Sign In
+
PRINT THIS PAGE
History
Norfolk Academy entered into official existence on November 12, 1728. As early as 1680, however, its presence had been foreseen by Norfolk town planners who reserved a large parcel of land across the street from the parish church as a “school lot.” Some forty-eight years later the lot was deeded to three prominent citizens with the instructions that a school be constructed there for the benefit of the “inhabitance [sic] of Norfolk Town.” That 1728 “trust deed” would serve as the charter for the school and create the school’s first trustees. For several decades, schooling took place in the church itself.

A schoolhouse was constructed on the designated lot sometime prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War and regular schooling began. But on January 1, 1776, in the confusion of attempted British “occupation,” the entire city of Norfolk burned to the ground and the school was gone.

1728 to Today - A Pictorial Tour
Back
Image
Next

 As soon as the War ended, however, the Academy was rebuilt and thrived as Norfolk’s only “free” school.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, the school went through several different phases, including a time as the “Norfolk Military Academy.” By 1840 the City of Norfolk had overgrown the old site, and so the Trustees, who had in 1806 purchased a lot on the northern outskirts of town, constructed a fine new schoolhouse there in the Greek Revival style. Architect Thomas Walter, famous for his design of the U. S. Capitol, modeled the new school after the Temple of Theseus in Athens. It was grand enough by the standards of those days to hold Norfolk’s first public library as well as the school. 

Between 1855 and 1865 a series of disasters struck Norfolk. First, an epidemic of yellow fever killed over 1/3 of its citizens within several months. Then the population was further drained by the demand for young men to fight a civil war. Finally came occupation by “Yankee” troops. For a while Union forces seized the Academy for use as a hospital. By the time of Reconstruction, however, the school was again operating under the leadership first of Rev. Robert Gatewood, and later Robert W. Tunstall. The First World War caused a sudden expansion in Norfolk towards the harbor, and consequently the school moved again, this time out of downtown to a northside residential neighborhood. Subsequent tough times brought by Depression and War again challenged the school’s survival; in fact, the school suspended operations to allow the Navy to use its main building for offices in World War II.

The modern era for Norfolk Academy began with the arrival in 1950 of James B. Massey, Jr., as headmaster. Through his uncompromising leadership and the vision of an outstanding Board of Trustees, the Academy grew and prospered. The final essential step to prominence was the 1966 merger with the Country Day School for Girls in Virginia Beach, and the concurrent move to the school’s present location on the Norfolk/Virginia Beach border. Mr. Massey retired in 1978 and was succeeded by his long-time assistant John H. Tucker, Jr.  Mr. Tucker presided over and guided the Academy’s transition from small independent school to national leader. As of his retirement in 2000, the school had enjoyed 50 years of energetic, caring and, above all, consistent leadership. It shows.

With Dennis G. Manning now at the helm and the new Tucker Arts Center and Athletic Pavilion complete, the school stands ready to serve its students and its community with unparalleled opportunities and first-class education. Norfolk Academy has hit the new millennium in stride.