Lawrence Academy at Groton is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational college preparatory school located in Groton, Massachusetts, in the United States. Founded by a group of fifty residents of Groton and Pepperell, Massachusetts in 1792 as Groton Academy, and chartered in 1793 by Governor John Hancock, Lawrence is the tenth oldest boarding school in the United States, and the third in Massachusetts, following Governor Dummer Academy (1763) and Phillips Academy at Andover (1778). The phrase on Lawrence Academy's seal is "Omnibus Lucet": in Latin, "Let light shine upon all." As of 2017, Lawrence Academy had a reported acceptance rate of 35%.
Incorporation as Groton Academy
On April 27, 1792, residents of the towns of Groton and Pepperell, Massachusetts influenced by the growing "academy movement" in the young republic, which sought to provide a broader and more practical education than that available in the traditional Latin Grammar Schools, formed an association "for the purpose of erecting a suitable building, and supporting an Academy for superior educational purposes at Groton, Massachusetts." The association received its charter from Governor John Hancock on September 28, 1793.
For the academy's first schoolmaster, the trustees selected Samuel Holyoke, a prominent composer, who was himself a graduate of Phillips Academy and Harvard college.
The trustees announced the opening of their academy (somewhat prematurely, as the charter was not to be secured for another four months) with an advertisement in the May 25, 1793 edition of the Columbian Centinel, a Boston newspaper. The advertisement expressed the values of the academy movement, reading in part:
This is to give notice, that a Public School is now opened in Groton, for the education of youth, of both sexesâ€"in which School are taught the English, Latin and Greek Languages, Writing, Arithmetic, Geography, the Art of Speaking and Writing, with Practical Geometry, and Logic.
Classes commenced in 1794, with an enrollment of seventy-three students, primarily from Groton and the surrounding towns, but with some, such as Thomas and Wyriott Alderson of Bath, North Carolina, from farther afield.
History
In 1838, alumnus Amos Lawrence, a son of founder Samuel Lawrence and a prominent Boston merchant and industrialist, began his patronage of the Academy with a gift of "books and philosophical apparatus," followed in 1839 by "a telescope and Bowditch's translation of Mécanique Céleste by Laplace," and $2,000 for enlarging the schoolhouse in 1842. In 1844, Amos's brother William donated $10,000 to the school's endowment "for the advancement of education for all coming time."
By 1850, the school's library, established with a purchase of 86 new books in 1828, comprised 2,650 volumes, of which 2,400 were gifts of Amos Lawrence.
Over the course of their lives, Amos and William Lawrence donated a total of nearly $65,000 in cash, scholarships, and property to the school (roughly equivalent to $1.83 million in 2013 dollars). In recognition of their significant generosity, Groton Academy petitioned the Massachusetts legislature in 1845 to change the school's name to honor their benefactors. On February 28, 1846, Governor George N. Briggs signed into law an act formally changing the corporate name of "The Trustees of the Groton Academy" to "The Trustees of the Lawrence Academy at Groton."
Between 1801 and 1870, Lawrence Academy contributed fifty students to Harvard College, placing it among the dozen schools which supplied the greatest number of students to Cambridge. As the 19th century progressed and more schools catering to the children of the elite ranks of Boston merchants and industrialists were established closer to Boston, that position gradually waned. The Academy also enjoyed close ties to other New England liberal arts colleges â€" particularly Dartmouth and Williams Colleges â€" which themselves catered to the region's "older provincial elite". The gifts of the Lawrence brothers established four scholarships each for students to attend Williams, Bowdoin College in Maine, and Wabash College in Indiana. Franklin Carter, president of Williams College, was the guest speaker at the academy's 90th anniversary celebration in 1883.
In 1868, during a Fourth of July celebration, an errantly tossed firecracker burned Lawrence Academy's main schoolhouse to the ground. By soliciting "subscriptions," the building was replaced in 1869 at a cost of $24,000 (more than $406,874 in 2013).
In 1956, amidst commencement exercises, fire once again destroyed Lawrence Academy's academic and administrative buildings. Following both fires, Lawrence Academy rebuilt; however, because of these incidents, it encountered financial difficulties through parts of the twentieth century, until the late 1970s. Lawrence was coeducational until 1898, when it switched to a boys-only student body. It remained single sex until 1971.
Background
Lawrence Academy is seated upon 100 acres (40Â ha) of rolling countryside, in Groton, Massachusetts, thirty-one miles northwest of Boston, eight miles south of New Hampshire. At the bequest of James Lawrence, a Lawrence family descendant, it also shares the meadows and a mansion along Peabody Road and Farmer's Row with the Groton School, another renowned preparatory school. Architecturally, Lawrence's campus features a mix of historic Federalist-Era houses and Neo-Georgian academic buildings. From Lawrence's central quadrangle, one can see the outline of Mount Wachusett to the west, the pastures of Gibbet Hill Farm, (the site of colonial gallows and The Castle), to the north, and the fairways of the Groton Country Club to the east.
Facilities
Residential Life
There are ten dorms on Lawrence Academy's campus, four for boys and six for girls. Dorms range in size from eight to forty-four students, giving students many different options during their time at Lawrence. There is also a dining hall and student center for all students, boarding and day.
Enrollment
Each year Lawrence Academy enrolls approximately one hundred new students, approximately fifty of whom are boarding students. As of 2012, students hail from fourteen U.S. States and twenty-four countries. The student-to-teacher ratio at Lawrence is approximately 5:1, with an average class size of 14 students. Tuition for the 2006â€"2007 academic year was $49,900 for boarders, $39,900 for day students. Thirty percent of students receive financial aid to attend. Lawrence accepts approximately 30% of applicants. Tuition in 2015-2016 raised up to $49,000 for day students, $60,000 for boarders and $62,500 for international students.
Unique academic programs
Lawrence Academy's notable programs include Winterim, a two-week program that promotes experiential learning by immersing students in a variety of arts, adventure, and community service sessions. Students are encouraged to challenge themselves by selecting programs outside their realm of experience. Options have ranged from learning to sail the Northwest Passage in British Columbia, to exploring ecology in Costa Rica, to storytelling to local children in New England. The school also has the Independent Immersion Program, which allows students who have met certain academic requirements to focus for one or two years on a single endeavor, as though at a conservatory, with courses or projects completed both on and off campus.
Athletics
Lawrence Academy's athletic teams compete in the Independent School League.
Affiliations
Lawrence Academy is directed by a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. It is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council. Lawrence Academy has over 3,800 active alumni.
Notable alumni
- Tim Armstrong, class of 1989, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of AOL LLC.
- Audrey A. McNiff, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs
- Donald L. Harlow, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
- Tyler Beede, 2014 College World Series champion Vanderbilt University; drafted as pitcher in the first round by the San Francisco Giants 2014.
- Antoine Wright, NBA athlete
- Jonah Bayliss, relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals 2005 and the Pittsburgh Pirates 2006 and '07.
- Karyn Bryant, television personality; MTV VJ, CNN anchor.
- William Adams Richardson, 29th Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Justice of the United States Court of Claims
- Page McConnell, musician Phish
- Amos Kendall, 8th Postmaster General and founder of Gallaudet College for the deaf
- Albert E. Pillsbury, President of the Massachusetts State Senate and Massachusetts Attorney General
- Maria Rodale, publisher; Chairman and CEO of Rodale, Inc.
- Dr. James Walker, Unitarian minister and 21st president of Harvard University
- David Jensen, class of 1984, '84 Olympian in hockey and former NHL player with Hartford Whalers and Washington Capitals
- William B. Washburn, Governor of Massachusetts from 1872-1874, U.S. Representative from 1863-1871, U.S. Senator from 1874-1875
- Steve Heinze, '88 Olympian in men's hockey and former NHL player for Boston Bruins and LA Kings
- Charles Beecher, minister, composer of hymns, and author.
- Guillermo Cantú, former professional footballer and football executive
- Richard Roby, professional basketball player
- Samuel Abbott Green, physician, librarian, historian, and 28th Mayor of Boston
- William Bancroft, 1st President of the Boston Elevated Railway, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Mayor of Cambridge, MA
- Bruce Crane, businessman and politician who was president and chairman of Crane & Co. and a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council
- Eric Gaskins, fashion designer based in New York City.
- Greg Crozier, Two-time NCAA hockey champion from Michigan (1996 and 1998).
- Laurie Baker, class of 1995, 1998 Olympic gold medalist in women's hockey and 1992 silver medalist.
- James Dana, 5th mayor of Charlestown, Massachusetts
- Edward D. Hayden, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts
- Frederick "Moose" Heyliger, World War II paratrooper featured in Band of Brothers
- Vic Heyliger, Hockey Hall of Fame inductee; coach of six NCAA championship teams at The University of Michigan, coach of the U.S. National Hockey Team.
- Henry Adams Bullard, U.S. Representative from Louisiana 1831-1834 and 1850-1851
- Richard Burgin, noted author, editor of Boulevard magazine.
- Chase Hoyt, film, television, and stage actor
- Abbott Lawrence, Member of Congress; Minister to Great Britain; founder of Harvard University's Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences
- Amos Lawrence, industrialist; philanthropist.
- Amos Adams Lawrence, abolitionist; politician; founder of the University of Kansas, Lawrence University, and co-founder of the Groton School
- Charles H. Mansur, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri
- Cat Marnell, writer
- Cynthia Ryder, 1992 Olympic sculler
- Ether Shepley, politician; Senator from Maine from 1833-1835, Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court 1848-1855
- Jim Sokolove, television attorney
- Huntley N. Spaulding, philanthropist; Governor of New Hampshire from 1927 to 1929.
- Charles Warren Stone, politician; Congressman and Lt. Governor from Pennsylvania
- Frank Bigelow Tarbell, historian, archeologist and professor at University of Chicago
- George Makepeace Towle, lawyer, politician, and author
- Fritz Wetherbee, Emmy award-winning television personality.
- William Channing Whitney, architect
Notable faculty
- Robert V. Bruce, 1988 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History
- Samuel Adams Holyoke, first headmaster
Student Media
Spectrum is the official student newspaper of Lawrence Academy.
References
Further reading
- Massachusetts Board of Education; George A. Walton (1877), "Report on Academies: Lawrence Academy", Annual Report...1875-76, Boston â€" via Internet ArchiveÂ
External links
- Lawrence Academy's Website
- The Association of Boarding Schools profile
- Lawrence Academy profile at Petersons.
- Gibbet Hill history.
