Vermont Academy

Vermont Academy
Location
Saxtons River, VT
USA
Information
Type Private Boarding/Day
Established 1876
Head of School Sean Brennan
Faculty approx. 50
Enrollment approx. 240
Average class size 10
Campus Rural
Color(s) Orange      Black     
Mascot Wildcats
Website http://www.vermontacademy.org
Vermont Academy

Vermont Academy (also called "VA") is an American boarding/day school and college preparatory school for grades nine through twelve and also offers acceptance for students seeking a post-graduate year. Founded in 1876, it is located in Saxtons River, Vermont. The school is coeducational, and college-preparatory, with a 515-acre (208 ha) campus. There are 228 students from 30 states and 12 countries (46 international students - 20%). Tuition and room and board for the 2011-2012 school year at Vermont Academy is $45,600. Tuition for day students is $25,800.

Vermont Academy embraces the concept of having students actively participate in a class as opposed to passive learning. The Academy's goal is to discover the possibilities that lie beyond the traditional four walls of the classroom and work with students in more progressive methods that encourage and stimulate different types of learners.

The Academy's athletic offerings focus on this type of experiential education. Sports include cross country, biking, and Nordic skiing; varsity and junior varsity athletic teams compete weekly against teams from all around New England.

History

The school was founded in 1876. It originally included a lower school for younger boys and the school gave "special attention to life in the open".[1]

In 1934, Dartmouth College president Ernest Martin Hopkins recommended a fellow Dartmouth graduate for the job of headmaster of Vermont Academy. Laurence G. Leavitt was headmaster for 25 years, during which time he doubled enrollment, retired the school's debt and made many improvements to the school's campus.[2]

Academics

Athletics and outdoor activities

The school offers over 20 interscholastic sporting activities: alpine skiing, baseball, basketball, crew, cross country, dance, equestrian, field hockey, football, freeski, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, mountain biking, Nordic skiing, snowboarding, softball, track and field, ski jumping, soccer, and tennis.

The school has five playing fields and two practice fields; a skating rink, with artificial ice-making and maintenance system; six tennis courts ("composition" courts); a 13-station ropes course; a mountain biking course, 20 kilometres (12 mi) of trails (for cross-country running and skiing, snowshoeing, and walks); and a winter sports park, complete with snowmaking, three different-sized ski jumps, a modest ski slope, lighting, and a grooming machine. Off-campus activities include alpine skiing/snowboarding; an equestrian program; and Outdoor Challenge (hiking, rock-climbing, kayaking, canoeing, camping).

The school belongs to the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council and competes primarily in the Lakes Region League.

Studio and performing arts

The Academy offers theater productions (3 per year, plus cabarets and coffee houses); music (theory and composition, jazz and chamber ensembles, vocal ensemble, and private music lessons); dance; studio art (painting, drawing, pottery, 3-D art, portfolio development); filmmaking; and photography.

Campus

The Academy campus is located on the north side of the village of Saxtons River, bounded on the south by Burk Hill Road and the east by Pleasant Street. It is more than 31 acres (13 ha) in size, and includes buildings dating to the period of the school's founding in 1876. Jones Hall, now a dormitory, was built in that year, and was its only building until 1888, when Fuller Hall, the visual and administrative centerpiece, was built.[3] The campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

Buildings include a 350-seat performing arts center built in 2006, a newly renovated Learning Center, new Library, campus-wide wireless technology, a dance studio with Harlequin hard-wood sprung floor built in 2004, a fitness center and locker rooms in a renovated gym built in 2004, and an observatory with high-powered telescope built in 2003. There are separate dormitories for boys and girls. There is space for 60 girls and 111 boys. There is a Winter Snow Park on campus for skiing, snowboarding, and jumping which was built in 2003.

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Vermont Academy for Boys". The Independent. Jul 20, 1914. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  2. ↑ Laurence G. Leavitt, A Remembrance, Dartmouth College, dartmouth.edu
  3. ↑ "Draft NRHP nomination for Vermont Academy Historic District" (PDF). State of Vermont. Retrieved 2016-01-07.

External links

Coordinates: 43°08′30″N 72°30′31″W / 43.1417444°N 72.5087004°W / 43.1417444; -72.5087004

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