Portsmouth Abbey School


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Portsmouth Abbey School
Motto Veritas ("Truth")
Established 1926
Type Private coeducational secondary, boarding-day
Affiliation Benedictines (Roman Catholic)
Headmaster Dr. James De Vecchi
Students 353
Grades 9–12
Location Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA
Campus Suburban
Mascot Raven
Rival St. George's School, Pomfret School
Website www.portsmouthabbey.org

Portsmouth Abbey School is a private, coeducational boarding and day school for grades 9 through 12, located in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Founded by a group of Benedictine monks in 1926 as Portsmouth Priory School, the school offered a classical education to boys. Using the British "public" school model, the Priory School employed a form system, and supplemented a student's education with athletics after classes. Portsmouth's education has always been grounded in the classics, and has recently grown to include a humanities curriculum as part of a student's fourth form, or sophomore, year. The school is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence.

Today, Portsmouth Abbey School remains true to the spirit of its founding. The school's mission encompasses the importance of reverence for God and the human person, respect for learning and order, and responsibility for the shared experience of community life. In keeping with the Benedictine tradition of the pursuit of knowledge, the school also provides one full four-year academic merit scholarship, named for the school's founder, Father John Diman, for students with test scores in the 90th percentile or above, and annual Abbey scholarships for students with test scores in the 80th percentile or above.

The school's beautiful campus is located on over 500 acres (2.0 km2) on the shores of Narragansett Bay. Supplemented with world-renowned modern architecture designed by Pietro Belluschi, Portsmouth Abbey School has created a setting unlike any other in New England. In 2006, the school installed a large wind turbine, the first such project in Rhode Island, to provide more than half of the school's electricity. In 2000, the adjacent Carnegie Abbey Club was opened, built on a portion of the school's lands leased for a 99-year term. The club includes a golf course designed by Donald Steele.

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History

The school and monastery are located on land originally owned by the Freeborn family beginning in the 1650s. The land was later owned by the Anthony family, and in 1778 it was the site of the Battle of Rhode Island during the American Revolution. In 1864 Amos Smith, a Providence financier, built what is now known as the Manor House and created a gentleman's farm on the site with the help of architect Richard Upjohn. After buying the Manor House and surrounding land in 1918, Dom Leonard Sargent of Boston, a convert from the Episcopal Church, founded Portsmouth Priory on October 18, 1918. The priory was founded as, and remains, a house of the English Benedictine Congregation. It is one of only three American houses in the congregation, and maintains a unique connection with sister schools in England, including Ampleforth College and Downside School.

The school was founded by John Hugh Diman, a monk at the Portsmouth Priory, and a former Episcopalian. Portsmouth was not Diman's first school. In 1896, Diman founded St. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island and Diman Regional, a vocational technical high school in Fall River, MA. A conversion experience brought Diman to Catholicism and ultimately to the Benedictines that were just beginning a priory in Portsmouth. After joining the Order of Benedict, Diman was again moved to found a school in 1926. In 1969, Portsmouth Priory gained new status as Portsmouth Abbey, denoting the increased size of its monastic community.

Current affairs

Today, Portsmouth Abbey School, often referred to as "the Abbey," represents 17 nations and a number of states. Its enrollment totals over 350 students, living at home and in seven residential houses. The school's endowment as of fiscal year 2005 was approximately $30,000,000. Tuition for boarding students was $39,300; day student tuition was $25,300.

Internet access is available in computer labs and all House libraries, and the average size for a class is 12 to 14 students. Clubs include Amnesty International, the Appalachia Service Project, The Beacon (the student newspaper), The Raven (the art and literary magazine), Math League, Future Problem Solvers, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Community Service Projects, Debate Club, The Gregorian (yearbook), Model United Nations, Red Key (campus tour guides), Social Committee, Student Council, and more. The school also nurtures a wide range of visual and performing art programs, with its spacious fine arts center, state-of-the-art still photography lab, art gallery (which alternatively showcases traveling exhibits and selected student work), drama program, annual musical, and private music lessons.

One of the Abbey's most prominent means of community interaction is the school's radio station, WJHD at 90.7 FM. Broadcasting to much of Aquidneck Island and the surrounding communities, WJHD presents twenty-four hours of commercial free radio. Student shows fill primetime slots with a predilection for alternative rock. Recently, WJHD (named for John Hugh Diman, school founder) played host to The Squizzles, one of Providence, RI's most popular rock groups.

Athletics

In addition to the golf course at Carnegie Abbey Club available for use by the faculty and by the golf team, the school's athletic facilities include eight squash courts and a state-of-the-art fitness center, a six-lane, all-weather track, nine tennis courts, an indoor ice hockey rink, two gymnasiums, and multiple outdoor playing fields.

Portsmouth Abbey is a member of the Eastern Independent League and has occasional contests against ISL (Independent School League) schools and other non-league boarding and day schools in New England. The Abbey's rivals include St. George's School and Pomfret School. The Abbey's sailing team is nationally-ranked, its track & field teams are often among the top in New England, the boys' and girls' Lacrosse teams both won their division championships, and the Boys football team recently competed for the New England Championship.

"George's Monday," the celebrated day of athletic competition with St. George's School forms a cornerstone of school spirit. Each year between the Abbey and St. George's, the school with a higher margin of success in varsity sports takes the Diman Cup. The trophy is named for John Hugh Diman, founder of both schools. This has contributed to the rivalry between the schools. Father Diman is buried on the grounds of Portsmouth Abbey.

Another traditional athletic rivalry is the Bishop Ansgar Memorial Soccer Cup, an annual competition held between the varsity boys' soccer teams of Portsmouth Abbey School and its sister school, St. Anselm's Abbey School of Washington, DC. The competition rotates each year between the two schools.

Traditions

The School is known to embrace a number of traditions, such as a six-day week with classes on Saturdays. In the center of the school campus is a large quadrangle used exclusively for commencement exercises on which students and faculty are not allowed to walk. This "Holy Lawn" is an unwritten school rule that has no confirmed story of origin. Its name likely derives from the lawn's location in front of the Abbey Church of St. Gregory the Great. The Holy Lawn tradition has manifested itself in various student productions and lore. In 2000, a student film series known as 'The Blue Potato' produced a clip of a student running across the lawn from the perspective of a monastery security camera. The Abbot Mark Serna (elected head of the monastic community) made a cameo appearance in which he pushed a button that sent a bolt of lighting from the sky, electrocuting the student. The clip celebrated the tongue-in-cheek mythology of the lawn's tradition.

In keeping with the school's commitment to classical education, another school tradition is one required year of Latin.

Notable alumni

  • U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), serving since 1962. Younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. Attended, did not graduate.
  • U.S. Representative Phil English (R-PA) 3rd District, 1995~. Serves the House Ways & Means Committee.
  • Peter M. Flanigan, Assistant to President Richard Nixon with responsibility for domestic economic matters. Member of the Board of Trustees of the Manhattan Institute.
  • Dr. R. F. Patrick Cronin, (1926-2007), son of Scottish author, A.J. Cronin, Princeton Class of 2000 (matriculated in 1942), Dean of Faculty of Medicine at McGill University (1972-1977), known for his medical work in developing countries.
  • William A. Dembski, controversial American mathematician, philosopher, and theologian; proponent of embattled concept of intelligent design. Left the Abbey before graduating to attend the University of Chicago in 1977; was awarded his honorary diploma upon delivery of the 1988 Dom Luke Childs lecture at Portsmouth Abbey.
  • Martin Eisner, (1978-), Professor of medieval literature at Duke University
  • Angelo Spizzirri, actor, The Rookie (2002), The Pleasure Drivers (2005), Pretty Persuasion (2005).
  • Charlie Day, actor, known for the role of Charlie Kelly on FX's network It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, for which he is also a writer and executive producer.

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