Marin Academy

Marin Academy (familiarly known as MA) is a private college preparatory high school in San Rafael, California. Located on the campus that for decades housed the San Rafael Military Academy prior to its closure,^[2] MA was founded in 1971 with 16 faculty and a student body of 59.^[3]

From an admissions standpoint, Marin Academy is one of the most competitive private high schools in the Bay Area. In the 2015–2016 school year, Marin Academy accepted only one in four students who applied.^[4]

The cost of attendance at Marin Academy for the 2016–2016 school year is $42,100.^[5]

Curriculum

MA requires students to take two years of the fine arts program.^[6] In addition to classroom instruction, Marin Academy students undertake a number of non-traditional learning experiences such as minicourse,^[7] the Outings program^[8] and Vision Quest.^[9] The student body sustains many socially conscious student organizations^[10] and has been active in politics in Marin.^[11][12] The school has conducted conferences and workshops on equality and social justice,^[13][14][15] and has a tradition of seniors delivering speeches to school assemblies.^[16]

Foster Hall and 'the Circle' are at the center of Marin Academy's San Rafael campus

The new Library (right) and a renovated Administration building

A plaque dating from the days of the San Rafael Military Academy

Academics

Marin Academy has phased out all Advanced Placement classes with the exception of AP Environmental Science. Instead, a plethora of honors and advances courses are offered, which are said to contend with the rigor of traditional Advanced Placement classes.

Marin Academy is an academically focused school, with a student-to-teacher ratio of 9:1 and an average class size of 15. More than 67% of the faculty hold advanced degrees.^[1] More than 99% of Marin Academy graduates go on to attend a four-year college or university.^[17] Members of the graduating class of 2011 will be attending some of the most prestigious colleges in the United States such as Harvard University, Princeton University, Brown University, Stanford University, Columbia University, and MIT.

Travis Brownley, an educator who was the dean of several prestigious institutions such as the Groton School, was appointed the head of school in 2008 following the departure of the previous head of school, Bodie Brizendine, who had led the school for 12 years, and Dick Drew, who served as interim head of school.^[18]

Athletics

Marin Academy has developed a strong athletics program, highlighted by recent successes in boys' soccer, lacrosse, cross country and girls' volleyball. The school competes in The Bay Counties League (BCL) within the North Coast Section (NCS).

Marin Academy won back-to-back North Coast Section championships in boys' soccer in 2000 and 2001, and is a regular contender for regional championships. Girls' varsity soccer won the BCL and placed second in the North Coast Section Championship, losing to the Branson High School 4-2, in 2002. In 2006, the boys' soccer team won their third NCS championship in a match against University High School. Tied 1-1 through overtime, the NCS championship game was decided by penalty kicks, in which MA won 5-4.^[19] MA also defeated University in the BCL finals that year. In 2007, MA and University again matched up in the BCL and NCS championships, with UHS winning BCL and MA winning NCS 2-0. In 2008 MA and University were matched up once again in the BCL final and the Wildcats defeated the Devils 2-0.^[20] These 5 final matches have fueled a fierce rivalry between the two schools^[21] and have been known to attract the entire student body from both schools to matches specifically in the past at Kezar Stadium. Marin Academy's varsity soccer teams, of which the boys' was ranked as high as fourth in the country among schools of all sizes,^[22] are coached by Josh Kalkstein.

The girls' volleyball team won the state and NCS division V championships in 2004, after losing to University High School in both the NCS and Northern California championship games the year before.^[23]

In the 2012 spring season, the Girl's Varsity Swim Team set the first North Coast Section record in Marin Academy history, with a time of 1:34.82 in the 200 yard freestyle relay. The relay team consisted of senior Charlotte Kamai, junior Tai Hallstein, sophomore Isabelle Kitze, and freshman Maddie Salesky. The girls placed fifth overall at NCS, first out of Marin County teams, and first out of schools with fewer than one thousand students.

The Marin Academy Boys Lacrosse team placed first in NCS against the defending champion Marin Catholic in 2012.

The Marin Academy Cross Country team placed second in state Division V California State Championships in both 2013 and 2015.

Current athletics offered include:^[24]

Notable alumni

The following people attended Marin Academy (the year shown is their year of graduation or, for non-graduates, the year that their class graduated):

• Devon Baldwin- Pop Singer, American Idol
• Ruth Parasol ('84) – co-founder PartyGaming^[25]
• Nancy Juvonen ('85) – co-founder Flower Films^[26]
• Carré Otis ('87) – actress and model^[27]
• Peter Som ('89) – fashion designer^[28]
• Luke Esterkyn ('90), Greg Gueldner ('90), John McDermott ('90) – members of the band Stroke 9^[29]
• Jason Rezaian ('94) -- Washington Post reporter
• Christopher Ford ('99) – co-founder Waverly Films^[30]
• Rumi Neely ('00) – acclaimed fashion blogger at Fashion Toast^[31]
• Alexandra McCullagh ('05) – Member of the San Francisco Ballet^[32]

References

External links

• Marin Academy website
• Archive of Academic Courses
• Homepage for Marin Academy's Conference on Democracy
• Marin Academy Voice - Student Newspaper