FROM THE ARCHIVES: Operation TEACH

Cheshire Academy has always been an innovative community focused on its students, promising and delivering a cutting-edge experience to students, families, and alumni of all generations, decades, and class years.

Similar to the changes taking place now, in the mid 1970s, Cheshire Academy took on the herculean task of rolling out Operation TEACH, a multiyear enhancement and promotion of the financial, academic, and admission programs at the school.

For the 1975-1976 academic year, the school’s board of directors adopted an action program titled Operation TEACH, with each letter serving as part of the mission: Turn today’s challenge into an opportunity for a greater Cheshire Academy; Expand the boarding community to include girls; Accelerate our fundraising activities; Consolidate all academic activities on the main campus; and Hold the high level of excellence in faculty and curriculum.

In an undated pamphlet promoting the program, it reads, “Through its long history of 181 years, Cheshire Academy’s constant aim has been to retain the educational traditions that have proved to be pedagogically sound but to change as new conditions warrant. We are facing these changing times with determination and confidence that Cheshire Academy offers a valuable alternative educational program.”

At the time, major focuses included the enhancement of female boarding on campus, a fulltime commitment to liaison activities with parents, alumni, friends, and the academic community, and an academic consolidation by bringing all facilities to the “heart of the campus” found at 10 Main Street to gain greater flexibility in classroom size and instructional need.

“In the history of Cheshire Academy, academic excellence has been a top priority. During the last several years, the upgrading of faculty, staff, and program has been achieved through continued search and change.

A sincere commitment to such excellence must be maintained in order to keep Cheshire Academy a unique institution for the student who desires or needs an alternative means of obtaining an education.”

Other parts of Operation TEACH included conversion of Horton Hall into a girls’ dorm, additional facilities for female students at the Arthur Sheriff Field House, conversion of the second level of Hurley Hall into a classroom area, and long-range plans for construction of a modern classroom building at a site not yet determined.

In the fall/winter 1976-1977 issue of On The Move, the CA Alumni Association’s publication, readers were provided an update on the operation. In the second year, the school saw the attainment of the “C” stage to consolidate all academic activities onto the main campus. Included in the changes were enhancements to Woodbury Hall, the Arthur Sheriff Field House, the Richmond Memorial Science Center taking the place of the “old infirmary,” naming of the Gideon Welles Dining Commons, and the Marion More Coleman Research Center in the library.

The article reads in part, “The new facilities on the central campus have opened a new era at the Academy. The existing facilities are now being fully utilized to their maximum capacity and their new appearance signals a new period of growth for the Academy.”

For an institution now in its 228th year, it is exciting to see that continuous growth, achievement, and adaptability is not only expected of CA’s students, but of its leadership and community at large.