Newark Academy

Newark Academy
File:Newark Academy.png
Ad Lumen (latin for toward enlightenment)
Location
91 South Orange Avenue Livingston, New Jersey, 07039 United States
Information
Type	Independent Coeducational
Established	1774
Founder	Alexander Macwhorter
Dean	Pegeen Galvin
Principal	Tom Ashburn (Middle School) Dr. Richard DiBianca (Upper School)
Head of School	Donald Austin
Faculty	65.0 (on FTE basis)[1]
Grades	6-12
Enrollment	565 (as of 2009-10)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	8.7:1[1]
Campus	68 acres (280,000 m2)
Mascot	Minuteman
Accreditation(s)	Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools[2] New Jersey Association of Independent Schools[3]
Newspaper	'The Minuteman'
Yearbook	'Polymnian'
Average class size	13
Athletics	15 sports
Literary Magazine	Prisms
Website	http://www.newarka.edu

Newark Academy is a coeducational private day school located in Livingston, New Jersey. With both lower and upper schools, this institution comprises grades six through twelve. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1928.^[2]

Newark Academy is the second oldest day school in the state of New Jersey, and is one of a few pre-Revolutionary schools still operating in the United States. The Academy was founded in 1774 by Alexander MacWhorter, a leading cleric and advisor to George Washington, and was located on Market Street in Downtown Newark. Temporarily closed after being burned by the British during the Revolutionary War, the school reopened in new quarters in 1792. In 1802, the Academy opened a separate division for girls, but the innovative program was closed in 1859. After 1929, it moved to Orange Avenue in the Roseville section of Newark. Finally, in 1964, the Academy moved from Newark to its current location, a 68 acre (275,000 m²) campus in Livingston, and became fully co-educational in 1971.

As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 565 students and 65.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.7.^[1]

Mission and general information

The school's mission statement is as follows:
Newark Academy will contribute to society thoughtful and compassionate citizens who embrace their responsibilities as ethical, intellectual and civic stewards in the global environment. The school's motto is ad lumen ("toward the light").

Newark Academy has a history of providing a rigorous academic program to students in grades 6-12 while paying scrupulous attention to the building of character. Newark Academy students are young men and women who are committed to their own intellectual development while making positive contributions to their school and the greater community in which they live. At Newark Academy, students learn through dialogue with both teachers and peers. Newark Academy challenges its young people to think for themselves and to use growing talents in the service of others.

Campus

Newark Academy is located on a 68-acre (280,000 m²) campus in northern New Jersey. The main, red brick, colonial-style building is home to a 550-seat auditorium, five science laboratories, 40 classrooms, a language laboratory, a computer facility and a 350-seat dining room.

The Hawkes Memorial Library, opened in 1974, houses a 23,000-volume collection, as well as a vast periodical and microfilm collection.

The Elizabeth B. McGraw Arts Center, which opened in 1992, contains three studio art classrooms (ceramics, drawing, and painting), a darkroom, a band/orchestra room, choral room, dance studio, a "black box" theater and an art gallery.

The Morris Interactive Learning Center, opened in 1995, houses 18 iMac computers, a Smartboard and projector, as well as scanners and printers for student and faculty use.

The Geochron (Geochron Global Time Indicator), which was purchased in 2004, is located in the main entrance hall, and cost approximately $2000. The Geochron shows at any given moment where it is light and dark in the world.

The most recent addition is the William E. and Carol G. Simon Family Field House, which opened in 2001. This 57,000-square-foot (5,300 m²) athletic center houses a gymnasium with three basketball courts, a six-lane pool with spectator area, a four-lane track and a state-of-the-art fitness center. Wrestling and fencing gyms are located in the main building.

Newark Academy's outdoor facilities include courtyards with seating areas, two baseball diamonds, a softball field, an all-weather track, a field hockey area, two lacrosse and soccer fields, two football fields, one basketball half court, a cross country course and 10 tennis courts.

Newark Academy's campus is bordered by woods along the Passaic River. In September 2002, the school marked the opening of The Carol J. Heaney Nature Trail, a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) system of hiking trails and outdoor classrooms.

Newark Academy embraces the opportunity to become a pioneer among educational institutions in minimizing its impact on the environment and in promoting efforts to restore the integrity of its surrounding ecological systems. The Academy’s current initiatives include increased recycling efforts, the introduction of energy efficient lighting, exploration of renewable energy options, Passaic River clean-up and maintenance of a campus vegetable garden.

Faculty and administration

Newark Academy’s faculty has an average of 22 years teaching experience, and 81% of the 72 teachers and administrators have advanced degrees; seven have earned doctorate degrees. All faculty members are experts in their fields. Teachers are available to meet regularly with their students, and the students thrive in this environment where collaboration is not only allowed for, but encouraged.

In January 2007, Donald M. Austin was appointed as the 49th Head of School for Newark Academy, effective July 1, 2007. He previously served as resident director for School Year Abroad in Rennes, France. He earned an undergraduate degree in English and French from Georgetown University, and a master’s of philosophy in French studies from New York University.

Austin's team of administrators includes Richard DiBianca, Ph.D., upper school principal; Tom Ashburn, middle school principal; Pegeen Galvin, dean of students; and Frederick Von Rollenhagen, dean of faculty.

Student body

As of the 2007-08 school year, Newark Academy had students from 79 communities in grades 6-12. There were 410 students in the upper school and 145 students in middle school. Ethnic minority students comprise 25% of the student population and 4% of the total population are international students from Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Germany, India, Israel, Russia, and the United Kingdom.^[4]

International statistics:

• 6% of students have dual citizenship.
• 15% have spent time living in other countries.
• 16% are fluent in a foreign language.
• 19% speak a foreign language at home.
• 29% have parents who were raised in another country.
• 93% have traveled outside the U.S.

Advanced curricula

Newark Academy is the only independent school in New Jersey that offers both the Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate Diploma (I.B.) programs.^{[citation needed]}

Advanced Placement

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program (AP) offers high school students the opportunity to do college-level work. Successful achievement on the culminating exams may result in credit or advanced placement upon matriculation to college. Newark Academy offers coursework leading to 21 AP exams in all five academic disciplines. Each year, about 450 AP exams are taken by the modestly sized upper school student body.

International Baccalaureate

In 1991, Newark Academy became the first school in New Jersey to grant the International Baccalaureate diploma, recognized worldwide as the standard of achievement for excellence.^[5] The I.B. diploma is awarded following successful completion of a rigorous, comprehensive, two-year curriculum. There are 28 members of the Class of 2007 who were pursuing the full I.B. diploma, and approximately 75% of the students in the Class of 2007 were enrolled in I.B. courses.

Class of 2009

The graduating class of the 2008-09 school year included 101 students, of which, 28 were National Merit Scholars, 5 were Hispanic Scholars, and 27 were IB Diploma Candidates.^[4]

Athletics

The Newark Academy Minutemen had been part of the Colonial Hills Conference which include 18 public and private high schools covering Essex County, Morris County and Somerset County in west Central Jersey, under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). They now compete in the Super Essex Conference. Newark Academy competes in the Non-Public B group in the North division of the Colonial Hills Conference. Along with strong match ups with these schools Newark Academy competes with powerhouse rivals Montclair Kimberly Academy and Pingry School. Though realignment but a break into the series, Pingry School and Newark Academy played their 114th football game against each other in 2008, as part of a series that dated back to 1894.^[6][7]

Newark offers a total of 15 sports programs over the course of the school year.

• Fall sports: men's and women's soccer, field hockey, women's tennis, football, women's volleyball and men's and women's cross country.
• Winter sports: men's and women's fencing, men's and women's swimming, wrestling, men's and women's basketball
• Spring sports: men's tennis, golf, baseball, softball, men's and women's lacrosse, and track.

Middle School students are required to participate in at least one sport each season, although interscholastic competition is not compulsory. Newark Academy's Men's and Women's Tennis programs, coached by William "Arky" Crook, The Star-Ledger Coach of the Decade for the 1990s, have enjoyed success at the state level for years, and are considered the finest in the state. The men's tennis team's 2007 NJSIAA Non-Public, North B state sectional championship marked the program's 23rd consecutive state title.

The 2006 boys tennis team won the 2006 Group B State Championship with a 5-0 win over Sacred Heart High School.^[8]

The 2007 boys tennis team and Baseball team won the NJSIAA Non-Public, North B state sectional championship with wins in the finals against Montclair Kimberley Academy in both tournaments.^[9][10]

The 2007 boys soccer team won the North B state sectional championship with a 2-1 win over Gill St. Bernard's School in the tournament final.^[11] The team moved on to win the Group B State Championship with a 1-0 win over Holy Cross High School.^[12]

Publications

Currently, Newark Academy has three publications; the award-winning newspaper, "The Minuteman", the yearbook, "The Polymnian", and the literary magazine, "Prisms".

Notable alumni

• Ryan Adeleye (born 1987), professional association football (soccer) player.^[13]
• Samuel S. Coursen (1926–50), Class of 1945. U.S. Military Academy graduate class of 1949 and posthumous recipient of Medal of Honor during the Korean War.^[14]
• Justin Gimelstob (born 1977), ATP professional tennis player.^[15]
• Alan B. Handler (born 1931), New Jersey Supreme Court Justice from 1977 until 1999.^[16]
• Chris Jacobs (born 1964), swimming medalist at the 1988 Summer Olympics.^[17]
• Chris Jacobs (born 1970), co-host of Discovery Channel's television show Overhaulin'.^{[citation needed]}
• Ernest Lester Jones (1876–1929), head of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1914 until his death.^[18]
• Stacey Kent (born 1968), jazz singer.^[19]
• Thomas N. McCarter (1867-1955), CEO of PSE&G Corporation, developer of Penn Station, and original benefactor of the McCarter Theatre in Princeton.^[20]
• James Parker (1854–1934), Major General in the United States Army and a Medal of Honor recipient for his role in the Philippine-American War during 1899.^[21]
• William E. Simon (1927–2000), 63rd Secretary of the Treasury under Richard Nixon.^[22]
• Gus Stager (born c. 1927), coach of 1960 U.S. Olympic swim team; swimming coach at University of Michigan for 25 years.^[23]
• Richard Thaler (born 1945), economist specializing in behavioral finance.^{[citation needed]}
• Edward Wyckoff Williams (born 1978), author, and political and economic analyst for MSNBC and NBC Universal.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Data for Newark Academy, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed July 6, 2011.
2. ^ ^{a b} Newark Academy, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools. Accessed July 6, 2011.
3. ^ School Search, New Jersey Association of Independent Schools. Accessed July 29, 2008.
4. ^ ^{a b} http://www.newarka.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=27458
5. ^ Newark Academy, International Baccalaureate. Accessed July 22, 2007.
6. ^ Staff. "Pingry tops Newark Academy in what could be teams' last meeting", Courier News, November 8, 2008. Accessed July 21, 2011. "Because of realignment, one of the oldest rivalries in the state might be on hold for a while.... Dylan Westerhold carried 11 times for 141 yards and a touchdown to help The Pingry School football team post a 3428 victory over Newark Academy in the 114th meeting between the schools."
7. ^ Parlin, Blackie. "A Grand Rivalry", Newark Academy Outreach, Spring 2009, p. 22. Accessed July 21, 2011. "It appears probable that the NA-Pingry football rivalry ended with last fall’s contest. New conference alignments will preclude a continuation of this long rivalry. Our records, sparse as they are, note that NA was victorious in 1894 by 36-0, again in 1895 by 26-6, again in 1896, 16-14. I am too committed to NA to report the 1897 score.... Now, I am going to vent here a great source of annoyance that I have. Who was it that said that MKA is our big rival? No. It’s Pingry. NA blood should boil at the mention."
8. ^ 2006 Boys Team Tennis - Non-Public Group Finals, NJSIAA. Accessed July 17, 2007.
9. ^ 2007 Boys Tennis - Non-Public, North B, NJSIAA. Accessed June 8, 2007.
10. ^ 2007 Baseball - North B, NJSIAA. Accessed July 22, 2007.
11. ^ 2007 Boys Soccer - North B, NJSIAA. Accessed November 14, 2007.
12. ^ 2007 Boys Soccer - Non-Public Finals, NJSIAA. Accessed November 14, 2007.
13. ^ "Ryan Adeleye". Carolina Tar Heels. http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/adeleye_ryan00.html. Retrieved 13 November 2009. 
14. ^ "Newark Academy to Honor Dead", The New York Times, September 13, 1951.
15. ^ Seeges, Sandy. "Last Open for Gimelstob: New Vernon tennis player has tough match in Roddick", Daily Record (Morristown), August 28, 2007. Accessed September 3, 2007. "The 30-year-old Gimelstob, a graduate of Newark Academy, has known for a while that his career was coming to an end."
16. ^ "Justice Alan B. Handler To Retire From the Supreme Court", New Jersey Judiciary, June 4, 1999. Accessed April 27, 2008.
17. ^ Litsky, Frank. " THE SEOUL OLYMPICS; Swimmer Outraces His Past", The New York Times, September 18, 1988. Accessed April 11, 2008. "At the age of 12, Chris Jacobs of Livingston, N.J., tried cocaine for the first time.... When the lost child survived junior high school, his parents enrolled him at Newark Academy, a private day school."
18. ^ Colonel E. Lester Jones, NOAA. Accessed December 20, 2007. "He received his educational training at the High School in Orange, New Jersey and at Newark Academy."
19. ^ Kaiser, Robert G. "Stacey Kent: A Name, And a Voice, That Lingers", The Washington Post, April 18, 2004.
20. ^ Staff. "T. N. M'CARTER SR., FOUNDED UTILITY; Former President of Public Service in Jersey Dies - Lawyer, Ex-Legislator", The New York Times, October 24, 1955. Accessed July 23, 2011. "Mr. McCarter was born in Newark on Oct. 20, 1867. He received his early education at the Newark Academy and prepared for college at Dr. Pingry's School in Elizabeth."
21. ^ Parker, James. The Old Army: Memories 1872-1918", p. vii., Stackpole Books, 2003. ISBN 0811728978. Accessed July 21, 2011. "In 1864, James Parker began his schooling at Englewood Academy, Perth Amboy, New Jersey.... Parker, an intelligent individual, was well-educated, attending the Newark Academy; the well-regarded Phillips Academy of Andover, Massachusetts; and the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York."
22. ^ History of the Treasury: William E. Simon, accessed November 29, 2006.
23. ^ GUS STAGER (USA), International Swimming Hall of Fame. Accessed February 19, 2008.

External links

• Newark Academy's website
• Data for Newark Academy, National Center for Education Statistics

Coordinates: 40°46′36″N 74°21′41″W / 40.776629°N 74.361369°W / 40.776629; -74.361369