Dreamers, Schemers, and True Believers

Dreamers, Schemers, and True Believers

WESTMINSTER: A VERY BIG IDEA

By Erin Dentmon, Creative Services and Publications Manager

Malon Courts, Dr. William Pressly, Mrs. George Hoyt, and Fritz Orr study the plans for Westminster’s development on the original land.

On a wooded plot of land, on the undeveloped northern border of Atlanta, Westminster’s founders began to hatch a vision that would forever change the city’s educational landscape. They imagined a school experience unlike anything seen in Atlanta—or the Southeast—at the time. Together, they dreamed of a vibrant environment imbued with challenge that would propel students into the nation’s most prestigious colleges and universities and eventually propel the city of Atlanta onto the national stage.

As with all big ideas, the path to building a school that is recognized today as one of the country’s finest independent K-12 institutions wasn’t always smooth. The early visionaries and their supporters encountered trials and setbacks along the way, but their commitment to providing an outstanding education for young Atlantans was steadfast and saw them through the hard but important work of always moving the needle. In subsequent years, this commitment has been evident in myriad ways, from integration during the Civil Rights era to pioneering academic programs and robust international experiences.

Today, we continue to benefit from the courage of those who came before us. We are inspired by their aspirations and continue to build upon them as we seek to fulfill the School’s mission of launching young men and women of conscience into a world that needs them.

CITY LEADERS DREAM OF EXCELLENCE FOR ATLANTA

As the 20th century approached its midpoint, the president of Agnes Scott College, James Ross McCain, along with many others, bemoaned the lack of a strong independent school in Atlanta. So when North Avenue Presbyterian School (NAPS), of which he was a board member, was set to close, McCain and other city fathers and mothers instead decided to create the school Atlanta longed to have.

McCain approached Dr. William Laurens Pressly, then one of three headmasters at McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to help recruit a founding headmaster. Dr. Pressly submitted only one name for consideration: his own.

Starting the new school was an extraordinary gamble for Dr. Pressly—he was deeply enmeshed in school life at McCallie, and there was no guarantee the new school would be a success. But as he described in his memoir, The Formative Years, “ambition at last reached a crossroads with opportunity.” Dr. Pressly jumped on the chance to start a school in Atlanta that would usher in a new educational era, sparked in part by the energy of the Board of Trustees and the belief of Atlanta civic leaders that the venture would succeed.

In 1951, Dr. Pressly and a small cohort of city leaders walked along land formerly belonging to Fritz Orr’s summer camp at 1424 West Paces Ferry Road. They dreamt and planned for what the sloping acreage alongside Nancy Creek could one day become. Upon seeing the ridges rising from the landscape, the group decided that the longest ridge should become home to the buildings planned for Westminster’s new campus.

If the school were to lead in Atlanta the way they envisioned, it would need to look the part. From the first drawings, the buildings that would become Campbell and Askew Halls were planned to be stately, with an aura of permanence. Separate buildings for boys and girls were an obvious need at the time, given the School’s method of holding single-sex academic classes for boys and girls.

The buildings were designed by Frances Daves, an expert architect in the Georgian and Neoclassical styles. The campus plan intentionally echoed that of the University of Virginia, which Thomas Jefferson designed in alignment with Greek principles related to the development of democracy.

But these buildings were just a dream in 1951. As Dr. Pressly connected with fellow dreamers across the city, the vision for Westminster came to life. The “enterprising and visionary” Board of Trustees laid the groundwork for the School. “You need ample help from a ‘brain trust’— people who aren’t just technocrats but are dreamers and schemers and true believers,” Dr. Pressly wrote. He found those and more in the group that gathered around the big idea of Westminster.

With Fritz Orr’s generosity and vision for the land he’d sold to the School, Laurence Kent’s engineering expertise, Welborn Cody’s legal knowledge, Mrs. James Malone’s can-do spirit, Dr. James Ross McCain’s vision for academic excellence, and Vernon Broyles’s faith that Westminster would be “one of God’s miracles,” the campus began to take shape.

The ambitious plan to start a school unlike any other and build a campus to suit it required commitment both broad and deep. To bring the campus to fruition, Westminster’s leaders set out to raise $1 million while still holding classes on property owned by NAPS. “But would a goal of $1 million intimidate Atlantans who would be asked to help establish the school?” Dr. Pressly questioned. “After all, we’d barely scratched up enough dollars to start classes in buildings that already existed.” It was a new era for education in Atlanta—homework on weekends and a $1 million campaign. But invested Atlantans would rise to the occasion again and again.

Of course, it didn’t always seem that they would. In spring 1952, responses to invitations for a dinner to kick off the campaign came in at a painfully slow pace—so slow, in fact, a fundraising consultant helping the board raise money declared the campaign destined to fail and said he saw no reason to continue. Dr. Pressly vowed to do everything possible to fill the ballroom of Piedmont Driving Club, rallying a group of volunteers who made round-the-clock phone calls to potential donors.

To the relief of this dedicated group, guests filled every table in the ballroom for the fundraiser. “Impassioned pleas on behalf of high-quality education” from the presidents of Oglethorpe University and Agnes Scott College intensified the audience’s desire for a school of excellence in Atlanta. The superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools came to support the idea. Even Coca-Cola’s Robert Woodruff, who’d previously told Dr. Pressly he stood behind the idea of a high-quality independent school but would be devoting his resources to Emory University’s medical school instead, contributed $50,000 in the subsequent months.

Askew Hall, built as the Girls School, was the first building to rise on Westminster’s campus. Campbell Hall followed a few months later. Dr. Pressly reflected in The Formative Years that he and Marion Keenan worked amid the screech of buzz saws, dodging puddles on rainy days, during those intervening months.

Scott Hall, the original Elementary School, was the third building built on Westminster’s campus. Students eagerly contributed bricks to the project. Pressly Hall came shortly after, and the space between the buildings became a “lively quadrangle” that has served as the center of campus for many years.

SPIRIT AND GENEROSITY CREATE A NEW EXPERIENCE

As buildings went up, questions about construction from students and parents poured in for Dr. Pressly, who found himself a frequent visitor in the offices of the architect and contractors, ensuring the School’s buildings would be suitable for its aspirations.

“This swirl of activity helped reaffirm my own belief that headmastering is one of life’s greatest callings—it all never seemed like work; rather, it was tantamount to opening a Cracker Jack box each day, or to Magellan or Robinson Crusoe embarking on yet another fantastic voyage. You wondered about the surprises, the challenges, the treasures and pleasures that lay beyond the next reef or isthmus,” Dr. Pressly reflected.

Westminster’s student experience was rapidly taking shape, too. From the first class of eighth graders, Westminster students had contagious school spirit, an eagerness to learn, pride in their own and each other’s achievements, and a healthy competitiveness, drawing out the best in one another. They quickly adjusted to homework, too, something most students in Atlanta didn’t have at the time.

Teachers who would become legends were all-in for Westminster, as Dr. Pressly wrote in The Formative Years:

Succeeding generations of Westminster students would owe debts of gratitude to these early faculty members who shared our vision that the new school would not be provincial and would strive to rank among the nation’s very best. These outstanding people were intrigued by the idea of helping start something.

On Saturday mornings, most of Westminster’s teachers couldn’t resist the urge to return to the School... They swapped foibles, sharing the realization that they’d gambled on the new school with their own careers and vowing that the gamble would pay off. None of us who lived through these heady days will ever doubt they were the high moments of our lives.

Having opened Askew and Campbell in 1953 (and having successfully raised the $1 million that once seemed an insurmountable sum), school leaders embarked on a second major campaign in 1954. This time, investments were needed for an elementary school and an on-campus home for the president.

Dr. Pressly recalled:

Thanks largely to Ivan Allen, who accompanied me to make personal visits to 60 key prospective donors, the campaign surpassed its goal. And up, up, up went the foundation of the elementary school building. When the walls were only three feet high, we invited each child to buy a brick for 25 cents and put his or her name on it. Every pupil in the elementary school participated. At a ceremony, each child excitedly handed his or her brick to a bricklayer, who laid the brick—signature inward—in the wall. Years later, many Westminster alumni would tell me, “I remember which brick is mine. I could take you to it today.”

Pressly Hall was designed to provide spaces where the entire student body could experience school life together—a library, a chapel, and dining facilities, in addition to administrative offices. Its position between Campbell and Askew and across from Scott is demonstrative of its purpose.

The ingenuity and generosity of the School’s founders would prove invaluable time and time again—like the time Board Member Malon Courts called on an anonymous foundation to purchase $178,000 of land adjacent to campus when the Board had decided other priorities had to take precedence. With a beginner’s resources and only a few years into its existence, Westminster began to rival academic institutions in the northeast with decades-longer histories, millions-higher endowments, and acres-larger campuses.

As our students’ and teachers’ eagerness and ambition continued to steadily grow over the years, Westminster quickly established itself as a leader not just in Atlanta, but among all independent schools in the nation. The tradition of generosity that began in the School’s earliest days continued, with the community answering the call to help Westminster launch young men and women into lives as leaders of conscience.

Current students enjoy adaptable spaces, like the Smythe Gambrell Library’s flexible areas for independent and group learning in the Lower School and the Middle School Innovation Space (pictured), which allows all Middle Schoolers to explore any academic subject in depth through immersive, cross-disciplinary projects.

Westminster’s founding idea, that the School could provide opportunity for young people through excellent education, has continued on and grown throughout the years. In The Formative Years, Dr. Pressly noted that “the brightest minds... exist throughout the community, and Westminster is obligated to seek them out and give them its unique intellectual challenge.” With an ever-expanding footprint in Atlanta and across the globe, Westminster has remained committed to understanding what it takes to build leaders for our city. Upon hearing Harvard’s admissions director praise the School in the late 1980s, Dr. Pressly reflected on his dream, our School, and the growth of both: “His words stand in celebration of a small boy’s fantasy decades ago in a small-town schoolhouse, of countless Americans who shared his hopes many years later, of a school whose report card today shows that dreams can indeed come true.”

OUR CAMPUS AS A CATALYST

In our buildings, students’ hearts and minds have awakened to new ideas, connected to the world’s needs, and discovered their true passions. From those first exciting days when Westminster was just beginning to imprint on the city’s map to pioneering Advanced Placement classes and today’s globally focused, interdisciplinary opportunities, Westminster’s campus has been a launch pad for generations of leaders.

Today’s students and teachers are embracing collaborative, connective learning that equips them to lead in a rapidly changing world. Middle School architecture students are designing and building spaces to help local nonprofits realize their missions. Exchange groups are staying connected year-round to peers who live on the other side of the world. First graders find inspiration at every turn, growing lessons like observing birds for art class into projects like an original, scripted puppet show. JanTerm gives our students the opportunity to tackle real-world problems, like the student who researched, created, and implemented an app to help medical teams manage patient care. The possibilities for learning are endless when our bright, ambitious students are paired with high-caliber teachers ready to guide them to and beyond their highest aspirations.

Westminster has always been a community that, at its core, is contemptuous of complacency. Our timeless values continue to guide us as we prepare students to be the bold, creative leaders the world needs. As Dr. Pressly concluded in the epilogue of The Formative Years: “When we demand excellence in education and work toward that goal, the result isn’t just better schools but a world of fulfillment and hope and brighter tomorrows.” A school’s spaces can be a catalyst for empowering students to bring those brighter tomorrows to the world.

Our Board of Trustees has approved a campus plan (see below) designed to take us even further in fulfilling our mission in a way that meets the world’s needs while honoring our historic commitments. Our campus plan envisions spaces that will serve as teachers, fostering connections and giving students and faculty the flexibility to learn, collaborate, and innovate.

Dr. Pressly walked the ridges of our wooded plot of land in 1951 with a big dream in mind. We feel the same sense of possibility today as we envision the game-changing journeys yet to start here.

A CAMPUS PLAN SHAPED BY OUR VALUES

The Westminster community has been thinking about the evolution of our campus for some time. The impact our buildings and grounds have on teaching and learning was a common thread throughout our strategic plan, For College and For Life. The strategic plan recognizes the world is changing rapidly: it is more global and interconnected, increasingly leverages technology, and embraces new methodologies of teaching and learning.

Seizing these challenges and opportunities requires studies that integrate rather than separate; problems that require critical thinking, creativity and collaboration; and schedules and spaces that fit 21st century learning.

Just as a Westminster education needs to respond to these challenges, so too does the campus setting. To that end, Westminster completed a comprehensive campus planning process during the 2017-18 school year that included a number of activities—research, data collection, analysis, and benchmarking—to assess where the School is now. Most importantly, the process included a broad crosssection of the Westminster community, in wide-ranging conversations, to identify where the School wants to be in the future, particularly around student experience and leading in academic excellence.

Five key themes emerged from the campus planning process that will guide the continued evolution of our campus:

• We are committed to expressing our founding values in our community and our campus.

• We will deepen the impact of Westminster’s unique student experience.

• We will build community and foster connection.

• We will learn in transparent and flexible settings designed to serve as catalysts for an engaging academic program.

• We will serve Atlanta and develop leaders of conscience for our city, nation, and world.

These themes will be top of mind as Westminster reenvisions and creates spaces that function as teachers, enablers, and catalysts for our students, continuing to fulfill our mission.