Glynn Academy

Glynn Academy
Address
1001 Mansfield Street
Brunswick, Georgia 31520
United States
Coordinates 31°08′50″N 81°29′24″W / 31.147165°N 81.489996°W / 31.147165; -81.489996Coordinates: 31°08′50″N 81°29′24″W / 31.147165°N 81.489996°W / 31.147165; -81.489996
Information
School type Public high school
Founded 1788
School district Glynn County School District
Superintendent Howard S. Mann
Principal Dr. Scott Spence
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 1,755[1] (2011)
Language English
Campus Urban
Color(s) Red and white         
Mascot Red Terrors
Website Glynn Academy
Campus sign, oldest building, and Glynn Academy building

Glynn Academy (GA) is an American public high school in Brunswick, Georgia, USA, enrolling 1,755 students in grades 9–12.[1] Along with Brunswick High School, it is one of two high schools in the Glynn County School System. Glynn Academy offers technical, academic, and Advanced Placement programs and is accredited by the Georgia Department of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.[1][2] The school has consistently been ranked among the top public high schools in the United States by Newsweek.[3][4]

Chartered by an act of the General Assembly on February 1, 1788,[5] Glynn Academy is the second-oldest public high school in the American South and the sixth-oldest public high school in the United States;[6] at its inception, the school embraced all grades of primary and secondary education.[7] The first recorded building was built in 1819 on a tract of land known as Academy Range.[6] A new building was erected in 1840 on Hillsborough Square, the present location of the school.[6] From 1819 to 1840, the school was known as Glynn County Academy.[8] Because of an unsatisfactory courthouse, the county's superior and inferior courts often met at the school from 1825 to 1884.[9] In 1889, the Annex Building was constructed,[7] followed by the Prep Junior High School in 1909 (later annexed to the school as the Prep Building),[6][10] and the Glynn Academy Building in 1923.[6] The original 1840 structure was moved out of the city in 1915;[6] in 2008, it was relocated to the current campus where it serves as an interpretive museum.[11] The 1840 building itself is on the National Register of Historic Places and three other buildings (The Prep Building, 1905-09; the G.A. building, 1922; and the Annex, 1889) are contributing properties to the Brunswick Old Town Historic District.

History

On February 1, 1788, Glynn Academy was created by an act of the General Assembly of Georgia making it the second oldest high school in Georgia. For more than a century the name "Glynn Academy" included all grades of public school from young learners to senior high school students. In 1888, one hundred years after its founding, Glynn Academy records show a graduating class consisting of four girls and two boys.[12]

Campus

Buildings

Old Glynn Academy Building

Glynn Academy

The 1840 building
Location Corner of Monck and Norwich Streets, Brunswick, GA
Coordinates 31°08′55″N 81°29′26″W / 31.14864°N 81.49062°W / 31.14864; -81.49062
Built 1840
Architectural style Greek Revival
NRHP Reference # 11000775[13]
Added to NRHP November 2, 2011

Built in 1840, the Old Glynn Academy Building was the first building on Hillsborough Square, the present location of the Glynn Academy campus; it is the oldest wooden schoolhouse in Georgia[11] and the second oldest wooden schoolhouse in America.[14] This building served as the only public school building in Brunswick for more than fifty years.[11] In 1915, it was disassembled and reassembled in Sterling, an unincorporated community in northern Glynn County.[11] There, it served as a consolidated school for African-American students.[11] After desegregation, it became a county-maintained community center for Sterling residents.[11]

In 2008, the Old Glynn Academy Building was relocated to Hillsborough Square.[11] It now serves as an interpretive museum.[11] On November 4, 2011, the 1840 building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[13]

An undated photograph of the Old Glynn Academy Building

Wolfe Street Building

This building was used by the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps for class and several special education classes. Glynn Academy yearbook and journalism classes were also held in this building. At the end of the 2012-2013 school year, this building, along with the greenhouse behind it, was demolished as the first step in planned renovations on the campus. It was located behind the Science Building and to the left of the campus tennis court.

Wood Gym

A.V. Wood Gymnasium

The Wood Gym is the original gymnasium of Glynn Academy, named after a Brunswick resident who donated money to the school for physical education. The Wood Gym is now rarely used having been supplanted by a modern gymnasium. The four tennis courts located behind the building are used for tennis classes and the interior of the gymnasium occasionally functions as an area for administering stardardized testing. Occasionally, a physical education class takes place here.

Annex Building

The Annex Building

The Annex Building was built in 1889. On August 19, 2005, the Annex Building was severely damaged as the result of a lightning flash[15][16] but has since been remodeled. The Annex Building is the only building with an elevator due to the age of many of the other buildings on campus. It is a contributing property to the Brunswick Old Town Historic District.

Prep Building

The Prep Building, erected in 1909, is the second-oldest building at the school. It is perhaps the most iconic building on campus due to its façade.

In the late-19th century, as the student population of Glynn Academy increased, the need arose for an additional facility to accommodate an expanding student body. Thus, the Prep Junior High School was constructed, serving as a bridge between elementary school and high school and serving sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The school was later annexed to Glynn Academy.

The Prep Building is the most recognizable building on the campus due to its massive stairs and columns, and the now closed off tunnel that connects it to the Glynn Academy building. This building holds most of the foreign languages classes as well as the visual arts and music classes. It is a contributing property to the Brunswick Old Town Historic District.

Glynn Academy Building

The Glynn Academy building in the Brunswick Old Town Historic District

The Glynn Academy Building is the main administrative building on campus. At the end of World War I, a new school building was erected as a memorial to the men of Glynn County who had fought in war. Funds for it were raised through a bond election and the Glynn Academy Building was completed in September 1923. Renovations took place in 1999. In an effort to memorialize the structure, the architect of the building, Hendrik Wallin, drew inspiration from the Louvain Library in Belgium whose destruction by the Germans infuriated the Allied Forces.

The Glynn Academy Building houses the Memorial Auditorium. It is a contributing property to the Brunswick Old Town Historic District.

Sidney Lanier Building

The Sidney Lanier Building

The Sidney Lanier Building was the Freshmen's Academy, but is now used by all classes.

Science Building

The Science Building

The Science Building was completed in 1963 and houses the literature and science classes. The school's library is also located in the Science Building.

Gym

The gym was completed in the 1980s.

Liberty Bell

Replica of the Liberty Bell

The bell in front of the Glynn Academy Building is a near replica of the Liberty Bell in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is mounted on a red brick base and totals about 2,000 pounds. In 1897, the bell was cast in bronze by McShane Foundry in Baltimore, Maryland and was used in the clock tower of Brunswick City Hall until the 1930s.

The Glynn Academy Student Council of 1968-1969 is credited with finding the Liberty Bell and assembling it on plinth at the downtown campus. With the help of the Brunswick Fire Department and businessmen, parents and students, the bell was set during the 1969-1970 school year. The plaque at its base reads: "Erected by the Student Councils 1968-1969 and 1969-1970".

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Glynn Academy at the Georgia Department of Education". State of Georgia. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  2. ↑ "Southern Association of Colleges and Schools". Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  3. ↑ "America's Top Public High Schools 2006". Newsweek. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  4. ↑ "America's Top Public High Schools 2008". Newsweek. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  5. ↑ "February 1, 1788". Revolutionary Records of Georgia I: 620–621.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The History of Glynn Academy". Glynn County School System. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  7. 1 2 "Annex Building fire". Coastal Georgia Genealogy and History. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  8. ↑ Barefoot, Patricia (2000-11-08). Brunswick: The City by the Sea. Arcadia Publishing. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-7385-0642-5.
  9. ↑ "Glynn County Courthouse". Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  10. ↑ "Prep Building". Emporis. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Stepzinski, Teresa (2008-06-11). "Historic school goes home to Glynn Academy campus". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  12. ↑ "Glynn Academy History". 7/1/2011.
  13. 1 2 "Weekly list of actions taken on properties:11/07/11 Through 11/10/11". National Park Service. November 18, 2011. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Glynn Academy History". Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  15. ↑ "Fire Hits Brunswick School | Jacksonville.com." Jacksonville News, Sports and Entertainment | Jacksonville.com. Web. 23 June 2010. <http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/081905/geo_fire.shtml>.
  16. ↑ "Glynn Academy building burns". The Brunswick News. 2005-08-19. Retrieved 2008-10-06.

External links


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