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Worcester Academy | |
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Dexter Hall | |
Address | |
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81 Providence Street , 01604 United States | |
Information | |
Type | Independent, day and boarding |
Motto | Ἐφικνοῦ τῶν Καλῶν (Achieve the Honorable) |
Established | 1834 |
Head of School | Kevin Breen |
Faculty | 80 |
Enrollment | 450 upper school 65 middle school |
Average class size | 14 |
Student to teacher ratio | 8:1 |
Campus size | 71 acres (290,000 m2) |
Campus type | Urban |
Color(s) | Maroon |
Athletics | 24 Interscholastic sports 54 Interscholastic teams |
Athletics conference | NEPSAC |
Mascot | Oskee |
Team name | Hilltoppers |
Newspaper | Vigornia |
Yearbook | The Towers |
Website | www |
Worcester Academy is a co-ed private boarding school in Worcester, Massachusetts serving grades 6-12. [1] It is the oldest school founded in Worcester, Massachusetts, and one of the oldest day-boarding schools in the United States. A coeducational preparatory school, it belongs to the National Association of Independent Schools.
Worcester Academy was founded in 1834 as the Worcester County Manual Labor High School; the name "Worcester Academy" was adopted in 1847. [2]
Isaac Davis was a central figure in the school's early years, serving as President of the Worcester Academy Trustees from 1834 to 1873. [2]
The school moved several times during its first decades. [2] The first site was a 60 acre farm on what is now Main Street. [2] In 1854 the school moved into the abandoned building of the American Antiquarian society at Belmont and Summer streets. [2] Around this time, principals were paid little, and "were given a free hand to charge whatever tuition they could get, pay the expenses, and pocket the profit." [2]
In 1869, Isaac Davis purchased the abandoned Dale General Hospital on Providence Street in the Union Hill neighborhood. [2] Davis donated the building, a former Civil War military hospital, to the school as its new permanent home. [3] The building was renamed Davis Hall in his honor. [3]
Davis Hall served as Worcester Academy's only building for many years; at times, it served as a dormitory, reputedly haunted by ghosts of Civil War soldiers. [3] Davis Hall was damaged by the hurricane of 1938, and demolished in 1965. [3] It was replaced by Davol Hall. [3]
Daniel Webster Abercrombie served as principal from 1882 to 1918. [4] He established the school's motto "Achieve the Honorable" in 1890. [4] He presided over an aggressive expansion of the school, including Kingsley Laboratories (1897) and The Megaron (1905). [4]
As of 2018, 451 out of 600, or 68% of the school's students were white, 66 (11%) were Asian, 32 (5%) were Black, and 15 (2.5%) were Hispanic or Latino. [5] The corresponding numbers for the community were 56% white, 8% Asian, 12% black and 21% Hispanic or Latino. [6]
In the springs of 2010 and 2011, the We the People club won the Massachusetts championship and traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the national championship. [7]
In 2011, Worcester Academy's math team won its seventh (and fourth straight) [8] Worcester County Mathematics League championship, [9] its seventh (and sixth straight) [10] state championship, [11] and its fourth New England championship (the third in six years). [12] [13] [14]
Notable faculty and alumni include:
In certain instances, student-athletes attend Worcester Academy solely for their senior year, or for a single postgraduate year, to increase their exposure to college coaches or to improve their academic standing. Notable student-athletes include:
Number | Name | Years |
---|---|---|
1st | Silas Bailey, D.D. | 1834–1838 |
2nd | Samuel Stillman Greene, LL.D. | 1838–1840 |
3rd | Nelson Wheeler, A.M. | 1840–1847 |
4th | Eli Thayer 1840, A.M. | 1847–1849 |
5th | Charles C. Burnett, A.M. | 1849–1852 |
6th | Eleazer J. Avery, A.M. | 1852–1854 |
7th | William S. Greene, A.M. | 1854–1858 |
8th | Werden Reynolds, A.M. | 1858–1860 |
9th | James R. Stone, D.D. | 1860–1862 |
10th | Ambrose P. S. Stuart, A.M. | 1862–1864 |
11th | Charles Ayer, A.B. | 1865–1866 |
12th | Albert Prescott Marble, PhD | 1866–1868 |
13th | William C. Poland, A.B. | 1868–1870 |
14th | Willard T. Leonard, M.A. | 1870 |
15th | Rev. David Weston, A.B. | 1870–1871 |
16th | John D. Smith, A.B. | 1872–1875 |
17th | Nathan Leavenworth, A.M. | 1875–1882 |
18th | Daniel Abercrombie, Litt.D., LL.D. | 1882–1918 |
19th | Samuel Foss Holmes, A.M. | 1918–1933 |
20th | Harold H. Wade | 1933–1942 |
21st | LeRoy A. Campbell, PhD | 1942–1950 |
22nd | Paul K. Phillips, A.B. | 1950–1954 |
23rd | William S. Piper, Jr., Ed.D. | 1954–1968 |
24th | Harold G. Rader, Ed.D. | 1968–1969 |
25th | David R. Jefferson, B.A., B.D. | 1969–1970 |
26th | Robert A. LaBranche 1946, M.S. | 1970–1974 |
27th | John A. Bloom, M.A. | 1974–1985 |
28th | Ben Williams, M.A. | 1985–1991 |
29th | John Mackenzie, M.A. | 1991–1997 |
30th | Dexter P. Morse, M Ed., C.A.G.S. | 1997–2012 |
31st | Ronald M. Cino | 2012–2021 |
32nd | Kevin Breen | 2021–Present |
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