall is the Megaron , which together with Adams Hall serves as a canteen.
One of the most iconic and notable buildings on campus is the Lewis J. Warner Memorial Theater , a gift from Harry Warner , then President of Warner Brothers Studios . He dedicated the building to the memory of his son Lewis Warner, who died shortly after graduating from school in 1928. The (weekly) school assemblies are still held in this theater and the building is also actively used for the school's own theater and musical productions. In addition to this theater, there is also the Andes Pit Theater in the basement of Walker Hall .
Sports
Worcester Academy is a member of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council and primarily competes against Phillips Exeter Academy , Phillips Academy Andover , Deerfield Academy , Cushing Academy , Lawrence Academy , Governor Dummer Academy , Loomis Chaffee and the Milton Academy .
The school offers a very diverse range of sports, ranging from basketball to baseball to cross country running . Students are required to either join a sports team or act in a theater production in two out of three trimesters.
Others
In September 2006, Worcester Academy was named Best School of Mathematics by Boston Magazine and ranked 16th overall for Best Private Schools near Boston (and Best in County Worcester ).
The Academy campus was listed as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places on March 5, 1980 .
Trivia
- In 1992 parts of the film School Ties were shot at the school.
- The Arctic explorer Donald B. MacMillan was on the faculty from 1903 to 1908 and then accompanied Robert Peary on his attempt to reach the North Pole. He donated a canoe from that expedition to the school, which is now in the Megaron.
- A bar in the megaron has a Greek inscription that translates as "Don't let anything bad in here".
- In the megaron there are wooden plaques with the names of the WA graduates who died in the world wars.
Well-known alumni
Some well-known graduates (with year of graduation) from Worcester Academy include:
- Cole Porter 1909, Broadway composer
- Willis Goldbeck , 1910, film producer and screenwriter
- Arthur Kennedy 1930, theater and film actor
- Abbie Hoffman 1955, political and social activist in the 1960s
- Bill Toomey 1957, gold medalist in the decathlon at the 1968 Summer Olympics
- Tom Holland 1962, director
- Stefan Lano 1970, composer, répétiteur and conductor
