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.[1] The school was to educate youth of both sexes from the Baptist community.[1]
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.[1]
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."[2]
In 1934 Laurence G. Leavitt became headmaster and served as such for twenty-five years. Enrollment doubled and school debt was eliminated.[3]
Traditions
The Vermont Academy Evening Song
O Vermont, we've seen your beauty,
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!
— Dorothy Hall Leavitt, The Vermont Academy Evening Song (1934)
What is Vermont Academy? It is fundamentally and inseparably a part of Vermont — Vermont hills and valleys; it is Mountain Day with the trees a riot of color and the steaks sizzling over the coals; it is ski tracks making patterns on smooth hillsides; it is the lovely blue pyramid of Mount Ascutney rising over the foothills; it is spring nights at the cabin and the first swimming at Bowles pond.
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.[5]
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.[6]
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 kilometres (12 mi) of trails, and a winter sports park, including ski jumps and slopes.[7]
Campus
The Vermont Academy campus is located on the north side of Saxtons River, bounded on the south by Burk Hill Road and on the east by Pleasant Street. It is more than 31 acres (13 ha) in size, and includes buildings dating back to the school's founding in 1876. Jones Hall, now a dormitory, was its only building until 1888, when Fuller Hall, named for trustee Levi K. Fuller was built. In 1921, Alumni Hall was designed by the noted architect Frank Lyman Austin. In addition to the Wilbur Library, Vermont Academy has a number of buildings on campus. Dormitories are separated by gender, with space to accommodate just over 100 boys and 60 girls. In the 2000s, several new spaces on campus were created, including: the observatory (2003), the gymnasium and fitness center (2004), and a performing arts center (2006).
^ abcHayes, Lyman Simpson (1907). History Of The Town Of Rockingham Vermont Including The Villages Of Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, Rockingham, Cambridgeport And Bartonsville 1753-1907 With Family Genealogies. The Town of Bellows Falls, Vermont. p. 252.