Pace Academy
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| Pace Academy | |
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To Have the Courage to Strive for Excellence (Summum Nitens Confide)
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| Location | |
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| Atlanta, GA, USA | |
| Information | |
| Head teacher | Fred Assaf |
| Students | 930 |
| Type | Private, Coeducational |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Navy Blue, Columbia Blue and White |
| Established | 1958 |
| Mascot | Knights |
| Homepage | www.paceacademy.org |
Pace Academy is a pre-first through twelfth grade college preparatory private school, located at 966 West Paces Ferry Road in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, Georgia. Pace has approximately 930 students total, with approximately 400 of those in the Upper School (ninth through twelfth grades).
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[edit] History
Pace Academy was founded in 1958 and graduated its first class in 1964. Originally, the school occupied a single building, a home previously belonging to the Ogden family. As the school expanded, the building was converted to serve as the school's administrative and business center. Its external architecture led it to be referred to colloquially as "The Castle" by members of Pace's community. The Castle was eventually named Kirkpatrick Hall in honor of George Kirkpatrick, who served as headmaster of the school for twenty-two years between the 1970s and 1990s.
In the 1970s, the school purchased the adjacent property belonging to the Randall family and converted the home on the property into the Lower School, housing pre-first through sixth grade. In the early 1980s, the school expanded the Upper School (then seventh through twelfth grades) with the addition of a library, cafeteria, and lower hall. The fall of 1990 saw the opening of the school's Fine Arts Center, finally giving the school's renowned theater program a home.
In the past decade, the school has seen significant expansion. The school's original natatorium and tennis courts were levelled in the late 90s and replaced by the Inman Center, which opened in January of 2000. New tennis courts and a lacrosse field were built on land (referred to by students as "Pace Mountain") behind the school. A middle school facility and a new natatorium were completed in 2004. The middle school allowed Pace to move its sixth through eighth grades into a single facility.
The Inman Center is a hub of Pace Academy activity. It houses lockers for grades nine through twelve. The building also houses the Campus Store, cafeteria, wrestling room, gymnastics area, indoor track, and main basketball court. Boyd Gymnasium, which opened as the school's original gym in 1966, is still in use, but sees less frequent activity.
While the school's location in the heart of Buckhead's posh residential area can be seen as one of its assets, it also creates significant limitations. For most of the last decade, the school has battled with its neighbors over its wishes to add a track and field facility to the campus. A 2001 plan (spearheaded by former Pace parent Arthur Blank) to build the facility on a nearby piece of land was met with significant local opposition and was retracted. A subsequent plan to build a smaller facility on land adjacent to the campus was again met with opposition, and was denied by Atlanta's City Council in 2005. In January of 2006, the school decided to acquire land off-campus in nearby Cobb County to expand its athletic facilities. These facilities will include a football/soccer field, a track, a baseball field, and a lacrosse field. They are estimated to be finished by the Fall of 2008.
In February 2007, the school unveiled its master campus plans for the next two decades. The plan includes an addition to the Lower School, a new Upper School classroom building, new athletic fields, an onsite residence for the headmaster, and a parking garage located under the playground. On October 17, 2007, this twenty year plan was named the "Shine" Capital Campaign, which will cost approximately 32 million dollars.[1]
[edit] Awards and recognition
During the 2004-05 school year, Pace Academy was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,[2][3] the highest award an American school can receive.[4][5]
[edit] School programs
For most of its existence, the school has been best recognized for two of its programs. Pace's debate program is renowned throughout the country and has won the Georgia High School Association's State Debate Championship each year since 1988. The program also captured the national title in 2002. In 2004, the team captured its sixth-straight Richard B. Russell All State (All Classification) Debate Championship.
Pace is also widely recognized for its Fine Arts program. In particular, the school's theater program has received wide accolades since the 1970s. The program's unusually large budget, as well as the school's recruitment of young acting talent, has allowed the school to produce musicals and dramas on par with professional theater groups.
Pace Academy also has a robotics team for both Middle and Upper School, the Roboknights and the Radbotics. The Middle School team participates in the FIRST Lego League, while the Upper School team participates in the VEX challenge.[1]
Pace has a notable Policy Simulation Program, which includes Model UN, TUFTS EPIIC Inquiry, and Model Arab League. The program is led by Helen Smith and was started in the early 1990s.
[edit] Sports programs
Pace is also known in the region for several of its sports programs. Under Coach Charlie Owens, the baseball team won the Georgia Class A State Championship from 1993 to 1995, all of which included future Major League Baseball player Michael Barrett.
The boys soccer team won the final three Fall Soccer League championships (2002 to 2004), and finished second nationally in the final NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches of America) poll during the fall of 2003. [2] In its first season in the GHSA Spring League in 2006, the team captured the Class AA/A State Championship and finished 19th nationally [3] and 5th in Region II [4] in the Final NSCAA poll.
The boys lacrosse team, coached by former All-Ivy League defenseman Mike Gannon, has consistently contended for the GHSA All-Classification championship in its eight years of existence. The team reached the state finals twice, and played in the last two state semifinals.
In 2006, the school announced plans to add a football team, with varsity play scheduled to begin in 2009. For most of its existence, the school focused on its soccer and baseball programs, opting to take part in a smaller fall soccer season to allow players to play baseball in the spring. However, the cancellation of the fall soccer season left the spring season the only option, encouraging the school to finally develop a football program.[5]
The Middle School football team reached the championships of the Atlanta Metro Football League in its first year in existence. The school has hired a football coach, Matt Hall, to lead the program as it goes from a Middle School and Junior Varsity team on to when a Varsity team is to be added in the 2008-2009 season. He is a former player on the Amherst College football team.
[edit] College Placement
In the past three years, the top ten attended colleges are
- 1. University of Georgia (29)
- 2. Georgia Institute of Technology (9)
- 3. Vanderbilt University (9)
- 4. University of Virginia (8)
- 5. Auburn University (7)
- 6. Duke University (6)
- 7. Southern Methodist University (6)
- 8. Florida State University (5)
- 9. University of Kentucky (5)
- 10. Washington and Lee University (5)
[edit] Notable alumni
- Matt Towery (1978) [6]
- Michael Barrett (1995), major league baseball catcher.[6]
- Randy Harrison (1996), actor, Queer as Folk.[7]
- Sarah-Elizabeth Langford (1996), Miss America and Miss USA contestant.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ PaceAcademy.org: Master campus plan
- ^ "Atlanta Schools Named No Child Left Behind Blue-Ribbon School", Atlanta Inquirer, October 2, 2004. Accessed November 9, 2007.
- ^ U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 2003 through 2006 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed May 11, 2006.
- ^ CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department, Journal Inquirer, November 16, 2006.
- ^ Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test; The Washington Post. September 29, 2005
- ^ "Barrett passes on Clemson, signs with Expos", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 10, 1995. Accessed November 9, 2007. "For most folks, the entire experience might be overwhelming, but when former Pace Academy shortstop Michael Barrett signed a professional contract Friday with the Montreal Expos, it seemed to his family like little more than the ordinary course of business."
- ^ "SPEED READS", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 12, 2001. Accessed November 9, 2007. " Harrison, a 1996 graduate of Pace Academy in Buckhead, stars in Showtime's "Queer as Folk," which depicts the lives and loves of a group of gay men and lesbians."
- ^ "FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 13, 1996. Accessed November 9, 2007. "Blessed with a lot of natural talent, a positive attitude and an unusual amount of inner strength, Pace Academy's Sarah-Elizabeth Langford used those qualities to become a two-sport standout for the Lady Knights."
