Vermont Academy

History

The resolution to establish Vermont Academy was made at the annual meeting of the Vermont Baptist State convention in Windsor, Vermont on November 10, 1869. The school was to educate youth of both sexes from the Baptist community*.*

The largest subscription (of $20,000) came from a native of Saxtons River, Charles L. Jones, who was at that time living in Cambridge, MA. The first campus building was named after him: Jones Hall still stands today.

Founded in 1876 by William M. Pingry, Vermont Academy originally included a boys-only lower school, which gave "...special attention to life in the open."

In 1934 Laurence G. Leavitt became headmaster and served as such for twenty-five years. Enrollment doubled and school debt was eliminated.

Traditions

The Vermont Academy Evening Song

changing with each hour and day. We have found your hidden trout pools, where the light and shadows play.

Swirling sparks above a campfire, hemlocks laden down with snow. Autumn hillsides flaming crimson, where the sugar maples grow.

Morning mist upon the mountains, frosty stars across the sky. Snowy campus turned to silver, when the moon is riding high.

O Vermont, we will not leave you, here behind us when we part. We will take your beauty with us, etched forever on each heart!

Academics

The Vermont Academy curriculum includes courses in Art, College Counseling, English, History, Learning Skills, Mathematics, Music, Science, and World Language (French, Latin, or Spanish). Additionally, VA is a partner with Liceo Europeo, a private school in Madrid.

Athletics

Home of the Wildcats, Vermont Academy athletics compete in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council and are a member of the Lakes Region League. The school offers a wide range of sports, categorized by Fall, Spring, and Winter. Fall athletics include: crew, cross country, equestrian, mountain biking, soccer, and wilderness skills. Spring athletics include: baseball, equestrian, fly fishing, golf, lacrosse, rock climbing, and tennis. Winter athletics include: alpine, basketball, dance, freeski, hockey, nordic, skiing, and snowboarding.

The school has five playing fields and two practice ones, an ice rink, six tennis courts, a thirteen-station ropes course, a mountain biking course, 20 km of trails, and a winter sports park, including ski jumps and slopes.

Campus

The Vermont Academy campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

Tuition

Tuition for the 2023-2024 academic year is $69,500 for boarding students, and $38,000 for day students.

Notable alumni

File:Frank C. Archibald (Vermont Attorney General).jpg|Frank C. Archibald File:Bruce Brown Miami (cropped).jpg|Bruce Brown File:Clara Converse.jpg|Clara Converse File:Paul Percy Harris 1968 Brazil stamp.jpg|Paul Harris File:Jordan Nwora.jpg|Jordan Nwora File:HollywoodVampsSSe200618-151 (43604265504).jpg|Joe Perry File:BillTorrey.jpg|Bill Torrey

Vermont Academy has educated numerous American politicians and military officers, including the diplomat John Barrett (1885), the ambassador Mark Palmer (1959), the judges Joseph Bogdanski (1931), Fred Tarbell Field (1895), and Frank L. Fish, and three members of the House of Representatives: Henry L. Bowles, Howard A. Coffin, and Samuel B. Pettengill (1904). Frank C. Archibald, the seventh Vermont Attorney General, also graduated from the school. Frank E. Putnam, who was a lawyer and served in the Minnesota Senate, graduated from the Vermont Academy. Military officers include United States Army officers Donald E. Edwards (1955) and Bruce M. Lawlor (1966), Marine Corps officer William W. Stickney (1922), and Navy officer Joseph Metcalf III (1946).

A number of graduates have also pursued professional sports. Professional basketball players include: Bruce Brown (2016), Keron DeShields (2011), Corey Johnson (2015), Tyrique Jones (2016), Jordan Nwora (2017), Simisola Shittu (2018), and Christian Vital, who later transferred to St. Thomas More School. Brown and Nwora are the only two to have played in the National Basketball Association, with Nwora winning the 2021 NBA Finals with the Milwaukee Bucks and Brown accomplishing the feat in 2023 with the Denver Nuggets. Professional hockey players include Chloé Aurard (2018), Paul Fenton (1978), Lotti Odnoga (2018) and Blanka Škodová (2018), while Bill Torrey (1952) is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame as an executive in the National Hockey League, as a General Manager of the New York Islanders in the 80s, winning four Stanley Cups in a row. Other notable athletes include Bert Abbey (1887) and Danny MacFayden of Major League Baseball, the skiers Rob DesLauriers (1983) and Joseph Peter Wilson, the football player Marcus Santos-Silva (2017), and Jim MacLaren (1981), a triathlete. John Henry Williams (1986), the only son of the baseball great Ted Williams, also attended the school.

Three notable founders and inventors attended Vermont Academy in the nineteenth-century, including: Paul Harris (1888), the founder of Rotary International; Russell W. Porter (1891), the founder of amateur telescope making; and Archibald Query (1900), the inventor of Marshmallow Fluff. Christopher A. Sinclair (1967), the former chief executive officer of Pepsi, also graduated from the school.

The authors George Burwell Utley, Mark W. Smith (1987), John Steptoe, and Helen M. Winslow, the orthodontist Albert H. Ketcham, the scientist Florence R. Sabin (1889), and the religious figures Bishop John Bryson Chane (1963) and missionary Clara Converse (1879), who is credited with establishing education for women in Japan, all graduated from the school.

Joe Perry (1969), the lead guitarist of the noted rock band Aerosmith, graduated from Vermont Academy.

Controversies

In 2014, Brant Nelson, a math and science teacher at Vermont Academy, was charged with possession and production of child pornography, as well as interstate travel to engage in sexual acts with a minor, and interstate transportation of a minor for sexual activity. Vermont Academy fired Nelson in 2012 after receiving reports of CSAM on his computer. He was later sentenced to 30 years in prison.

References

References

1. (Jul 20, 1914). "The Vermont Academy for Boys". The Independent.
2. "A Remembrance".
3. "American High School in Madrid | Vermont Academy - Liceo Europeo".
4. "Vermont Academy | Wildcat Nation".
5. "Vermont Academy | Athletic Facilities".
6. "Draft NRHP nomination for Vermont Academy Historic District". State of Vermont.
7. "Vermont Academy {{!}} Affording Vermont Academy".
8. (12 January 2012). "Vt. Teacher Fired, Under Police Investigation".
9. (22 June 2015). "Saxtons River Teacher Sentenced to Prison for Child Exploitation Offenses".