Bacon Academy

Bacon Academy is a public high school in Colchester, Connecticut, in the United States.

In 1800 a prominent Colchester farmer, Pierpont Bacon, died and left an endowment of thirty-five thousand dollars (equivalent to about four-hundred thousand today). The endowment was to the

:"inhabitants of the First Society of Colchester for the purpose of supporting and maintaining a school…for the instruction of Youth in Reading and writing English, in Artithmetic, Mathimaticks, and the Languages, or such other branches of Learning."

This established the academy that bears his name. Bacon Academy’s doors opened to the children of Colchester on the first of November 1803 and from that point forward, prepared many young men and women for the life that lay ahead.

Bacon Academy is also well known for both sports and academics. During the 2007-2008 school year, the wrestling team was ranked third in the state behind perennial power, Danbury. Also during the 2007-2008 school year, the girls soccer team won the ECC championship and continued on into the semifinals of the state tournament for the L division.

The school made national headlines in 2004, when it was closed due to an outbreak of the flu virus. Over five-hundred students and faculty called out sick, and consequently led to the sanitation of the entire building.

History

In its early days, Bacon Academy had a reputation of quality preparation for colleges around the country. Local children attended the school at no cost. Bacon’s status was recognized by many prominent fathers of the nineteenth century.

The trustees established that there were to be three terms in a typical school year. The first started in September and ended in December; the second from January to April; and the third from May to August. Early class rolls show that the number of local students would be less in planting and harvesting season, many of them skipping semesters and/or returning either late in the first term or leaving early in the second and zero attendance in the third.

Early Bacon students did not earn a diploma or graduate after four years like today. Instead, the school had a system divided into three branches. In the first branch, a young student learned such subjects as languages, grammar and mathematics. During the second branch, he or she would be taught writing, geometry, and rhetoric. The last branch would be similar to the common or grammar school. Age never factored into a student’s ability. Some students would leave Bacon at fifteen or sixteen if they completed the branches. In 1886, the branch structure was abandoned for the current four-year system and by 1890, the first modern-day commencement occurred with each graduate receiving a diploma.

The school bell would toll at five-thirty in the morning during the first and third term and at seven in the winter for those in branches one and two. During which two scholars would be chosen each day to practice public speaking in front of instructors and other students. Following the speech, the day would begin with the scholars from the common branch joining the others for the Morning Prayer. Afterward, the preceptor (principal) would talk about morals and the studies of his students. This routine was eliminated after 1846 when the bells tolled only for the start of the school day.

Life as a Bacon student was strict. The attitude of the scholar had to be forthright and that of a lady or gentleman. In or out of school, they would have behaved properly and dressed neatly or otherwise punished by means of “reproof, correction, admonition, or expulsion.” While in class, all pupils would sit diligently at their desk and learn the Greek or Latin classics. At home, the student usually studied when not working on their father’s farm or doing chores for their boarding master.

After the centennial celebration the national reputation of the school declined and the Academy was primarily for those in surrounding towns. Eventually Bacon became the public high school for the town. In 1962, the student population in the then 160 year old building on Main Street had exceeded its use and they moved to the new facility adjacent to the grammar school. A major building spurt in the 1980s again forced the construction of another high school less than a mile east. In 1993 the doors opened in the current location.

In 2003, Bacon Academy celebrated its 200th anniversary, kicked off by a special concert from the Bacon Academy Bands, led by director Thomas Kessler. Other events included an all-class reunion, golf tournament, and a town-wide open house at all of the buildings to ever house the school.

Famous Faculty

John Adams (educator) -- American educator noted for organizing several hundred Sunday schools
Joe Anastasio -- Quill and Scroll Society Member
John L. Stanizzi -- 1998 New England Poet of the Year, radio DJ for WHCN, and former Etherington scholar of Wesleyan University
Bob Backlund, former WWF Champion, was the wrestling coach in the mid-1990s.

Famous Alumni

* Stephen F. Austin — The "father of Texas"
* William Alfred Buckingham — Governor of CT and Republican Senator for Connecticut from 1869-1875
* Lyman Trumbull - U.S. Senator of Illinois, Author of 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments to the US Constitution
* Morrison Remick Waite — Supreme Court Justice, January 1874- March 23rd 1888
* Ron Wotus — Major League Baseball player and current bench coach for the San Francisco Giants
* Chad Bromley — Hip hop artist under the name "Apathy" signed to Atlantic Records.

References

* [http://books.google.com/books?id=QNBQsQZEmvUC&pg=PA78&lpg=PA78&dq=pierpont+bacon&source=web&ots=ZNjYo-wmGf&sig=BN2M4VsaOqaGpUSONR6WxuJldic&hl=en The New England Historical and Genealogical Register by Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, p. 78]
* [http://bigelowsociety.com/rod8/colchest.htm Colchester Cemetery - Bigelow Society]
* [http://www.baconacademy.org/ Bacon Academy]

External links

* [http://www.baconacademy.org/ Bacon Academy]
* [http://www.baconband.com/ Bacon Academy Band Alumni]