Greenwich Academy

Greenwich Academy

Ad ingenium faciendum (Latin)
Toward the building of character
Address
200 North Maple Ave
Greenwich, Connecticut, 06830
USA
Coordinates 41°02′35″N 73°37′38″W / 41.0431°N 73.6271°WCoordinates: 41°02′35″N 73°37′38″W / 41.0431°N 73.6271°W
Information
Type Independent, Day
Religious affiliation(s) Non-sectarian
Established 1827
Head Molly H. King
Faculty 134
Gender Girls
Number of students 790
Campus Suburban; 39 acres (0.16 km2)
Color(s) Green
Athletics 15 sports
Athletics conference NEPSAC
Mascot Gator
Accreditation NEASC
Athletic Director Martha Brousseau
Dean of Admission & Financial Aid Abby Katz
Website http://www.greenwichacademy.org

Greenwich Academy is an independent, all-girls preparatory day school in Greenwich, Connecticut. Founded in 1827, it is the oldest girls' school in Connecticut.[1] Greenwich Academy's motto is Ad ingenium faciendum, "Toward the Building of Character."[2]

The current Head of School is Molly H. King. The current Head of Lower School is Jon Ross-Wiley. The current Head of Middle School is Becky Walker. The current Head of Upper School is Tom Sullivan.[3][4]

History

Greenwich Academy was founded in 1827 by Darius Mead.[5] The school was originally built adjacent to the Second Congressional Church in a small, two-story wooden house. In 1839, when Philander P. Button became principal, only six students were enrolled. Button served for 22 years.[6]

Originally the school accepted both boys and girls, but in 1902 George B. Carmichael, an English teacher at the Academy, founded the Brunswick School for boys.[7] In 1913, the GA Board of Trustees formally decided to admit girls in the Middle and Upper Schools.[8] From 1913 to 1971, Greenwich Academy was all girls. In 1971, however, the Academy joined with Brunswick to form coed classes in the Upper school.[9]

Ruth West Campbell, the third female headmistress of GA, was principal from 1915 to 1955. Under her stewardship, the school grew almost fivefold, becoming one of the leading day schools for girls in the Northeast, and added many programs and activities. She oversaw the purchase of 116 Maple Avenue, now part of Brunswick School. Ruth West Campbell Hall was named in honor of Campbell after her death.

Campus facilities

Middle School

The Greenwich Academy Middle School was originally built in 1962. In 2007, it underwent construction to become a LEED certified school, or a GREEN Middle School. This included adding meeting space, classrooms, air-conditioning, locker space, widening corridors, and upgrading lighting and technology. The Middle School has also added solar panels, recycled plastic toilet partitions, stone counter tops that are 75% glass and cement mixture, carpeting that is 50% recycled material and ceiling tiles that are 70% recycled material.

Upper School

The Upper School, completed in 2002, was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.[10]

On October 15, 2003, the Upper School building unveiled a light installation designed by artist James Turrell, called the Upper School Turrell Lighting. The light show, embedded in the beams of the school, runs for 16 minutes.[11]

Ruth West Campbell Hall

Ruth West Campbell Hall (RWC), named after the school's headmistress from 1925 to 1955, is located on the Greenwich Academy Campus. In 1950, Greenwich Academy purchased the old Rockefeller estate at 200 North Maple Avenue, its current location, and renamed the newly acquired building Ruth West Campbell Hall. The building served as the admission office and the field house. Now it houses administrative offices, a reception area, and a book store.

Wallace Performing Arts Center

The Performing Arts Center (PAC) contains Massey Theater a four hundred seat theater, a choral room, a dance studio, and practice rooms. The theater complex contains a scenery shop and a costume shop. Also in the theatrical complex is a small studio theater, nicknamed the Black Box Theater. The Black Box has computerized sound and lighting systems, a sprung floor and can accommodate one hundred seats. It is usually used for dance and theatrical productions.

The Jacobs Lobby is an exhibit space for art works. Just off the Jacobs Lobby is the Luchsinger Art Gallery, the setting for exhibiting the work of students, faculty and visiting artists.

Raether Athletic Center

Raether Athletic Center, a 26,852 square feet (2,494.6 m2) facility, was built in 1998. The gymnasium has two full courts used for a variety of sports including basketball and volleyball. The center includes a fitness room, five international squash courts, offices, and meeting spaces, as well as a training room. The Raether Athletic Center is also used for all-school gatherings.

E. Kay Cowan Early Learning Center

The E. Kay Cowan Early Learning Center (Cowan Center) was founded in 1991. It is a preschool and childcare program for children from birth to age five. The Cowan Center, located on campus, serves children of faculty and staff as well as children in the community.

Athletics

Greenwich Academy has 16 varsity teams, including squash, tennis, basketball, crew, cross-country, field hockey, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, sailing, soccer, softball, swimming, track, fencing, and volleyball. Facilities include Tammaro Field, with 202,000 square feet (18,800 m2) of the artificial grass known as Field Turf. The fields also include a full-size regulation baseball diamond. Greenwich Academy also has squash and tennis courts.

Notable alumnae

Media

Miranda Wells, the fictional protagonist of the Dragonwyck (novel) attended the school.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Private Independent Schools" (Connecticut: Bunting & Lyon, 1979), 105.
  2. ↑ Who and What
  3. ↑ Who and What
  4. ↑ "Back to School Preparations"
  5. ↑ Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College. Yale University Press, 1912, p,297.
  6. ↑ Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University. Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1880, p. 297.
  7. ↑ General FAQ, Brunswick School Official Website
  8. ↑ History, Greenwich Academy Official Website
  9. ↑ A Brunswick History Timeline, Brunswick School Official Website
  10. ↑ "Greenwich Academy Upper School Project Page".
  11. ↑ Greenwich Academy Upper School Project Page
  12. ↑ Dragonwyck on googlebooks

External links