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The Westminster Schools

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The Westminster Schools
Seal of The Westminster Schools
Seal of The Westminster Schools.
Address
Map
1424 West Paces Ferry Road

Atlanta
,
Fulton County
,
Georgia
30327

United States
Information
School typePrivate
Motto"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." (Luke 2:52)
Religious affiliation(s)Christian
DenominationNon-denominational
Established1951; traces origins to 1878
PresidentDr. William Clarkson IV
Faculty271
Enrollment1,826 students in grades pre-first to 12; coeducational
Campus180 acres (0.73 km2), suburban
Colour(s)Forest green and white
MascotWildcat
AccreditationSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools
NewspaperThe Westminster Bi-Line
YearbookThe Westminster Lynx
Endowment$239,000,000
Tuition$15,440 for grades Pre-first-5
$18,000 for grades 6-12
Alumni8,820
Websitewww.westminster.net

The Westminster Schools is a private secondary school in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1951, Westminster has the largest endowment of any non-boarding secondary school in the United States. The school's expressed mission is "to develop the whole person for college and for life through excellent education."

History

The Westminster Schools originated in 1951 as a reorganization of Atlanta's North Avenue Presbyterian School, an affiliate of the North Avenue Presbyterian Church. Dr. William L. Pressly was brought from Chattanooga, Tennessee's McCallie School to become Westminster's first president. The school moved to its current campus in 1953 thanks to a land grant by trustee Fritz Orr. Also in 1953, Washington Seminary, another local private school, closed and merged with Westminster. Westminster was coeducational until the sixth grade, with separate schools for boys and girls continuing through the twelfth grade. In 1962, the administration building, later named Pressly Hall, was constructed, bringing the number of permanent buildings on campus to four. Three years later, in 1965, Westminster became one of the first Southern private schools to integrate, and four African American students graduated in 1973.[1]

Campus

Westminster is situated on 180 wooded acres in the Buckhead community of Atlanta. A new campus road, completed in June 2004, rerouted traffic away from central campus. In addition to a new junior high facility, completed in August 2005, Westminster has three main high school academic buildings — Campbell Hall, Askew Hall, and J. Mack Robinson Hall; Pressly Hall, housing administration offices, the Malone Dining Hall, and McCain Chapel; Turner Gymnasium, which underwent major expansion in 2001; Broyles Arts Center; Love Hall, the elementary school; and various auxiliary buildings.

Miscellania

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Traditions

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Present

Former

  • Fieldigras — discontinued circa 2000
  • Westafest — discontinued in 1994

Athletics

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  • 81 athletic teams, including baseball, basketball — boys and girls, cheerleading — fall and winter, crew, cross country — boys and girls, football, golf — boys and girls, gymnastics, lacrosse — boys and girls, soccer — boys and girls, softball, swimming and diving — boys and girls, tennis — boys and girls, track and field — boys and girls, volleyball, squash, and wrestling.
  • 204 state championships won since 1951.
  • Recipient of the Georgia Athletic Directors' Association Directors Cup in its respective classification all eight years it has been awarded (2000-2007).
  • Recipient of the GADA Boys and Girls Cup for best all-around boys and girls athletic programs in its respective classification for five years (2002-2006).
  • Has won the boys cross country state championship for the past ten seasons (AA, 1996-1999; AAA, 2000-2005), the boys tennis state championship for the past 7 seasons (AA, 2000; AAA, 2001-2007), the A-AAAA girls swimming state championship for the past 6 seasons (2001-2006), the AAA girls soccer state championship for the last 5 seasons, and the A-AAAA boys swimming state championship for the past 4 seasons (2003-2006).
  • The varsity boys' tennis team has won the Georgia State High School AAA State Championship for the past eight seasons (1999-2007). The boys' team has yielded many Division 1 NCAA scholarship tennis players over the years, and it has won several regional tournaments as well, notching 24 wins in the 2006-2007 season. Head Coach Wade Boggs has been at the helm of the program for 34 years.
  • The sole varsity squash team south of Woodberry Forest School in Virginia featuring full interscholastic competition, and placing 16th in the 2004 U.S. National High School Team Championships, held at Yale University. The team is coached by Tom Rumpler, a former hardball tour player and current U.S. #2 in the 55s-age division.

Notable extracurricular activities

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Activities

  • Academic Quiz Team
  • ASK, after school kids, includes many extracurricular activities including swimming, cooking, dancing, chess, knitting, arts and crafts, and tennis.
  • Discovery, an experiential learning program for freshmen headed by Don Snider and Meghan Brown
  • Peer Leadership, a senior-freshmen guidance and counseling program
  • Policy Debate: The team has won 16 state championships as well as many large national tournaments, including the national Tournament of Champions. The team finished first place (both individually and as a team) at the Glenbrooks Tournament, the largest national debate invitational of the fall semester (2005). The team also won the Greenhill tournament, the Greenhill round robin, and the New Trier tournament in 2006. The team also came in finals in the 2007 Tournament of Champions and received top speaker.

Clubs

  • Bridge Club
  • Campus Conservation Corps, an environmental conservation club largely responsible for new attitudes toward conservation at Westminster headed by high school math teacher Dr. Chris Harrow
  • Community Service Club headed by school Community Service Coordinator Stan Moor
  • Culinary Society
  • Economics Club
  • Far Out Far East, a cultural club that explores Eastern cultures and traditions
  • FIRST Robotics Club, an award winning organization that helps lead students on a path towards higher education in science and engineering in a hands on manner.
  • Human Rights Club
  • Origami Club
  • Squash Club
  • Tea Club, a club that meets twice monthly and serves teas from around the world
  • Young Democrats Club
  • Young Republicans Club

Fine Arts

  • Men's A Capella, Women's A Capella, Ensemble
  • The Westminster Players: Westminster's theater department, led by Eric Brannen, is widely regarded as one of the best high school theater programs in the region.

Publications

  • The Westminster Bi-Line, the nationally acclaimed monthly newspaper publication
  • Crossroads, a literary magazine in languages other than English
  • Embryo, an arts, music, and literature magazine
  • Evolutions, a poetry and creative writing periodical

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of The Westminster Schools include:

Footnotes

  1. ^ "History of Westminster."
  2. ^ "At Elite Prep Schools, College-Size Endowments." Fabrikant, Geraldine. The New York Times, January 26, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/business/26prep.html?pagewanted=2
  3. ^ "Teaching For Tomorrow Assures Excellence for Today." Adams, Abby. The Westminster Bi-Line, December 8, 2006. pg. 3.
  4. ^ "Grad Gossip". The Westminster Bi-Line, May 26, 2006. pg. 3.
  5. ^ Pendered,David: "City Council head takes step for mayoral run". Atlanta Journal Constitution, 04-25-2007.
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