- Chamberlain-Hunt Academy
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Chamberlain-Hunt Academy Address 124 McComb Ave
Port Gibson, MS, Claiborne, 39150
United StatesCoordinates 31°56′45″N 90°59′10″W / 31.94583°N 90.98611°WCoordinates: 31°56′45″N 90°59′10″W / 31.94583°N 90.98611°W Information School type Private Boarding Motto Knowledge and Wisdom in Submission to God Denomination Presbyterian Established 1879 Status Open President Jack West Principal Quentin Johnston Commandant Todd Patterson Teaching staff 22 Grades 7-12 Language English Athletics conference MAIS Sports soccer, basketball, track, cross-country, golf, and tennis Website chamberlain-hunt.com Chamberlain-Hunt Academy, founded in 1879, is a private Christian (Presbyterian) military boarding school in rural Port Gibson, Mississippi, USA, for boys in grades 7 through 12 (ages approx. 13 to 18 inclusive). It claims to "provide an environment for boys that interrupts their usual way of acting: haircuts and uniforms change their appearance, schedules change their routines, and accountability changes their behavior. The cadre and the curriculum change what the cadets would otherwise put into their brains."[1]
Its current slogan is "Knowledge and Wisdom in Submission to God".[1] It has advertised in the past under the slogan "We Love Boys; We Build Men".[2]
In 1970 the school opened its doors to day students, including a small number of girls, but the boarding program is open to boys only. (Girls were admitted as boarders for a short period, but this experiment was abandoned in 2002.) All the boarding students have always been called "cadets".
Currently, Chamberlain-Hunt has about 150 cadets and 25 classroom teachers. The Principal since 2008 is LTC Quentin Johnson and the Commandant is LTC Todd Patterson.
Cadets come to Chamberlain-Hunt from all over the United States, from across the spectrum of social and economic backgrounds, for its challenging academic program and its, by modern US standards, exceptionally rigorous military discipline. The school believes that regular physical activity develops good physical wellbeing, strength and confidence, and that military structure teaches and encourages self-discipline and responsibility.
Cadets also benefit from a variety of off-campus activities, as well as movies, games and activities on-campus.
The campus includes a 70-acre (280,000 m2) wilderness camp with rifle range, two confidence courses, paintball and 5-acre (20,000 m2) lake. The immediate area, with its buildings in brick Georgian Revival style, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[3] Chamberlain-Hunt is a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS), the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States (AMCSUS),[4] and the Association of Classical Christian Schools.
Contents
History
The academy was founded in 1879 as a successor to another Presbyterian institution, Oakland College in nearby Lorman, which had been forced to close during the Civil War. The Academy's name honors Dr. Jeremiah Chamberlain, the founder (in 1830) and first president of Oakland College, and Mr. David Hunt, a local benefactor. It has been in its current premises, after moving from its first location next door to the First Presbyterian Church in Port Gibson, since 1900.[5] It became a full military school in 1911. It went into a decline in the 1990s, when enrollment fell to just 22 cadets[6] but in 1998 it was saved from closure by being taken over by French Camp Academy, another Christ-centered (but not military) boarding school in northern Mississippi, and since then has experienced rapid growth.[7] However, CHA continues to operate autonomously with its own unusually strict traditions.
The school is mentioned in the 1964 Warren Commission report on the assassination of President Kennedy, because the elder brother and stepbrother of Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin, were cadets at CHA in the late 1940s.[8] After the assassination, the school stressed that Lee Oswald himself was never a student at CHA.[9]
In the 1960s CHA had the reputation of being a "white flight" institution,[6] but it now welcomes all races and currently has about 40% ethnic minority enrolment.[10]
On its 125th birthday in 2004, CHA held a Founders' Day Convocation at nearby Alcorn State University (whose premises are on the Academy's original pre-1900 site) with special guest, US Senator Trent Lott.[11]
Academics
Many cadets enroll at Chamberlain-Hunt Academy because, although bright, they are under-performing academically. The school aims to provide a special environment in which boys can learn, and develop the skills necessary to learn.
Chamberlain-Hunt Academy offers a college preparatory curriculum. Cadets earn Carnegie credits for satisfactorily completing course work on a semester basis. All cadets must take a full course load (a minimum of 5 academic classes).
In addition to the ACT and SAT, many cadets take the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) made up of verbal, math and technical tests to help them access future job or professional pathways. About one-third of CHA graduates go into the military.
Students also study ethics and Christian character in 7th grade, Old and New Testament in 8th-10th, and the Westminster Confession in 11th, and take a Biblical worldview class in 12th grade.
The school believes that "in nearly every case that a cadet is performing poorly in multiple courses, there is a problem with the cadet's spirit that requires discipline." Therefore, cadets who accumulate two or more academic deficiencies by the end of a 9-week grading period will be placed on Academic Profile. A cadet earns removal from Academic Profile by passing all of his courses during a grading term and receiving no deficiency reports.[12]
As a result of these distinctive policies, the school states that many students have seen dramatic improvements in their grades. In the second quarter of the 2008-2009 academic year, 55 cadets earned a 3.0 GPA or higher. 69 cadets improved their GPA from first quarter to second quarter.[13]
Spiritual life
Cadets are expected to memorize the Westminster Catechism. Chapel worship is held on Wednesday. Devotions are held Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Cadets are taught the Christianity of the Apostle Paul, St. Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, and their theological descendants. The school regards the Bible as the Holy and inerrant Word of God.
Athletics
The athletic program includes both interscholastic sports and intramurals. Students compete in soccer, basketball, track, cross-country, golf, and tennis. The academy's policy states that "the win/lose record is much less important than the achievement of individual and team discipline and the development of the character qualities of honesty, integrity and sportsmanship."[14]
The school's sports colors are maroon, white and black. The teams are known as the Wildcats.
Wilderness program
Every cadet is required to complete the Wilderness Program. This makes use of the school's 70-acre (280,000 m2) site and includes a confidence course, an obstacle course and a ropes course. The objective of the program is stated to be "to provide a challenging and rewarding means of developing, and an objective means of assessing the development of leadership, community, camaraderie, collective responsibility, and esprit de corps in the Corps of Cadets".[15]
Discipline and uniform
Chamberlain-Hunt states that it is "one of the few military schools left in the U.S. that self-consciously maintains its distinctive Christian character and strict military discipline".[1] It believes that discipline is essential to successful learning and living in God's world. "Rules are clearly stated, and any breach of them is accompanied by sure and swift consequences. This is often physical in nature, through activities such as marching or calisthenics[.]" [16]
The system of rules and consequences is set out in the Cadet Handbook.[17]
References
- ^ a b c CHA brochure.
- ^ Display advertisement, Delta Democrat Times, Greenville, MS, August 4, 1946, p.16.
- ^ National Register Information System[dead link], National Park Service.
- ^ Chamberlain-Hunt Academy page at AMCSUS.
- ^ Rosanna Gage, "Corps' curriculum: Port Gibson's Chamberlain-Hunt Academy celebrates 125 years of service to God and country", Mississippi Magazine, March 2005.
- ^ a b Susan Olasky, "Back-to-basics training: By renewing its Christian vision, Mississippi's Chamberlain-Hunt Academy stemmed a decline common to military schools", WORLD magazine, March 13, 2004.
- ^ "Small Schools That Work", Capital Research Center, March 2004.
- ^ Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. XI - Page 472.
- ^ Lars Eighner, Mississippi: The Summer of 1964, July 2005.
- ^ National Center for Educational Statistics.
- ^ "Lott speaks to CHA students during anniversary celebration at Alcorn", The Natchez Democrat, October 31, 2004.
- ^ Chamberlain-Hunt Academics page.
- ^ Cadet Life, January 2009, Chamberlain-Hunt Academy.
- ^ Chamberlain-Hunt athletics.
- ^ Chamberlain-Hunt Wilderness Program.
- ^ "The Need for Christian Military Schools" by Michael G. Herrin, Chaplain of Chamberlain-Hunt Academy.
- ^ Cadet Handbook.
External links
- Chamberlain-Hunt Academy official website
- Raising Boys to be Men, interview with Col. Shane Blanton, President of CHA, Albert Mohler Radio Program, January 2008.
- History of the CHA buildings in Mary Carol Miller et al., Must See Mississippi, Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2007. ISBN 1578068452
- Biography of Jeremiah Chamberlain (1794-1851) at Dickinson College, PA.
- Picture of Chamberlain-Hunt Academy Historical Marker board at waymarking.com
Categories:- NRHP articles with dead external links
- Boarding schools in Mississippi
- Private schools in Mississippi
- Boys' schools in the United States
- High schools in Mississippi
- Education in Claiborne County, Mississippi
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