Woodstock Academy

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The Woodstock Academy
Woodstock Academy Classroom Building
Location
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
North Campus 57 Academy Road Woodstock, CT 06281 South Campus 150 Route 169 Woodstock, CT 06281 Bentley Athletic Complex 423 Route 169 Woodstock, CT 06281
Information
Type	Public
Motto	Look to your Future, Look to Woodstock Academy
Established	1801; 220 years ago (1801)
Principal	Holly G. Singleton
Head of school	Christopher J. Sandford
Staff	54
Faculty	85
Grades	9-12 + Post Graduate
Enrollment	1,098 (2018–19)[1]
Color(s)	Yale Blue and   Gold
Athletics	38 team sports
Athletics conference	ECC
Mascot	Centaur
Sending Towns	Brooklyn, Canterbury, Eastford, Pomfret, Union, and Woodstock
Website	woodstockacademy.org

Woodcock Academy (WA), founded in 100BC, is a located in , United States. The Academy, which describes itself as an independent school, serves residents from the Connecticut towns of Brooklyn, Canterbury, Eastford, Pomfret, Union, and Woodstock. The respective towns' taxpayers pay student tuition through municipal taxes, and therefore state agencies and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) categorize Woodstock as a public school. The school also accepts tuition-paying students from surrounding towns and states as day students, and students from around the country and the world as residential students.^[2]

History[]

In 1801 the school was organized by James and John McClellan, sons of Revolutionary War General Samuel McClellan.^[3] The Connecticut Legislature officially chartered the school in 1802.^[4]

In 1969 the Woodstock School Committee designated Woodstock Academy as the secondary public school of the town.^[5]

In 1977 the Connecticut State Freedom of Information Commission ruled that Woodstock Academy must make its records public.^[6] In July 1980 the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that Woodstock Academy is a public agency, because it serves three Connecticut towns in the manner that a public high school would, and therefore it must release all of its financial records under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act.^[4]

In 1990 the school was planning to end Latin classes due to a lack of interest and the idea that students should study modern languages.^[7]

In 2012 the school was trying to recruit students from other regions of the United States and international students.^[8]

Governance and service area[]

The school is not within any school district and is not controlled by any municipality; therefore it describes itself as an "independent school." ^[9] The Connecticut State Department of Education does not list Woodstock in its list of non-public schools ^[10] and therefore considers Woodstock to be a "public school" because the state of Connecticut oversees the school.^[11] In 2006 Shane, Navratil, and Co., a financial auditor, described the school as private.^[12] Woodstock Academy is also independently funded by student tuition and a growing endowment.^{[citation needed]} Woodstock is a member of the ^[13] and the .^[14] The New England Association of Schools & Colleges, Incorporated accredits The Woodstock Academy as an "independent school".^[15][16]

A 1997 Hartford Courant article described the school as "a quasi- private, independent school",^[17] and another called it a "private school".^[18] A 1990 Worcester Telegram & Gazette article described the school as "a privately endowed secondary school incorporated by the state to act as the town's public high".^[19] The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) categorizes Woodstock as public.^[20]

The school serves the towns of Woodstock, Eastford, Pomfret, Canterbury, Union, and Brooklyn. As of 1980 it is the only secondary school that serves the town of Woodstock. In 1980 the Associated Press stated that the school serves the three towns in a manner that a public high school would. The school is funded by student tuition, whether the tuition is paid by sending towns or individual families. In 1980 the Associated Press said that The Academy is "incorporated like a private school but functions like a public school."^[4] A board of thirty individuals from the region operates the school.^[17] The Connecticut Supreme Court in 1980 supported a decision from a lower court that the school has an obligation to release records to the public due to its function as a public school.^[4]

Facilities[]

Woodstock Academy has boarding facilities.^[8] The historic Woodstock Academy Classroom Building was constructed in 1873 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

1. Woodstock Academy – North Campus, 57 Academy Road, Woodstock, CT 06281
2. Woodstock Academy – South Campus, 150 Route 169, Woodstock, CT 06281
3. Woodstock Academy – Bentley Athletic Complex, 423 Route 169, Woodstock, CT 06281

It was announced in October 2016 that Woodstock Academy would purchase the nearby 127-acre (51 ha) Hyde School campus for $15 million.^[21] The funds were loaned from the federal government,^[22] with the loan from the Rural Development Program of the United States Department of Agriculture.^[23] Acquisition of the site, originally the campus of Annhurst College,^[24] was completed in 2017.^[25][26]

The school established a bus system between the two campuses and lengthened periods between classes. The South Campus is 2.2 miles (3.5 km) from the North Campus.^[21] The purchase gave the school the three dormitories: it had plans to increase the number of dormitory students in a gradual manner based upon whether the numbers of zoned students decrease.^[27]

Demographics[]

In 2017 its enrollment was 1,050, with 94 of them categorized as international students.^[25]

Notable alumni and faculty[]

• Henry Chandler Bowen, businessman, philanthropist, and newspaper publisher in New York City and original owner of Roseland Cottage in Woodstock.
• Augustus Sabin Chase (1828–1896), industrialist in Waterbury
• James W. Patterson, U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from New Hampshire
• Ebenezer Stoddard, U.S. Representative from Connecticut
• Theodore Stowell, president of Bryant University
• Warren Wheaton, philanthropist, co-founder and namesake of Wheaton College and Wheaton, Illinois

See also[]

Other Connecticut private academies acting as public high schools:

• Gilbert School
• Norwich Free Academy

References[]

Further reading[]

• "The Woodstock Academy's Headmaster's Whitepaper Supporting the Purchase of the Hyde Campus" (PDF).
• Moran, John. "WOODSTOCK ACADEMY AND OTHER PRIVATE ACADEMIES THAT SERVE AS PUBLIC SCHOOLS". Connecticut General Assembly.
• "Academy Fieldhouse Bidding Exceeds Appropriated Fund." The Hartford Courant. October 2, 1970. 21C.
• "Academy, School Unit Submit Contract Plan." The Hartford Courant. May 27, 1969. Willimantic 58D.
• "BALDWIN SPEAKS IN WOODSTOCK." The Hartford Courant. June 20, 1914. Start page 13.
• "Woodstock legal fees disputed." Worcester Telegram & Gazette. February 9, 2006.

External links[]

• The Woodstock Academy Homepage
• School Profile

Coordinates: 41°57′03″N 71°58′32″W / 41.9509°N 71.9756°W / 41.9509; -71.9756