Walsingham Academy
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Walsingham Academy is a Roman Catholic school in Williamsburg, Virginia and part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond.
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[edit] Mission statement
Walsingham Academy, a Catholic, Christ-centered learning environment, established by the Sisters of Mercy, commits itself to educating children and the development of the whole person through a spiritual and value-centered curriculum that emphasizes responsible leadership reflecting the Mercy heritage of compassion and service.
[edit] History
The first day of class at Walsingham Academy was September 16, 1947 at 601 College Terrace in Williamsburg, Virginia. This house, which has since served as a rectory for the priests at St. Bede Catholic Church was built as a fraternity house. It was later bought by St. Bede parish for use as a USO residence for women. After the war, it was free to serve another purpose – a Catholic school.
It was Father Thomas Walsh's vision to have a Catholic school in Williamsburg, “because he felt that you reach parents most quickly through the children,” Sister Mary Emmanuel wrote in Walsingham's chronicles. “It was he who invited the Sisters of Mercy of Philadelphia to Williamsburg, and offered the use of the USO building as a school. The name, “Walsingham,” was already established in Williamsburg by Father Walsh as “The church of St. Bede boasts the only shrine to Our Lady of Walsingham in America.”
Fifty-eight boarders and day students registered that first year. In June, there was one graduate, Margaret Avery Leavitt '48, whose graduation was “celebrated with all the pomp and ceremony of twenty.” She said in her commencement address, “As Charter Members of Walsingham Academy we are not a little conscious of the duty and privilege which is ours – of placing the stamp of Catholic education upon this historic city of Williamsburg. In a spot where priorities are so justly honored and held in esteem, to us it falls to wield the torch of a type of education whose tradition it is to place first things first.”
In 1951 the school was entering its fifth year and was bulging at the seams. There were 156 students in that house on College Terrace. Sister Mary Constance, the Principal, arranged for the purchase of 62 acres on the historic road to Jamestown. The campus is adjacent to the College of William and Mary. The property was on the outskirts of town. “There was nothing to see but woods when the Sisters became its owners,” Sister Emmanuel wrote.
Bishop Peter L. Ireton, Bishop of Richmond, broke ground on a wet day in June of 1951. They moved to the new school building on January 28, 1952. The old school continued to house boarders and the Sisters, including Sister Rosie. By 1952 there were 215 students and 10 Sisters. Less than five years later, a new wing was added to the building on Jamestown Road with the addition of classrooms and boarding rooms for Sisters and boarders. Enrollment had risen to 389 by 1957.
By 1963, the school enrollment was 789 including 315 in the Upper School. Now in 2007, the current enrollment in grades 8-12 is around 300 students. On November 28, 1964, the new high school was dedicated and the students in grades 7-12 moved to a new building across the green.
The next addition to the school was in 1997 when an athletic complex, including a large gym, administrative offices and classrooms was built. The Lower School was added on to in 1999 to accommodate a growth in enrollment there and modifications of the Upper School made better use of the space there. Enrollment by the year 1999 – 2000 had reached 700 including 285 in the Upper School.
Walsingham's rival school is Hampton Roads Academy in Newport News.
Walsingham's basketball team used to be called the Apostles, but now they are known as the Trojans. The school mascot is the Trojans.
Today, the Lower School's headmistress is Margaret Honeycutt, and the Upper School's principal is Peter Bender.
[edit] Notable alumni
- John Naparlo, Country Singer known as Johnny Napp [1]
- Chad Barlow, Swimmer, Auburn University, 3 Time NCAA National Champion, 11 time NCAA All American
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