The Governor's Academy
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| The Governor's Academy | |
| Non Sibi Sed Aliis Not for self, but for others 
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| Established | 1763 |
| School type | Private, boarding |
| Religious affiliation | none |
| Headmaster | John M. Doggett, Jr. |
| Location | Byfield, MA, USA |
| Campus | 450 acres |
| Enrollment | 371 |
| Student:teacher ratio |
6:1 |
| Average SAT scores (2004) |
1252 |
| Color(s) | Cardinal Red and White |
| Mascot | Governor |
| Conference | Independent School League |
| Homepage | http://thegovernorsacademy.org thegovernorsacademy.org |
The Governor's Academy (formerly Governor Dummer Academy) is an independent school with 376 students in grades nine through twelve. The school was established in 1763, and is located on 450 acres in Byfield, Massachusetts, 33 miles north of Boston. It is the United States' oldest continuously-operating independent boarding school.[citation needed]
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[edit] Academics
Students study in small classes. Most faculty live on campus and serve as dorm parents and coaches as well as classroom teachers. Accelerated and AP classes are offered in subjects from mathematics and science to art, foreign languages, English and history. Chinese will be offered in fall 2007 along with the Western languages (French, Spanish, German) and Latin currently offered.
[edit] Athletics
The Academy is a member of the Independent School League. The school fields 20 varsity teams.
[edit] Arts
Programs in visual and performing arts are offered in the Kaiser Art Center and the Performing Arts Center. Kaiser has studios for photography and film, ceramics, drawing, painting and design. The PAC has a 500-seat auditorium/theater, a black box, an art gallery, and a complete workshop for technical theater.
[edit] History
The school was founded two years after the death of William Dummer, who funded it in his will. Dummer had been lieutenant governor and acting governor of Massachusetts for many years and led the colony through a difficult period in the earlier 18th Century fighting off forays by "French & Indians" during what became known as "Dummer's War" in the 1720s. He also served as an early Overseer of Harvard College.
Over the years, the school's name has been entwined with those of many famous people. Paul Revere created the first seal for the school; John Quincy Adams served as secretary to the Board of Trustees; Theophilus Parsons, a Chief Justice of Massachusetts and author of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, attended the Academy ; Samuel Phillips, Jr., founder of Phillips Academy, Andover graduated in 1771; Captain Edward Preble, commander of the USS Constitution and a hero of the War of 1812, studied here; Booker T. Washington Jr. (son of Booker T. Washington) starred on the football team in the early 1900s; Yu Gil-jun, a famous social reformer and the first Korean to study in the West, attended the school.
[edit] Name Change
In December of 2005, the Board of Trustees voted to change the name of the Academy to "The Governor's Academy" amid concerns that "Dummer" was deterring prospective students from applying. Legally the name remains "Governor Dummer Academy," doing business as "The Governor's Academy." When founded, the Academy was named "Dumm'r Charity School." Subsequently, the name was changed to "Dummer Academy."
The decision to change met with resistance from many students and alumni, and attracted media attention from around the country [1]. Those who promoted the change saw it as one of a number of ways to expand the geographic representation and the overall initial appeal of the school, especially to those who are not familiar with the school. The name change took effect on July 1, 2006.[2]
