Motto | Spe et labore By hope and work |
---|---|
Established | 31 August 1885 |
Type | Comprehensive |
Rector | Barry Millar |
Deputy Rector | Gordon Laidlaw |
Deputy Heads | Angela White Michael Stewart Leona Chacko |
Founder | William Harris |
Location |
Perth Road Dundee Scotland Coordinates: 56°27′22″N 3°00′32″W / 56.456°N 3.009°W |
Local authority | Dundee |
Staff | 107 (as of 2013-14) |
Students | 1300 |
Gender | Mixed |
Houses | Birnam Cawdor Forres Kinloch |
Colours | Maroon, Gold, Black |
Website | Harris Academy |
Harris Academy is a co-educational comprehensive school in the West End of Dundee, Scotland. Harris Academy was founded in 1885 and is the oldest public school in Dundee.
Over the course of its history, Harris Academy has been housed at three different locations across the city in Park Place, Perth Road and Lawton Road temporally, with its permanent campus based on Perth Road.
The school is situated in the west of Dundee, north of the railway line, the A85 and Dundee Airport. The University of Dundee Botanic Garden is nearby to the west.
Harris Academy has a house system which allocates each pupil to one of four houses, named Birnam, Cawdor, Forres and Kinloch. The former three come from houses in William Shakespeare's "Macbeth". The latter comes from the name of George Kinloch, former MP and reformer in Dundee and from the village of Kinloch. Each of the houses has an associated colour, Birnam - Red, Cawdor - Yellow, Forres - Green, Kinloch - Blue. Each house competes against each other in Interhouse competitions; both sporting and academic. They receive points for their success, and at the end of the year, the points are totalled to declare the winner of the house championship, only the years from 2004-2015 have been listed:
Harris Academy was established on 31 August, 1885 through a bequest from corn-merchant and mill owner William Harris. The original building was in Park Place and the school moved to its present building in Perth Road on 21 April, 1931.
Harris Academy was a selective secondary school until it became a comprehensive in 1973. The last intake to its Primary Department was August 1955.
Harris Academy moved to Lawton Road in 2013 as its former Perth Road building gets revamped. On 22 June 2015, it was announced that Menzieshill High School would shut down and pupils are to transfer to Harris Academy in 2016 when the new Perth Road building is completed. 18 councillors voted in favour for Menzieshill High School to close with 14 councillors against the closure.
The uniform of Harris Academy is a three button blazer in maroon with the school badge embroidered on the left front pocket. It is compulsory for pupils to wear a white shirt with black trousers or skirt but not the maroon blazer. Prefects wear yellow bands on the arms of their blazers. The Harris tie is a maroon tie striped with yellow and black.