Vermont Academy

Vermont Academy
Location
Saxtons River, VT
USA
Information
Type Private Boarding/Day
Established 1876
Head of School Stan Colla
Faculty approx. 50
Enrollment approx. 240
Average class size 10
Campus Rural
Color(s) Orange      Black     
Mascot Wildcat
Website http://www.vermontacademy.org
Vermont Academy

Vermont Academy ("VA") is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school in Saxtons River, Vermont, in the United States serving students from 9th to 12th grade and postgraduates. Founded in 1876, Vermont Academy's student body consists of boarding and day students from 30 states and 15 countries. The campus is 515 acres overlooking the village of Saxtons River.

Vermont Academy embraces the concept of having students actively participate in a class as opposed to passive learning. The Academy's goal is to discover the possibilities that lie beyond the traditional four walls of the classroom and work with students in more progressive methods that encourage and stimulate different types of learners.

The Academy's athletic offerings focus on this type of experiential education. Sports include cross country, biking, and Nordic skiing; varsity and junior varsity athletic teams compete weekly against teams from all around New England.

History

The school was founded in 1876. It originally included a lower school for younger boys and the school gave "special attention to life in the open".[1]

In 1934, Dartmouth College president Ernest Martin Hopkins recommended a fellow Dartmouth graduate for the job of headmaster of Vermont Academy. Laurence G. Leavitt was headmaster for 25 years, during which time he doubled enrollment, retired the school's debt and made many improvements to the school's campus.[2]

Academics

Athletics and outdoor activities

The school offers a wide-range of interscholastic athletic activities: alpine skiing, baseball, basketball, crew, cross country, dance, equestrian, field hockey, freeski, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, mountain biking, Nordic skiing, snowboarding, soccer, and tennis.

The school has five playing fields and two practice fields; an ice rink, with artificial ice-making and maintenance system; six tennis courts ("composition" courts); a 13-station ropes course; a mountain biking course, 20 kilometres (12 mi) of trails (for cross-country running and skiing, snowshoeing, and walks); and a winter sports park, complete with snowmaking, three ski jumps, a modest ski slope with rails, lighting, and a grooming machine. Off-campus activities include alpine skiing/snowboarding; an equestrian program; and Wilderness Program (hiking, rock-climbing, kayaking, canoeing, camping).

The school belongs to the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council and is a member of the Lakes Region League.

Studio and performing arts

The Academy offers theater productions (3 per year, plus cabarets and coffee houses); music (theory and composition, jazz and chamber ensembles, vocal ensemble, and private music lessons); dance; studio art (painting, drawing, pottery, 3-D art, portfolio development); filmmaking; and photography.

Campus

The Academy campus is located on the north side of the village of Saxtons River, bounded on the south by Burk Hill Road and the east by Pleasant Street. It is more than 31 acres (13 ha) in size, and includes buildings dating to the period of the school's founding in 1876. Jones Hall, now a dormitory, was built in that year, and was its only building until 1888, when Fuller Hall, the visual and administrative centerpiece, was built.[3] The campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

Buildings include a 350-seat performing arts center built in 2006, a newly renovated Learning Center, new Library, campus-wide wireless technology, a dance studio with Harlequin hard-wood sprung floor built in 2004, a fitness center and locker rooms in a renovated gym built in 2004, and an observatory with high-powered telescope built in 2003. There are separate dormitories for boys and girls. There is space for 60 girls and 111 boys. There is a Winter Snow Park on campus for skiing, snowboarding, and jumping which was built in 2003.

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Vermont Academy for Boys". The Independent. Jul 20, 1914. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  2. ↑ Laurence G. Leavitt, A Remembrance, Dartmouth College, dartmouth.edu
  3. ↑ "Draft NRHP nomination for Vermont Academy Historic District" (PDF). State of Vermont. Retrieved 2016-01-07.

Coordinates: 43°08′30″N 72°30′31″W / 43.1417444°N 72.5087004°W / 43.1417444; -72.5087004

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