Hampton Roads Academy

Hampton Roads Academy is a private independent, co-educational, day school in Newport News, Virginia serving 644 students in grades Pre-K through twelve, and part of the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools. HRA is accredited through the Virginia Association of Independent Schools, and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools. The average class size is 16, and there are 65 students in the Class of 2017.[1] The school was founded in 1959, in the context of massive resistance, as a segregation academy.[3]

Hampton Roads Academy
Address
Hampton Roads Academy
739 Academy Lane

Newport News
,
Virginia
23602

 United States
Coordinates37°6′21.3″N 76°28′54.4″W
Information
TypePrivate, Coeducational
Established1959
OversightBoard of Trustees
HeadmasterPeter W. Mertz
Karen Gillespie (Upper)
Rhonda DeChirico (Middle)
Susanne Swain (Lower)
GradesPre K - 12
Age range4-18
Enrollment644[1] (2016)
Average class size16
LanguageEnglish
Color(s)Blue, Gold
         
Athletics conferenceTCIS(or Peninsula Independent Athletic League (PIAL) for Middle School Sports)
MascotNavigator (Gators)
Team nameNavigators
RivalWalsingham Academy
School feesYearly Activity Fee (Pre-K-12) $350 Matriculation fee (one time for new students) $850
TuitionPre-Kindergarten - Kindergarten $9,600,

Lower School (1-4) $10,490, Middle School (5) $12,590, Middle School (6-8) $16,375,

Upper School (9-12) $17,790 [2]
Websitehttp://www.hra.org

Diversity

During a recent academic year, the student body was 78.2% White, 9.6% African-American, 6.7% Asian, 5.1% Hispanic, and 0.3% Pacific Islander.[4]

History

Hampton Roads Academy was founded in 1959 as a segregation academy with a student body of sixty all white students in grades seven through eleven.[3] The school's founder, Hampton physician Russell von Lehn Buxton, who became the first chairman of the Board of Trustees, explained that the school was established to avoid the "limitations and constraints imposed on the public school system."[5][6] Buxton, a graduate of Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School remained on the board until 1988.[7]

The school admitted its first black student around 1970.[8]

References
  1. "Hampton Roads Academy". National Center for Education Statistics. 2016. Retrieved 27 Nov 2018.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2016-09-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Hanthorn, Jessica; Lenz, Kimberly (16 May 2004). "Overcoming Exclusion". Newport News Daily Press. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  4. "Hampton Roads Academy Students".
  5. "New private school to be setup here". Newport Daily Press. February 6, 1956. p. 1.
  6. https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-19911124-1991-11-24-9111240008-story.html
  7. https://paw.princeton.edu/memorial/russell-lehn-von-buxton-%E2%80%9929
  8. Butler, Cathy (December 31, 1986). "Schools strive to shed segregationist image". Newport Daily Press. p. B1.
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