SACO — When Thornton Academy first opened its doors in 1813, the one-building campus on School Street served 50 students. Today, the school boasts 10 buildings on an 80-acre campus on Main Street ”“ and more than 1,300 students.
On Feb. 16, the school will mark 200 years since it was founded. The Bicentennial Strategic Planning Committee has worked over the past year and a half to develop a series of events to honor the occasion.
Teacher Lori Smith, a 1988 graduate, who now teaches computer and career exploration classes, is working with other faculty to bring bicentennial related projects and activities into the curriculum and to student groups. She said the Thornton faculty are committed to the school, and one can often see faculty at athletic events, plays and other activities outside school hours. She teaches in what was a cafeteria and is now computer labs, and her desk is “right across the room” from where she used to eat lunch with her friends.
The first event will be Founders Day, which will be held on Saturday, Feb. 12 on campus from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ice skating, fireworks and musical performances are planned for the celebration.
The event is close to the actual 200th anniversary of the academy’s founding day, which was Feb. 16, 1811 ”“ nine years before Maine would become independent of Massachusetts.
In January 1811, 37 Saco citizens petitioned the Massachusetts Legislature to establish an academy. It was Feb. 16 of that year when then-Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed the bill to establish the school.
When it opened in 1813, the school was known as Saco Academy. Students came from Saco, Biddeford, Kennebunk, Topsham, Wells, Porter, Berwick and Kittery, as well as Rhode Island and New Hampshire, according to a school publication. Tuition was $3 per quarter, and school was in session year-round, according to Cathy Coffman, bicentennial coordinator.
Studies were offset by chores: The boys tended stoves and rang the bell, and the girls swept and dusted.
In 1821, the school was renamed Thornton Academy after Dr. Thomas G. Thornton, who donated $1,000 when the school was having financial difficulties.
Thornton was one of the original petitioners for the school and a United States marshal of Maine. His gift was a significant amount of money, said Coffman, and would be worth several million in today’s dollars.
Thornton Academy continued at School Street until 1848, when it was destroyed by fire. It was suspected to be arson, said Coffman, and though the school’s trustees and Saco selectmen offered a reward of $50 for the detection of an arsonist, the person was never found.
Thornton Academy did not reopen until about 40 years later. In the interim, students attended a public high school that was started after the original building burned.
In 1889, Thornton Academy reopened at its new Main Street location to 108 students. The school at the time consisted of one building, now known as the Main Building.
When the school reopened in 1889, it did so with a 25-year contract with Saco to educate the city’s students, according to Coffman. Today, Thornton Academy is still a private academy and has publicly funded students from Saco, Dayton and Arundel.
Thornton is one of less than two dozen private academies in the nation today that have students through public/private partnerships, said Coffman.
In the 1800s and early 1900s, research suggests Thornton was a “fitting school” for Bowdoin College, meaning that male students who graduated from Thornton were automatically accepted to Bowdoin, which did not accept female students at the time.
Coffman said during the early years, many of the students who attended Thornton Academy were from well-to-do families. Those who graduated from Thornton were among the most educated in the country, said Coffman, and later, made their mark.
One such alumnus is Hugh McCulloch, who graduated in 1821 and went on to become the nation’s comptroller and then served as secretary of the treasury under three presidents. In 1863, serving as comptroller under President Abraham Lincoln, McCulloch implemented the first national banking regulations, according to information provided by Thornton.
Other notable graduates from the early years include George Emery, Class of 1831, editor of the Boston Post; and John Fairfield Hartley, Class of 1818, assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury.
Today, Thornton Academy is in its second year of a boarding program that attracts students from foreign countries like China and Malta. Although the thought of students boarding at Thornton is a new concept to many today, the school actually had boarding students until the 1920s, Coffman said.
Throughout the years, the school has seen many changes: In 1932, the first yearbook was published; in 1947, the first marching band was created; a new cafeteria began serving the school’s first hot lunches in 1958; in 1971, girls were first allowed to wear pants; tennis became Thornton’s first sport in 1889; and the school completed its first season of football in 1893.
Since the school has been on Main Street, it has had only had seven headmasters. Carl Stasio has been the headmaster since 1986. He is planning to retire in July 2012, at which time Rene Menard, current associate head of school, will take his place.
Stasio said the school’s board of trustees, which governs the school, has always looked at broad goals in the long range and not micro-managed.
Because Thornton is private, it is ineligible for public construction funds and must rely on philanthropy. The alumni are very committed to the school and to philanthropical projects to support the school, he said.
The school offers many academic and enrichment opportunities, and is always growing, he said, noting the recent addition of the boarding program and the upcoming evening classes.
“It’s a dynamic place,” he said.
David LePauloue, president of the Thornton Academy Alumni Board and co-chairman of the Bicentennial Strategic Planning Committee, echoed many of Purvis’ thoughts, and said Thornton provides a “well-rounded experience” for students.
LePauloue, who graduated in 1984, said he enjoyed the many activities Thornton Academy offered and taking computer programming class after school when computers were still new to campus.
“I was always involved in something,” he said.
Eric Purvis, president of the board of trustees and co-chairman of the Bicentennial Strategic Planning Committee, said the fact that there is such a low turnover of headmasters means there is a lot of continuity at the school. Purvis graduated from the school in 1981, and he said the breadth of education at Thornton is tremendous and the school has a strong connection to the community.
“I think Thornton’s kind of a special place,” Purvis said.
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.
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