NEWBERRY — This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Newberry Academy and over those five decades, a lot has changed for the Academy, from its very location to the curriculum the institution offers.
“Anytime an independent school is formed, it is always going to be a group of individuals that are looking to start something that is good for their children,” said Headmaster Brian Fitzgerald. “Dr. James Kinard was the first headmaster at Newberry Academy, and he was also the president at Newberry College (1930-1954) for a while, but it was a collective effort that got the school going.”
The Academy was originally located in what is known as the Old West End School, which is now the parking lot at West End Baptist Church on Main Street. When the private school first opened, it only offered kindergarten through eighth grade.
“My understanding is that early in independent schools, it was common to have elementary and middle school education, and then not invest in the high school portion of it. I do not know if that was their logic. It could have been something as simple as that was the clientele that was willing to participate. I do not know what the thinking was behind that,” said Fitzgerald.
When the school first opened they had about 100 students enrolled, most of whom were from Newberry. At that time, tuition was $300 per child. The school started with 13 teachers, including Kinard.
“What I love about it, when I read this (a newspaper article about the opening of the Academy) I think it still rings true today. This article, the very first article about Newberry Academy, says who members of the families are and it lists the faculty. I think that rings so true today,” Fitzgerald said.
Today the Academy has 25 teachers and 206 students enrolled, and they come from north of Clinton to the Irmo/Columbia area. Fitzgerald said they have a wide geographical footprint.
Tuition today has a tiered approach: Kindergarten is $2,825 and first through 12th grade is about $4,500.
“(The Academy) immediately started as a member of SCISA (South Carolina Independent School Association). It (an article about the school’s opening) says that the organization at that time only included 31 privately operated schools. None of the schools were over three years of age, and Newberry Academy was the only one located in the Upstate of South Carolina,” said Karen Fitzgerald, director of development.
Over the years The Academy has expanded. In 1969, 10 acres of land was purchased at their current location on Smith Road. According to an article from that time, they bought the land because enrollment went up to 171. By 1972 the finishing touches were being made at The Academy’s new — and current — location.
“We are a little bit more now. This year we just added a little over two acres. We got someone to give that to us. We are close to 14 acres now,” Brian Fitzgerald said.
Not only have additions been made to the outside of the building, they have also been made to the inside as well.
In 1988 the Academy had its first graduating class of three students. This year the graduating class is made up of 12 students.
“There was a need in the community for that addition,” Fitzgerald said. “The families and the administration and the board felt there was a need for the school to expand, not just for the community, but for the school. The idea, and this is pretty good logic for any school, once you have a high school you have the availability to offer athletics at a higher level, more academics and so forth. I know, in speaking with those who were around at that time, there was the feeling of a need for a high school in Newberry.”
The plans to add ninth through 12th grade began well before the 1980s. An article from 1969 stated that the Academy had plans to add classrooms to include those grades. Fitzgerald added it was his understanding that Bob Dawkins, his predecessor, was one of the key people to push high school.
This year, the Academy added 2K education. Fitzgerald said this was something he had been talking about with the board for quite some time.
“This year was a very good year for growth at Newberry Academy, and it just happens to conveniently coincide with 50 years. Several years of hard work paid off with this year, where 2K was added, that is something I feel very strongly about. Our first year we filled up just like that and proved the need was there,” he said.
One major changes this academic year was playing football at the Academy for the first time in 20 years. The football program restarted four years ago, and built up to varsity. Last year, when the varsity program began, they played at Newberry College, and this year they played at the Academy.
“Our homecoming game, we had the most cars I have ever seen on this campus. It was refreshing. People were parking on the street. It was awesome to see,” Fitzgerald said.
Academy Education
Today, Newberry Academy’s mission statement is that they are a college preparatory school. Fitzgerald said this means they want their students to walk out of the Academy as well-rounded individuals.
“We look at K12 education as being a gateway into college, into more opportunity for our students as they leave Newberry Academy. So a student here has the opportunity to not only pursue their academics, but also the opportunity to maybe play sports. Maybe they want to be in drama, maybe they want to be in the chess club, maybe they want to be in the recycling club. All those opportunities are available for students,” he said.
In an article from when the Academy first opened, Kinard said they were not competing with public schools and that the community had been supportive of the school.
Fitzgerald said that is still true today.
“When families come to us, they enjoy the family environment, they enjoy knowing that their children are getting a very good academic program while at the same time, having opportunities to participate in a multitude of things,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said they know each student’s name, adding that internally they want to do the best they can to help their students.
“We really believe in a personalized approach to education for each child. So the programs we have in place here, everything we do for each child here, is the attempt to personalize their education, whether it is a program, whether it is an academic team. Whatever it is, we want to make sure every child has the best K12 experience when they come to Newberry Academy,” Fitzgerald said.
Alumnus perspective
Clarke DeHart is an alumnus of Newberry Academy and a current parent of two students. DeHart started at the Academy in 1971, when he was 4-years-old. At that time the Academy only went to the eighth grade.
DeHart said that The Academy, in a lot of ways, is the same now as it was.
“It was a small private school, made up of parents and families that were a close knit group, willing to shoulder the burden and do whatever it took to make the school successful,” he said. “It is doing really well now. For kids to be able to start there in kindergarten and graduate has been a real plus for me.”
One change DeHart has noted is athletics, which they had very little of when he was there. If they put together a team, it would be a basketball team to compete in a church league. Nothing offered at the Academy today was offered when he was a student.
“Kids have the opportunity to do so many things that we did not,” DeHart said.
Today, DeHart is a member of the board and a past board chairman. He has one child in the ninth grade and another in fifth.
“I moved away and I was not a resident of Newberry for many years and then we moved back and it was a natural fit to send them where I had gone,” he said. “Parents are going to be active if their children are at Newberry Academy. We have a lot of active parents.”
