Glynn Academy (GA) is an American public high school in Brunswick, Georgia, United States, enrolling 1,755 students in grades 9-12. Along with Brunswick High School, it is one of two high schools in the Glynn County School System. Glynn Academy offers technical, academic, and Advanced Placement programs and is accredited by the Georgia Department of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school has consistently been ranked among the top public high schools in the United States by Newsweek.
Chartered by an act of the General Assembly on February 1, 1788, Glynn Academy is the second-oldest public high school in the American South and the sixth-oldest public high school in the United States; at its inception, the school embraced all grades of primary and secondary education. The first recorded building was built in 1819 on a tract of land known as Academy Range. A new building was erected in 1840 on Hillsborough Square, the present location of the school. From 1819 to 1840, the school was known as Glynn County Academy. Because of an unsatisfactory courthouse, the county's superior and inferior courts often met at the school from 1825 to 1884. In 1889, the Annex Building was constructed, followed by the Prep Junior High School in 1909 (later annexed to the school as the Prep Building), and the Glynn Academy Building in 1923. The original 1840 structure was moved out of the city in 1915; in 2008, it was relocated to the current campus where it serves as an interpretive museum. The 1840 building itself is on the National Register of Historic Places and three other buildings (the Prep Building, 1905-09; the G.A. building, 1922; and the Annex, 1889) are contributing properties to the Brunswick Old Town Historic District.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
History
On February 1, 1788, Glynn Academy was created by an act of the General Assembly of Georgia making it the second oldest high school in Georgia. For more than a century the name "Glynn Academy" included all grades of public school from young learners to senior high school students. In 1888, one hundred years after its founding, Glynn Academy records show a graduating class consisting of four girls and two boys.
Campus
Buildings
Old Glynn Academy Building
Built in 1840, the Old Glynn Academy Building was the first building on Hillsborough Square, the present location of the Glynn Academy campus; it is the oldest wooden schoolhouse in Georgia and the second oldest wooden schoolhouse in America. This building served as the only public school building in Brunswick for more than fifty years. In 1915, it was disassembled and reassembled in Sterling, an unincorporated community in northern Glynn County. There, it served as a consolidated school for African-American students. After desegregation, it became a county-maintained community center for Sterling residents.
In 2008, the Old Glynn Academy Building was relocated to Hillsborough Square. It now serves as an interpretive museum. On November 4, 2011, the 1840 building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Wolfe Street Building
This building was used by the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps for class and several special education classes. Glynn Academy yearbook and journalism classes were also held in this building. At the end of the 2012-2013 school year, this building, along with the greenhouse behind it, was demolished as the first step in planned renovations on the campus. It was located behind the Science Building and to the left of the campus tennis court.
Wood Gym
The Wood Gym is the original gymnasium of Glynn Academy, named after a Brunswick resident who donated money to the school for physical education. The Wood Gym is now rarely used having been supplanted by a modern gymnasium. The four tennis courts located behind the building are used for tennis classes and the interior of the gymnasium occasionally functions as an area for administering stardardized testing. Occasionally, a physical education class takes place here.
Annex Building
The Annex Building was built in 1889. On August 19, 2005, the Annex Building was severely damaged as the result of a lightning flash but has since been remodeled. It is a contributing property to the Brunswick Old Town Historic District.
Prep Building
In the late-19th century, as the student population of Glynn Academy increased, the need arose for an additional facility to accommodate an expanding student body. Thus, the Prep Junior High School was constructed, serving as a bridge between elementary school and high school and serving sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The school was later annexed to Glynn Academy.
The Prep Building is the most recognizable building on the campus due to its massive stairs and columns, and the now closed off tunnel that connects it to the Glynn Academy building. This building holds most of the foreign languages classes as well as the visual arts and music classes. It is a contributing property to the Brunswick Old Town Historic District.
Glynn Academy Building
The Glynn Academy Building is the main administrative building on campus. At the end of World War I, a new school building was erected as a memorial to the men of Glynn County who had fought in war. Funds for it were raised through a bond election and the Glynn Academy Building was completed in September 1923. Renovations took place in 1999. In an effort to memorialize the structure, the architect of the building, Hendrik Wallin, drew inspiration from the Louvain Library in Belgium whose destruction by the Germans infuriated the Allied Forces.
The Glynn Academy Building houses the Memorial Auditorium. It is a contributing property to the Brunswick Old Town Historic District.
Sidney Lanier Building
The Sidney Lanier Building was the Freshmen's Academy, but is now used by all classes.
Science Building
The Science Building was completed in 1963 and houses the literature and science classes. The school's library is also located in the Science Building.
Gym
The gym was completed in the 1980s.
Liberty Bell
The bell in front of the Glynn Academy Building is a near replica of the Liberty Bell in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is mounted on a red brick base and totals about 2,000 pounds. In 1897, the bell was cast in bronze by McShane Foundry in Baltimore, Maryland and was used in the clock tower of Brunswick City Hall until the 1930s.
The Glynn Academy Student Council of 1968-1969 is credited with finding the Liberty Bell and assembling it on a plinth at the downtown campus. With the help of the Brunswick Fire Department and businessmen, parents and students, the bell was set during the 1969-1970 school year. The plaque at its base reads: "Erected by the Student Councils 1968-1969 and 1969-1970".
Notable alumni
- Kwame Brown - NBA player; Washington Wizards first overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft
- Lamar Davis - Wide Receiver for the Georgia Bulldogs (1940-1942); AAFC player; Miami Seahawks (1946) and Baltimore Colts (1947-1949)
- Davis Love III - PGA Tour player, 1997 PGA Champion
- Willie McClendon - running back for the Georgia Bulldogs (1975-1978); NFL player; Chicago Bears (1979-1982)
- Steve Melnyk - won U.S. Amateur and British Amateur in golf, Georgia Golf Hall of Fame
- Matt Owens - stand-up comedian, actor
- George Rose - NFL player; Minnesota Vikings (1964-1966) and New Orleans Saints (1967)
- Adam Wainwright - MLB player; Saint Louis Cardinals; Atlanta Braves first round draft pick in the 2001 MLB Draft
- Chris Kelley - Actor
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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