Wesleyan School

Wesleyan School is a private K-12 school in Norcross, Georgia. It has existed on its current grounds since 1996, and runs K-12 with a student body of 1081. The high school is composed of about 430 students, and competes in Region 6-AA in the Georgia High School Association. Wesleyan is named after John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and all faculty are professed Christians from varying denominations.

History

Wesleyan School was established in 1963 as an integral part of Sandy Springs United Methodist Church. Originally known as Wesleyan Day School, the school began as a preschool dedicated to providing a nurturing, educational experience guided by Christian principles. For the next 24 years, the school was housed at the church and led by various pastors and lay directors as its curriculum expanded to include elementary school.

By the early 1970’s under the leadership of Shirley Gantt, the school emerged as an elementary school of excellence, grounded in Christian principles and offering a low student-teacher ratio and a strong academic program. During her tenure, Wesleyan Day School added its middle school in 1987.

In 1988, Barbara Adler, a former Wesleyan parent, teacher and assistant head, became Head of School. Her vision was the catalyst for Wesleyan to become an independent, Christian, college preparatory school, offering curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade. Under her leadership, and with the support of the Board of Trustees, the church agreed to add a high school curriculum. In 1994, Wesleyan offered its first 9th grade class.

With the addition of a high school, it was apparent that the school needed a new campus to continue its desired expansion. In the fall of 1994, a new corporation, Wesleyan School, Inc., was formed, and in the spring of 1995, a divestiture agreement from Sandy Springs United Methodist Church was finalized. After an extensive search for property by the new Board, coupled with a generous land equity donation by Dan Cowart, a 53 acre site in Peachtree Corners was put under contract in the fall of 1995.

That same fall, the Board was faced with the challenge of naming a replacement for the retiring Ms. Adler. In the winter of 1996, after a deliberate and time-consuming search, the Board hired Zach Young, a graduate of the University of Virginia and Harvard University and the former Vice President and Assistant Headmaster at The Westminster Schools. Under the new name and leadership, Wesleyan opened the 1996-97 school year with 556 students on its new campus. That year, the facilities consisted of 15 modular units, a soccer field, and the school’s first permanent structure - Marchman Gymnasium.

In August 1997, Wesleyan added the high school building, Cleghorn Hall, which was named after long-time Atlanta educator, Wesleyan principal, and community leader, Gwen Michael Cleghorn. Under her leadership as a consultant and later as the first principal of the middle school and high school on the new campus, Wesleyan secured accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Another milestone of the 1997-1998 school year was the graduation of Wesleyan’s first senior class of 17 students.

Thanks to the generous support of family members, foundations, and friends, Wesleyan added Hoover Student Activities Center in August of the 1998-1999 school year, and its enrollment increased to more than 860 students. Other additions to the campus that year included Henderson Stadium and Robinson Field, which hosted the school’s inaugural varsity football season. Modular units for a high school and middle school cafeteria were added along with units for the music department. In the spring of 1999, the Curley Tennis Courts were dedicated, and a baseball field was added.

Wesleyan School has just completed the "Raise the Goal Campaign," which raised $45 million. The money from this campaign has been a milestone in the further development of our campus over the last four years. In the fall of 2000, the school purchased twelve acres of adjacent land. This new property adjoins the campus along Peachtree Parkway and is used for physical education, soccer, football, cross country, and lacrosse. In addition, 163 much-needed parking spaces for visitors and students were added to the campus.

Construction of Wesley Hall, the largest facility on campus, was completed in the fall of 2001. It houses the middle school as well as several high school classrooms. The building also contains a 465-seat theater, a dining hall for middle and high school students, a library for both middle and high schools, a prayer chapel, science and computer labs, and office space. Directly in front of Wesley Hall is the Barbara F. Adler Plaza, a beautifully landscaped mall.

The lower school building, Warren Hall, was completed during the summer of 2002. The convert|73000|sqft|m2|sing=on building includes its own library, gymnasium, and a combination dining hall/auditorium. Specialty space includes classrooms for math, reading, Bible, and French. In addition, a kitchen/laboratory space also acts as a math and science learning center. Warren Hall has its own covered carpool drop-off area and one large playground. During its 40th anniversary year, Wesleyan celebrated the completion of its most recent building, Davidson Natatorium. This building houses a twenty-five yard, ten-lane, competition high school pool; seating for 240; locker rooms; and concession areas.

Wesleyan completed the "Raise the Goal Campaign" that raised over $45 million in December of 2003.

The final building campaign, and the first major endowment campaign, known as "Complete the Campus," includes a much-needed fine arts center; a new performance gymnasium, to be called the Don and Ida Yancey Gymnasium; and a new administration building. The new administration building, Gillfillian Hall, is attached to Marchman Gymnasium. Also included is a goal of $10.4 million for endowment, the largest portion of which is designated for financial aid. The goal of this campaign is $42 million.

Wesleyan School Christened Gillfillan Hall administrative offices and announced the completion of the current Spalding Drive campus master plan at a ceremony on Monday, September 24, 2007. Gillfillan is adjacent to Marchman Gymnasium (the first permanent structure on campus) and houses the offices of the Headmaster, Development, Business and Admissions in its convert|12000|sqft|m2.

The conclusion of campus construction is a significant achievement for the Norcross school, which moved from Sandy Springs in the fall of 1996, beginning the school year with fifteen modular units and one permanent structure – Marchman Gym. With the completion of Gillfillan, the Wesleyan campus now has convert|429694|sqft|m2 of permanent space under roof.

Athletics

Wesleyan competes in the Georgia High School Association in 15 varsity sports comprising 20 varsity teams. In football, the Wolves compete in Region 8-A and in Region 7-A in all other sports. Wesleyan has been the recipient of two Georgia Athletic Directors Association Director's Cups. The GADA Director's Cup is awarded at the end of each school year to one school from each of Georgia's five classifications that has excelled and shown superior performance for that school year. Points are awarded for performance in state athletic competitions. 100 points are awarded for state championships, 80 points for runner up finishes and so on. Wesleyan was awarded the GADA Director's Cup in 2002 for Class A and again in 2008 for Class AA. Wesleyan won its first team State Championship in school history in Girls' Tennis in 2001. In the past several years, Wesleyan has become increasingly competitive in several sports. The Girls' Basketball team, under the leadership of Jan Azar, won its first State Championship in 2002, followed by titles in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008. Wesleyan's Volleyball team under Coach Ted Russell also won four state championships from 2003 through 2007. The Boys' Cross-Country team, coached by Brian Kennerly, won State Championships in 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007. The Girls' Cross-Country team, coached by Dan Byrne, won State Championships in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The Wrestling team under former Coach Jeff Bedard won its first team State Dual Championship during the 2006-2007 school year. The Boys' Basketball team, coached by Skip Matherly, won its first state championship in 2008. Under the leadership of Mike Shaheen the Wesleyan baseball team has seen great success by finishing as State Runner-Up in 2006, Final Four in 2007, and State Champions in 2008. In 2008, Sport Illustrated named Wesleyan School the top school in athletics in Georgia and sixteenth in the nation.* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/highschool/05/19/state.no.1/index.html]

External links

* [http://www.wesleyanschool.org/ Wesleyan School website]