Montgomery Academy
Encyclopedia
The Montgomery Academy is a non-sectarian independent
day school
located in Montgomery, Alabama
. The school comprises two campuses. The Lower School accommodates kindergarten through fourth grade, and is located at 1550 Perry Hill Road. The Upper School campus, for the fifth through twelfth grades, is located at 3240 Vaughn Road. The school's current total enrollment is 858, of which 282 are in the Upper School. While The Montgomery Academy was founded in 1959 during the period when the desegregation
of public schools was hotly debated, the Academy now accepts students without regard to race or religion.
Like a number of private schools formed in the United States
during this time, The Montgomery Academy is reputed to have been founded in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education
, which required public school boards to eliminate segregation "with all deliberate speed." Archie Douglas, the headmaster of The Montgomery Academy for the last decade, has stated that he believes the school was started in reaction to desegregation and that he is sure "that those who resented the civil rights movement
or sought to get away from it took refuge in the academy." He also notes that the school now has a philosophy of openness and does not discriminate with regard to race. (For more on private schools founded to avoid desegregation, see segregation academies
).
For the first two decades of its existence, when classes were small and tuition fees were prohibitive to most families, The Montgomery Academy did not admit any African American
students. The school was identified as a discriminatory institution by the plaintiffs in Allen v. Wright
, a lawsuit by black parents that was decided in 1984 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The school is part of the National Association of Independent Schools
and adheres to the association's standards, which state that the "school will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its admission policies." As of the 2007-2008 school year, the student body of The Montgomery Academy is more than 10% percent non-white. Students from The Montgomery Academy have also been involved in projects in recent years to promote racial harmony and to document Montgomery's links to the civil rights movement
.
The Perry Hill Road Campus for the Lower School, which by that time included "Form K" (Kindergarten), was opened in the late 1980s. In 1996 the Vaughn Road campus added the 10000 square feet (929 m²) Garzon Library, designed by local architects Seay Seay and Litchfield. The library's central octagonal rotunda establishes a focal landmark for the Upper School Campus.
The firm was then later contracted to design a new building, the Mary Katherine Archibald Blount Upper School, as well as a pedestrian bridge connecting the academic campus with newly annexed athletic fields across the busy Vaughn Road. Previously, the land which is now the athletic campus had been an immense lawn for a Masonic retirement home.
In the summer of 2007, the school began a renovation, completed in the winter of 2008, of the old Mead Hall, which will include a multi-purpose theater, as well as facilities for the forensics and drama programs. The project also includes a student commons extension to the existing Upper School Building, as well as a new-state-of-the-art track and field facility around the Hutchinson Soccer Field. The track was built by the same company that was contracted to install the track for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
and honors sections are offered in all core areas. Each year a number of students rank as National Merit Scholars and semifinalists. Typically, more than 20 students are named annually by the College Board
as "Advanced Placement Scholars." The school's visual arts program is known as one of the best in the state and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts ranks the school's program in the top 9 percent nationwide, while the school's Forensics Team is the largest speech and debate
program in Alabama and has won 13 of the last 14 state championships.
Graduates of the school routinely attend Ivy League
and other prestigious universities and colleges.
The Academy is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools
and the Alabama Association of Independent Schools.
red and navy blue
. The school competes with other Alabama high schools in the Alabama High School Athletic Association. The director of athletics at The Montgomery Academy is Anthony McCall.
For a relatively small school, The Montgomery Academy offers a large number of sports. Fully two thirds of students participate on various teams. The Academy was recognized as the leader in 3A varsity sports for both boys and girls by the Birmingham News.
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
day school
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
located in Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
. The school comprises two campuses. The Lower School accommodates kindergarten through fourth grade, and is located at 1550 Perry Hill Road. The Upper School campus, for the fifth through twelfth grades, is located at 3240 Vaughn Road. The school's current total enrollment is 858, of which 282 are in the Upper School. While The Montgomery Academy was founded in 1959 during the period when the desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
of public schools was hotly debated, the Academy now accepts students without regard to race or religion.
History
The Montgomery Academy was founded in 1959 by a group of prominent citizens in Montgomery, Alabama, including the Weil, Blount, Hill, Bear, McLemore, Mead, McIntyre, Sellers and Rushton families, Its first Chairman being General James McIntyre. The first classes were held in the former governor's mansion on South Perry Street. Initially, students were in "forms" (grades) 1 through 6. The initial 1959-60 "6th Form" constituted the first graduating class in 1966.Like a number of private schools formed in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during this time, The Montgomery Academy is reputed to have been founded in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
, which required public school boards to eliminate segregation "with all deliberate speed." Archie Douglas, the headmaster of The Montgomery Academy for the last decade, has stated that he believes the school was started in reaction to desegregation and that he is sure "that those who resented the civil rights movement
African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
The African-American Civil Rights Movement refers to the movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring voting rights to them. This article covers the phase of the movement between 1955 and 1968, particularly in the South...
or sought to get away from it took refuge in the academy." He also notes that the school now has a philosophy of openness and does not discriminate with regard to race. (For more on private schools founded to avoid desegregation, see segregation academies
Segregation academies
Segregation academies are private schools started in the United States during the 1950s, '60s, and 70s as a way for white parents to avoid the desegregation of public schools as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v...
).
For the first two decades of its existence, when classes were small and tuition fees were prohibitive to most families, The Montgomery Academy did not admit any African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
students. The school was identified as a discriminatory institution by the plaintiffs in Allen v. Wright
Allen v. Wright
Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737 , was a United States Supreme Court case that determined that citizens do not have standing to sue a federal government agency based on the influence that the agency's determinations might have on third parties.-Facts:...
, a lawsuit by black parents that was decided in 1984 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The school is part of the National Association of Independent Schools
National Association of Independent Schools
The National Association of Independent Schools is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1963, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, boarding, and day/boarding schools; elementary and secondary...
and adheres to the association's standards, which state that the "school will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its admission policies." As of the 2007-2008 school year, the student body of The Montgomery Academy is more than 10% percent non-white. Students from The Montgomery Academy have also been involved in projects in recent years to promote racial harmony and to document Montgomery's links to the civil rights movement
African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
The African-American Civil Rights Movement refers to the movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring voting rights to them. This article covers the phase of the movement between 1955 and 1968, particularly in the South...
.
Facilities
In 1963, the school relocated to a new site on Vaughn Road, now the premises of the Middle and Upper Schools. As student body size steadily grew, the initial 12 classrooms and lunchroom/auditorium were supplemented by 7 classrooms and a library in 1965, 4 classrooms and a gymnasium in 1966, 5 classrooms in 1967, and 3 montessori areas in 1971.The Perry Hill Road Campus for the Lower School, which by that time included "Form K" (Kindergarten), was opened in the late 1980s. In 1996 the Vaughn Road campus added the 10000 square feet (929 m²) Garzon Library, designed by local architects Seay Seay and Litchfield. The library's central octagonal rotunda establishes a focal landmark for the Upper School Campus.
The firm was then later contracted to design a new building, the Mary Katherine Archibald Blount Upper School, as well as a pedestrian bridge connecting the academic campus with newly annexed athletic fields across the busy Vaughn Road. Previously, the land which is now the athletic campus had been an immense lawn for a Masonic retirement home.
In the summer of 2007, the school began a renovation, completed in the winter of 2008, of the old Mead Hall, which will include a multi-purpose theater, as well as facilities for the forensics and drama programs. The project also includes a student commons extension to the existing Upper School Building, as well as a new-state-of-the-art track and field facility around the Hutchinson Soccer Field. The track was built by the same company that was contracted to install the track for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
Academics
The Montgomery Academy's curriculum is entirely college preparatory, with more than 85 different high school course choices in nine disciplines. Students must carry at least five academic courses at all times. Thirty APAdvanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program is a curriculum in the United States and Canada sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college...
and honors sections are offered in all core areas. Each year a number of students rank as National Merit Scholars and semifinalists. Typically, more than 20 students are named annually by the College Board
College Board
The College Board is a membership association in the United States that was formed in 1900 as the College Entrance Examination Board . It is composed of more than 5,900 schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations. It sells standardized tests used by academically oriented...
as "Advanced Placement Scholars." The school's visual arts program is known as one of the best in the state and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts ranks the school's program in the top 9 percent nationwide, while the school's Forensics Team is the largest speech and debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
program in Alabama and has won 13 of the last 14 state championships.
Graduates of the school routinely attend Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
and other prestigious universities and colleges.
The Academy is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is one of the six regional accreditation organizations recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation...
and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools
National Association of Independent Schools
The National Association of Independent Schools is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1963, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, boarding, and day/boarding schools; elementary and secondary...
and the Alabama Association of Independent Schools.
Athletics
The school's athletics teams and squadrons are nicknamed the Eagles and the school colors are cardinalCardinal (color)
Cardinal is a vivid red, which gets its name from the cassocks worn by Catholic cardinals...
red and navy blue
Navy blue
Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue which almost appears as black. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue worn by officers in the British Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world....
. The school competes with other Alabama high schools in the Alabama High School Athletic Association. The director of athletics at The Montgomery Academy is Anthony McCall.
For a relatively small school, The Montgomery Academy offers a large number of sports. Fully two thirds of students participate on various teams. The Academy was recognized as the leader in 3A varsity sports for both boys and girls by the Birmingham News.
Championships
The school has won a number of state championships, including:- BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
(1981) - Girls' BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
(1999) - CheerleadingCheerleadingCheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
(1993) - Boys' Cross CountryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
(2002) - Girls' Cross Country (2006, 2008, 2009)
- FootballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
(1987) - Boys' GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
(2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011) - Girls' Soccer (2001, 2011)
- Boys' TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
(1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011) - Girls' Tennis (1971, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
- Girls' TrackTrack and fieldTrack and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
(2006) - VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
(1986, 2005, 2006).