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Worcester Academy

School in Worcester, Massachusetts, US From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Worcester Academymap
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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.

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History

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Worcester Academy was founded in 1834 as the Worcester County Manual Labor High School; the name "Worcester Academy" was adopted in 1847.[2]

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Isaac Davis, President of the Worcester Academy Trustees 1834 – 1873

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 had three locations in Worcester 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] The building, a former Civil War military hospital, was donated by Davis and became a permanent home for the school.[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]

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Worcester Academy in 1910; L to R: Davis Hall, Abercrombie House, Walker Hall, The Megaron, Adams Hall, Dexter Hall, and Kingsley Laboratories
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Demographics

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]

Clubs

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 alumni

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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:

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Headmasters of Worcester Academy

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See also

References

Further reading

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