Woodstock Academy, founded in 1801, is an independent high school located in Woodstock, Connecticut, United States. The Academy serves residents from the Connecticut towns of Brooklyn, Canterbury, Eastford, Pomfret, Union, and Woodstock. The respective towns' taxpayers pay student tuition through municipal taxes. The school also accepts tuition-paying students from surrounding towns and states as day students, and students from around the country and the world as residential students.
History
In 1801 the school was organized by James and John McClellan, sons of Revolutionary War General Samuel McClellan. The Connecticut Legislature officially chartered the school in 1802. In 1969 the Woodstock School Committee designated Woodstock Academy as the secondary public school of the town. In 1977 the Connecticut State Freedom of Information Commission ruled that Woodstock Academy must make its records public. In July 1980 the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that Woodstock Academy is a public agency, because it serves three Connecticut towns in the manner that a public high school would, and therefore it must release all of its financial records under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act. In 1990 the school was planning to end Latin classes due to a lack of interest and the idea that students should study modern languages. In 2012 the school was trying to recruit students from other regions of the United States and international students.
Governance and service area
The school is not within any school district and is not controlled by any municipality; therefore it describes itself as an "independent school." The Connecticut State Department of Education does not list Woodstock in its list of non-public schools and therefore considers Woodstock to be a "public school" because the state of Connecticut oversees and finances the school. Woodstock Academy is also independently funded by student tuition and a growing endowment. Woodstock is a member of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools. The New England Association of Schools & Colleges, Incorporated accredits The Woodstock Academy as an "independent school". A 1997 Hartford Courant article described the school as "a quasi- private, independent school". A 1990 Worcester Telegram & Gazette article described the school as "a privately endowed secondary school incorporated by the state to act as the town's public high". The school serves the towns of Woodstock, Eastford, Pomfret, Canterbury, Union, and Brooklyn. As of that year it is the only secondary school that serves the town of Woodstock. In 1980 the Associated Press stated that the school serves the three towns in a manner that a public high school would. The school is funded by student tuition, whether the tuition is paid by sending towns or individual families. In 1980 the Associated Press said that The Academy is "incorporated like a private school but functions like a public school." A board of thirty individuals from the region operates the school.
It was announced in October 2016 that Woodstock Academy would purchase the nearby 127-acre Hyde School campus for $15 million. Acquisition of the site, originally the campus of Annhurst College, was completed in 2017.
Notable alumni and faculty
Henry Chandler Bowen, businessman, philanthropist, and newspaper publisher in New York City and original owner of Roseland Cottage in Woodstock.
Ebenezer Stoddard, U.S. Representative from Connecticut
James W. Patterson, U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from New Hampshire
