Wilbraham & Monson Academy

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Wilbraham & Monson Academy
Rich Hall
Location
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Wilbraham , Massachusetts United States
Coordinates	42°07′20.96″N 72°25′53.67″W / 42.1224889°N 72.4315750°W / 42.1224889; -72.4315750Coordinates: 42°07′20.96″N 72°25′53.67″W / 42.1224889°N 72.4315750°W / 42.1224889; -72.4315750
Information
Type	Private, Boarding, Day
Motto	At Home. In the World.
Established	1804; 217 years ago (1804)
Head of School	Brian Easler
Faculty	66
Enrollment	400
Student to teacher ratio	6:1
Campus	400 acres (1.6 km2)
Mascot	Titans
Website	www.wma.us

Wilbraham & Monson Academy (WMA) is a college-preparatory school located in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1804, it is a four-year boarding and day high school for students in Grades 9-12 and postgraduate. A middle school, with Grades 6–8, offers boarding for Grade 8 students. The academy is located in the center of the town of Wilbraham, 75 miles from Boston and 150 miles from New York City.

WMA was established by the merger of two 19th-century academies — Monson Academy, founded in 1804,^[1] and Wesleyan Academy, founded in 1817 in New Market, New Hampshire. Wesleyan Academy relocated to Wilbraham in 1825 and was renamed Wilbraham Academy in 1917. In 1971, when the school merged with Monson Academy, the name was officially changed to Wilbraham & Monson Academy. Wesleyan was the first coeducational boarding school in the country, and Monson Academy became the first to enroll Chinese students in 1847.^{[citation needed]}

Academics[]

Faculty[]

WMA is led by 66 faculty members, 44 of whom live on campus and 70 percent who have advanced degrees. The program features small classes (6:1 student/teacher ratio) and 23 AP courses.^{[citation needed]} WMA's Middle School includes 64 students and has an average class size of eight.^{[citation needed]}

Athletics[]

Athletics include rugby, lacrosse, baseball, cross country, dance, wrestling, soccer, tennis, golf, football, ice hockey, basketball, track, riflery, volleyball, softball, water polo and swimming.^[2]

In fall 2007, the Academy unveiled its $4 million expansion of the Greenhalgh Athletic Center on campus. The expansion included a fitness room, a multi-purpose dance and wrestling space, a large conference room and new central locker facilities.^[3] During the last decade, a Turf Field and construction of new tennis courts are among countless improvements to on-campus facilities. WMA offers 29 varsity athletic teams, and 18 others that compete at the non-varsity level.

Notable alumni[]

• Henry Barnard, American educationalist
• Alfred Ely Beach, American inventor, publisher, and patent lawyer
• Mary Ann Booth, microscopist
• Tyrell Burgess, professional soccer player with Vancouver Whitecaps FC
• Kraisak Choonhavan, member of Thailand Senate for Nakhon Ratchasima Province (2000–2006); former Chairman of the Thai Senate's Foreign Relations Committee
• Russell H. Conwell, world renowned minister and founder of Temple University - 1859
• Winthrop Murray Crane, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1870-1880
• Emily Norcross Dickinson,^[4] mother of the famous 19th century poet Emily Dickinson
• Richard Fuld, former CEO Lehman Brothers
• Wenyen Gabriel, NBA basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans
• Bill Guerin, retired NHL hockey player; General Manager of Minnesota Wild; four-time Stanley Cup champion^[5]
• William Stewart Halstead, pioneering American surgeon, studied at Monson Academy for a time^[6]
• Ratcliffe Hicks, Connecticut state legislator, industrialist, lawyer, and benefactor of the University of Connecticut
• Galway Kinnell, poet
• Christine Ladd-Franklin, mathematician, logician and psychologist - 1865
• Pat Phelan, professional soccer player for the New England Revolution
• Nitya Pibulsonggram, Thai Ambassador to the US (1996-2000), Foreign Minister of Thailand (2006-2008)
• Humphrey Pickard, first president of Mount Allison University
• Charles Pratt, U.S. oil tycoon and founder of the Pratt Institute
• Joey Santiago, band member of the Pixies
• Pote Sarasin, Prime Minister of Thailand (1957) secretary-general of SEATO (1958–1964)
• Lucy Stone, orator, abolitionist, suffragist, and women's rights advocate
• William Strong (Pennsylvania judge), served as Governor of the Commonwealth 1900-1902
• Yung Wing, first Chinese graduate of an American university Yale University - 1854

See also[]

• Wilbraham Wesleyan Academy

References[]

Further reading[]

• Massachusetts Board of Education; George A. Walton (1877), "Report on Academies: Monson Academy", Annual Report...1875-76, Boston – via Internet Archive

External links[]

• Wilbraham & Monson Academy Website