- Norwich Free Academy
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The Norwich Free Academy Location Norwich, Connecticut, USA Coordinates 41°32′13″N 72°04′52″W / 41.537°N 72.081°WCoordinates: 41°32′13″N 72°04′52″W / 41.537°N 72.081°W Information Type Public (often described as Independent) Motto Tradition & Innovation Established 1854 Head teacher David Klein[1] Faculty About 150 Number of students More than 2300[1] Color(s) Red & White Athletics Eastern CT Conference Class LL
Website http://www.norwichfreeacademy.com The Norwich Free Academy (commonly called "NFA") founded in 1854 and in operation since 1856, is a high school located in the city of Norwich, Connecticut. The Academy serves as the primary high school for Norwich and the surrounding towns of Canterbury, Bozrah, Voluntown, Sprague, Lisbon, Franklin, Preston and several others. It was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 2001. The class of 2006 graduated in NFA's 150th year of operation.
The Norwich Free Academy was incorporated in 1855 by an act of the Connecticut Legislature, and it operates as an endowed educational institution. It is governed by its Board of Trustees without control from either the City of Norwich or the Norwich Public Schools.[citation needed] The Academy therefore describes itself as an independent school. The Connecticut State Department of Education does not list NFA in its list of non-public schools,[2] and therefore considers it to be a public school because the state of Connecticut oversees the school.[3] NFA is a member of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools.[4] NFA serves as a secondary school of choice to Norwich and seven surrounding communities (Bozrah, Canterbury, Franklin, Lisbon, Preston, Sprague, and Voluntown), as well as tuition students.
Campus
NFA is located at 305 Broadway [2] across from Park Church and the Chelsea Parade.
Shattuck House
Shattuck House is the building in which most upperclassmen English and history classes are held; consisting of three floors of classrooms in the larger section of the building, as well as a smaller section that houses four other classrooms as well as the Shattuck main offices.
Levanto House
This building is used for all alumni affairs, and should not be confused with Alumni Hall. It is named in honor of a former superintendent, Joseph Levanto.
Bradlaw House
Bradlaw House, known informally as "M.T." in the past, is the main building for most math and computer related classes. There are also Tech Ed classes in the basement, and painting and sculpture classes held on the main floor. The structure was named after a former teacher, Paul Bradlaw. A major addition, the Sidney E. Frank Center for Visual and Performing Arts, was completed in 2005.
Converse Art Gallery
The gallery and building is named in the memory of Colonel John Converse. The Converse building holds various art, English, marine biology and mathematics classes on the first floors and basement. Capped with a large pyramid skylight for a roof, the upper floor is home to the Converse Art Gallery on the third floor, showcasing quite a bit of student work as well as that of other local artists.
Cranston House
Cranston, formerly known as Commercial, was established as the ninth grade house during the 1989-1990 academic year. The building now houses very few classes for upperclassmen. The cooking classroom, as well as The Brickview Inn, a student run alternative to the cafeteria, is located in the basement of the building. Classes include all freshmen level academics, as well as some business classes. The roof of the Cranston building sports an astronomical observatory donated by members of the Mallove and Albertson families.
The Brickview Inn
The Brickview Inn was originally opened on the third floor of the Bradlaw House before it moved its facilities. It gained the name because of the prominence of the red brick that composed the nearby Tirrell House, Slater Hall and Converse Art Gallery. Now located in the basement of the Cranston House, the Brickview is managed entirely by the student body. The Restaurant Management class uses this as their classroom, with the seniors who elect to take the course managing, shopping for, cooking and serving the food to guests. The Brickview serves gourmet and often exotic meals to students on Tuesdays and Thursdays from October to May. The restaurant has a homestyle theme, with paintings on the walls and various plants.
Latham Science and Information Center
Latham is home to many science classrooms. A number of modernized physics and chemistry labs are located in this building. There are also a few meeting rooms and offices. Latham's most notable point is the Land Library upstairs. Spanning two floors, it contains a comprehensive selection of books, mircofilm and has numerous computer terminals for online information. The building is named after Nathaniel Latham, and the Library after Edwin H. Land, both alumni.
Norton-Peck Library
The Peck Library was originally located in southwestern corner of the second floor of Slater Hall in space that is now used for museum purposes. NFA acquired the Lafayette Foster House, a large Italianite Victorian mansion, and an endowment for a library from the Norton estate about 1953, and the Peck Library was relocated into the Lafayette Foster House to create the Norton-Peck Library. The Norton-Peck Library served as the school library until Latham was constructed and connected to the house. The Norton-Peck and Land Libraries are now one building. After the library moved its collection to the more modern facilities of Land, the Lafayette Foster House was converted to use for office space and conference rooms. Occasionally, school clubs use the rooms as meeting spaces.
Norton and Alumni Gymnasium
This is the older of the two gymnasiums, under which the locker rooms and weight rooms are located. A large multipurpose classroom utilized for CPR training, indoor basketball court, dance class, and some PE classes are located.
Slater Hall and Museum
The Slater Memorial Museum in 1958
Named in honor of John Fox Slater, it holds the theater. In the basement, there is the campus safety department. Above the theater, Slater Memorial Museum resides. This museum marks NFA as one of the few high schools in the nation with an active historical institution on campus.[citation needed] The museum contains a collection of plaster casts of famous Roman, Greek and Egyptian statues. The museum also contains numerous exhibits of colonial and historic artifacts, as well as a collection of representationalist paintings, smaller sculpture and ethnic art.
Sidney E. Frank Center For Visual and Performing Arts
This building was completed in 2005 as an addition to the Bradlaw building. It has become the new home to the instrumental and vocal music programs, located in the Eva Virginia Smith Instrumental Music Suite, as well as an ensemble room, used mainly for computer presentations and small assemblies. There are a few math and social studies classrooms in this building as well. A small student art gallery is located in the lobby.
Tirrell Building
Also called Main or Main Building, it holds the TV studio and cafeteria at the basement, as well as the language classrooms, health classroom, and many science classrooms. Tirrell is named after former superintendent Henry A. Tirrell.
Demographics
Racial makeup of the school in 2006-2008 was
White 76.5%,
African American 11.4%,
Native American 1.6%,
Asian 5.7%,
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.7% of the population. [3]The total minority population for the school in 2006-2007 was 27.5%
The total minority population for the school in 2001-2002 was 20.1%Statistics
Graduation Rate
Graduation Rate for Class of 2006: 93.6%
State Average: 92.2% [4]Activities of Graduates
% Attending Two or Four Year College:
2006: 82.5%
2001: 77.6% [5]Staff Education
% of Staff with Master’s degree or Above: 84.0%
State Average: 76.0% [6]Varsity sport teams
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Cheerleading
- Running
- Fencing
- Field Hockey
- Football
- Golf
- Gymnastics
- Hockey
- Lacrosse
- Marching Band
- Soccer
- Swimming
- Tennis
- Track and Field
- Volleyball
- Wrestling
Notable alumni
- John-Manuel Andriote, '76 - author and journalist[5]
- William J. Evans, '42 - Air Force general; former commander-in-chief of United States Air Forces in Europe[6]
- John H. Fanning, ? - lawyer; member and chairman of the National Labor Relations Board[7]
- Sidney Frank, '38 - businessman[8]
- Wally Lamb, '68 - author (She's Come Undone, I Know This Much Is True)[9]
- Edwin H. Land, '26 - scientist and inventor, co-founder of Polaroid[10]
- William J. Mills, ? - jurist and last governor of New Mexico Territory[11]
- Don Pardo, '37 - television announcer (Saturday Night Live)[12]
- Matt Shaughnessy, '05 - professional football player (Oakland Raiders)[13]
- Pete Slosberg, '68 - brewer, founder of Pete's Brewing Company[14]
References
- ^ a b Lemoine, Anna Maria (Sep 13, 2011). "NFA’s new superintendent signs contract worth $215,000 per year". Norwich Bulletin. http://www.norwichbulletin.com/carousel/x462620754/NFA-chairman-New-superintendent-signs-contract#axzz1a5X8zhrR. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
- ^ "Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Schools in Connecticut." Connecticut State Department of Education. Retrieved on October 24, 2009.
- ^ "STRATEGIC SCHOOL PROFILE 2005-06 High School Edition Norwich Free Academy." Connecticut State Department of Education. Retrieved on October 24, 2009.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Mosher, James (March 22, 2011). "Norwich author wants to put coffee bar in Otis Library". Norwich Bulletin. http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x645475513/Man-wants-coffee-bar-in-Otis-Library#axzz1VJFkHzWk. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ^ "GENERAL WILLIAM JOHN EVANS". US Air Force. http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5376. Retrieved 2011 Aug 17.
- ^ Flint, Peter B. (July 23, 1990). "John Harold Fanning Dies at 73; A Chief of Labor Relations Board". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/23/obituaries/john-harold-fanning-dies-at-73-a-chief-of-labor-relations-board.html. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ^ "Norwich Free Academy Receives $12 Million for Endowment". Philanthropy News Digest. Nov 11, 2004. http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=86900022. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
- ^ Lamb, Wally. "Essays: Braided Cords". HarperCollins Publishers. http://www.harpercollins.com/author/microsite/readingguide.aspx?authorID=5579&displayType=essay&articleId=3482. Retrieved 2011-09-17.
- ^ McElheny, Victor K. (1998). Insisting on the Impossible: The Life of Edwin Land. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. p. 16. http://books.google.com/books?id=YuRdPQAACAAJ. Retrieved 2011 Oct 07.
- ^ Anderson, George B. (1907). History of New Mexico: its resources and people. Volume 1. Los Angeles: Pacific States Pub. Co. p. 307. OCLC 1692911. http://books.google.com/books?id=rbM1AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA307&dq=William+J.+Mills.
- ^ Curland, Richard (January 19, 2010). "NFA grad joining TV Hall of Fame". Norwich Bulletin. http://www.norwichbulletin.com/communities/x1672018272/NFA-grad-joining-TV-Hall-of-Fame#axzz1VJFkHzWk. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ^ "Where Are They Now?". NFASports.com. http://www.nfasports.com/services.html. Retrieved 2011 Aug 17.
- ^ Bessette, Claire (May 17, 2001). "'Wicked' guy this year's Norwich Native Son". The Day: p. B4. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=20010517&id=bf8gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=inQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1145,3325425. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
External links
Categories:- Norwich, Connecticut
- Schools in New London County, Connecticut
- Educational institutions established in 1854
- Blue Ribbon schools in Connecticut
- Public high schools in Connecticut
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