| Montgomery Bell Academy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
 | |
4001 Harding Road , 37205 United States | |
| Coordinates | 36°07′44″N86°50′13″W / 36.1289469°N 86.8369443°W /36.1289469; -86.8369443 |
| Information | |
| Type | Private all-male college-preparatory |
| Motto | "Fortitudo Per Scientiam." ("Strength Through Knowledge") |
| Founded | 1867; 158 years ago (1867) |
| Sister school | Harpeth Hall School |
| Headmaster | William H. Daughtrey |
| Faculty | 182 |
| Grades | 7-12 |
| Gender | Male |
| Enrollment | 850 |
| Colors | Cardinal and Silver |
| Nickname | Big Red |
| Newspaper | Top of the Hill, The Bell Ringer, The Full Monty |
| Yearbook | The Bell |
| Endowment | $130 million[1] |
| Website | School website |
Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) is a preparatory day school for boys in grades 7 through 12 inNashville, Tennessee. The school is located in theWhitland Area Neighborhood.[2]
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MBA was established in 1867 in the aftermath of theAmerican Civil War. It is the successor to two schools: theWestern Military Institute, whichSam Davis, the "Boy Hero of the Confederacy", attended, and the formerUniversity of Nashville. The school's board operates under the corporate title, "Board of Trustees of theUniversity of Nashville", although the university was disbanded in 1909.
From 1870 to 1875, former Confederate generalEdmund Kirby Smith was the chancellor of the University of Nashville, which comprised both a two-year college operating as the University of Nashville, and MBA, the preparatory high school and grammar school. In 1875, a financial crisis and a donation from the Peabody Fund caused an organizational separation of the university and the preparatory school. The university used the proceeds of the Peabody Fund and was operated under a new board of trustees under the name of Peabody Normal College, later called theGeorge Peabody College for Teachers. The board of trustees of the University of Nashville continued to operate MBA as a preparatory school.
From about 1880 until 1915, the school operated across University Street from the campus of the formerUniversity of Nashville. In 1915, the school bought a West End Avenue estate known as Totomoi from the Tinsley family, and the campus moved soon after.
The military nature of one of the predecessors notwithstanding, under its current name it has always operated as a civilian institution, and as a day school rather than a boarding school. The school is named in honor ofMontgomery Bell, aPennsylvania native who made his fortune as the early 19th century "ironmaster" ofMiddle Tennessee and whose will endowed it, with the stipulation that it forever be an all-male institution.
In the 1970s, the school's enrollment surged as white parents withdrew their children from racially integrated public schools. In 1980, the headmaster Michael Drake told a newspaper "Every time the court rules in the Metro desegregation case, our enrollment goes way up."[3]
Montgomery Bell Academy's campus consists of eight academic and administrative buildings, a gymnasium, and numerous on-campus athletic facilities.
Montgomery Bell Academy also owns and operates a 24" telescope inMcMinnville, Tennessee at Long Mountain. This site is noted for having the least ambient light in theSoutheastern United States, making conditions favorable forastrophotography.[4] Annually, the Montgomery Bell Academy faculty and student body journey to the facility to hold the school's annual Leadership Retreat. On the facility grounds, there are two football fields, a lake, a high ropes course, and a low ropes course. The main feature of the campus (besides the observatory) is the large cliff to the west of the building. Students are challenged each year torappel down the cliff and climb up the cliff as well. On occasion, the school's climbing club comes to the facility to practice all-naturalrock climbing.
In 2011, Montgomery Bell Academy added the new Lowry Building in late December. In 2012, the school's new building, the Wallace Building, was completed. In addition to these new structures, a geothermal heating and cooling system was added. The school has also constructed new, porous parking lots to facilitate the new irrigation system.
Montgomery Bell Academy also has exchange links with other boys' schools throughout the English-speaking world; these includeEton College andWinchester College in England,Kearsney College andMichaelhouse inSouth Africa, andThe Southport School,The King's School, Parramatta and, most recently,Melbourne Grammar School in Australia,Christ's College, Christchurch in New Zealand and TheRaffles Institution inSingapore.Winchester College andEton College are similar to MBA through discipline, dress code, and having an all-male student body.[citation needed]
Notable individuals who have spoken to the student body includeMichael Crichton,Ted Turner,Peyton Manning,Charles Townes, andRobert Orr, Jr.[citation needed]
Astatue of Sam Davis was installed on the school grounds, until 2020.[5]
In 2021, MBA completed construction of a new 200,000-square-foot athletic and wellness center, the Burkholder Wellness Center. The project also included a new football stadium and lacrosse field.[6][7]
Montgomery Bell Academy's sports offerings includefootball,basketball,baseball,soccer,lacrosse,ice hockey and more.
The school has won theTennessee Secondary School Athletic Association's football championship fourteen times, from 1915 to 2014.[8][independent source needed]
The school has also gained recognition for itsCross Country team. Since its inception in 1995, the team has claimed a total of thirteen state championships.[9] Most notably, the team claimed a perfect sweep in the state championship of 2010, in which all top five places were claimed by the school's runners.[10]
The school'stennis team was able to claim the state title of 2013 over theGulliver Preparatory School by a margin of 5-to-4.[11] The team also hosts a spring tennis tournament, entitled the Francis Carter Invitational.[12]
The MBA Soccer Program is led by the former Coach of Waterford United (Irish Premier League), Giles Cheevers.[13] MBA Soccer captured the 2015 TSSAA Tennessee State Soccer Championship (DII-AA) with a 3-0 win over Christian Brothers High School (CBHS).[14]
In addition to its academics programs, Montgomery Bell Academy has a separate debate and forensics program. The school offersPolicy Debate to its students.
Annually, Montgomery Bell Academy hosts its speech and debate tournament, the Southern Bell Forum. The tournament has a unique ranking system, where speaker points are accounted for in the final ranking system.
The Montgomery Bell Academy theater program has won awards at the Tennessee Theater Association.[citation needed] The school also performs its annual student-directed one-acts in April and May, where it invites the students to write and direct their original scripts. MBA also performs its annual musical with students from theHarpeth Hall School. The high school orchestra is known as the MBA Sinfonia.
Montgomery Bell Academy graduateThomas Schulman, class of 1968, wrote the screenplay for the 1989motion pictureDead Poets Society, which depicts a fictional school patterned after Montgomery Bell Academy.Robin Williams portrayed a character based onSam Pickering, one of Schulman's teachers during his years at Montgomery Bell Academy.[15]
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