The Montgomery Academy The Pursuit of ExcellenceOur History
1958
A group of prominent Montgomery citizens begin discussions to form a new independent school.
JANUARY 1959
The Montgomery Academy's first board of directors is elected. The board consists of seventeen members including Chairman General James D. McIntyre, Caroline Sellers, Carl Bear, Henry Flinn, Sr., Judge John Goodwyn, Mrs. James M. Folmar, Holman Head, William Inge Hill, Sr., Dr. Brannon Hubbard, Jr., Walter Kennedy, Arthur Mead, Dr. Hugh MacGuire, Price McLemore, Colonel Marion Rushton, Charles Turner, Jr., and Robert Weil.
WINTER 1959
More than one hundred students sign up to become part of the Academy's inaugural class consisting initially of forms one through nine.
SPRING 1959
The Montgomery Academy becomes incorporated March 15, 1959.
The board of directors purchases the old Governor's Mansion at 706 South Perry Street as a temporary first home for the new school.
JUNE 1959
Gustavus Orum Hamner becomes the Academy's first headmaster.
SEPTEMBER 1959
The Montgomery Academy's first convocation takes place at Huntingdon College to begin the new school year.
1960
The first edition of The Academy Eagle is published.
1961
The Academy's first fundraising campaign begins to raise money for new buildings.
1962
Mr. and Mrs. William Inge Hill, Sr. donate seventeen acres of tranquil cow pasture on Vaughn Road for the Academy's permanent home.
NOVEMBER 1962
Construction begins for the new Vaughn Road campus to include Blount Hall and Hill Hall.
SEPTEMBER 1963
More than 183 students arrive for the first day of school at the new Vaughn Road campus.
1964
The boys basketball team begins competing.
Mead Hall, Rushton Library and Gallery, and the McIntyre Science Laboratories are added to the Vaughn Road campus.
1965
The Montgomery Academy becomes accredited by Alabama's State Department of Education.
The school's new gymnasium, called the Carl W. Bear Field House, opens.
The Academy wins the statewide "Test Your Best" competition, the school's first state championship.
1966
The Academy joins the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
The first senior class graduates from the Academy.
The first edition of the Torch & Key is published.
1967
The Academy becomes a member of the National Association of Independent Schools.
1968
James F. Adams becomes the Academy's second headmaster.
SEPTEMBER 1969
The school's first football team begins competing.
SPRING 1971
The girls tennis team wins its first state championship title.
FALL 1972
The Academy's first debate team is formed.
FALL 1973
Clinton Wade Segrest becomes the Academy's third headmaster.
SEPTEMBER 1974
A new kindergarten program is added.
1975
Mead Hall undergoes an enclosure on its east end creating new classrooms for fifth and sixth graders.
1981
The boys baseball team wins its first state championship title.
JANUARY 1984
The Academy's first long-range plan is released, calling for new construction projects and the expansion of enrollment to eight hundred within ten years without compromising the current admissions standards.
FALL 1985
Robert W.H. Byrd becomes the Academy's fourth headmaster.
1986
The school's first community service program begins.
The girls volleyball team wins its first state championship title.
FALL 1987
The football team wins its first state championship title.
FALL 1988
The new Lower School building opens on Perry Hill Road.
JULY 1991
Andrew Emerson Johnson III becomes the Academy's fifth headmaster.
1992
The "Funding our Future" campaign is launched.
Ann Boozer becomes the first female athletic director at an Alabama independent school.
1995
The forensics team wins its first state championship title.
MAY 1995
The Garzon Library is dedicated.
JUNE 1995
McLemore Tennis Center opens. (However, the original two tennis courts were made possible through the generosity of Robbins and Ernestine Taylor in the early 1970s).
1996
A second gym is added to the school's athletic facilities creating additional practice space, new weight training areas and new coaches' offices.
1997
The boys tennis team wins its first state championship title.
The "Building the Best" fundraising campaign is launched.
1999
The Academy purchases twenty-one acres on the north side of Vaughn Road for future expansion projects.
The girls basketball team wins its first state championship title.
AUGUST 2000
The new Mary Katherine Archibald Blount Upper School building opens at the Vaughn Road campus.
SPRING 2001
New athletic fields, including the Bowman Field baseball complex, the Hutchinson Field soccer facility, and a new softball field are completed on the north side of Vaughn Road.
The girls soccer team wins its first state championship title.
JULY 2001
Archibald Douglas becomes the Academy's sixth headmaster.
A walking bridge opens, connecting the Vaughn Road campus with athletic fields and parking area.
2002
The boys cross country team wins its first state championship title.
2003
A new strategic plan is released to guide the Academy into the following six years.
The boys golf team wins first state championship title.
2006
The "Investing in Excellence" fundraising campaign is launched.
The girls track and field team wins its first state championship title.
The girls cross country team wins its first state championship title.
2008
New theater is constructed, Hill Hall undergoes dining renovation, the Cummings Wing of Mead Hall is improved to provide enhanced and up-to-date classroom space, the Sahlie Commons is added to the Mary Katherine Archibald Blount Upper School Building, and a new football concession stand is built at the north end of McLemore Field.
New track facility is built and new playgrounds are added at the Lower School campus.
2009
The James W. Wilson, Jr. Theater opens on the Vaughn Road campus with the production, A Midsummer’s Night Dream.
The Montgomery Academy celebrates its fiftieth anniversary.
2010
David Joseph Farace becomes the Academy’s seventh head of school.
JUNE 2016
James Luther Spencer IV becomes the Academy’s eighth head of school.
OCTOBER 2016
The Academy’s first graduating class celebrates their 50th reunion.