Pictou Academy
| Pictou Academy | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Address | |
|
88 Patterson Street Pictou, Nova Scotia, B0K 1H0 Canada |
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| Coordinates | 45°40′50.9″N 62°42′39.9″W / 45.680806°N 62.711083°WCoordinates: 45°40′50.9″N 62°42′39.9″W / 45.680806°N 62.711083°W |
| Information | |
| School type | Secondary School |
| Motto |
Concordia Salus ((Harmony and Good Health)) |
| Founded | 1816 |
| School board | Chignecto - Central Regional School Board |
| Superintendent | Dr. Noel Hurley |
| Area trustee | Vivian Farrell |
| Administrator | James Ryan |
| Principal | James Ryan |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 156 (September 2008) |
| Language | English |
| Colour(s) | Red and White |
| Mascot | Pit bull |
| Team name | Pictou Academy Pitbulls |
| Website | pa |
| Last updated: April 14, 2009 | |
Pictou Academy (PA), founded in 1816 by Dr. Thomas McCulloch, is a secondary school in Pictou, Nova Scotia. Prior to the twentieth century, it was a liberal nonsectarian college, a grammar school, an academy and then a secondary school. Pictou Academy's current principal is James Ryan. The Pictou Academy Educational Foundation provides additional funds to the school. The student council executives for the 2015-16 school year are Josh Young, Co-President, Aran MacDonald, Co-President, and Clare MacDonald, Vice President.
The original site of the academy was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1937, as it symbolized the introduction of nonsectarian education to The Maritimes in the early 19th century.
On March 26, 1816, the Nova Scotia Legislature enacted legislation to found Pictou Academy.
Thomas McCulloch (1776 - 1843), the first principal (1816 - 1837), was a Presbyterian minister ordained in the Secessionist church in Scotland. He arrived in Pictou in 1803 and by 1806, he had written about the need for a college because King's, the one college in Nova Scotia at that time, was open to only 20% of the population. McCulloch wanted a non sectarian college that would train local ministers and offer to all a liberal scientific curriculum modeled on the University of Glasgow.
In 1806 he opened a school in his own house and the excellence of his teaching drew students from Nova Scotia and beyond, but it was not until 1816 that Pictou Academy was opened. McCulloch began to build up its library and collected insect and bird specimens for a natural history museum. This collection was so extensive that John James Audubon, in a visit in 1833, called it "The finest private collection in North America."
Throughout his years as principal, McCulloch had a constant struggle with government funding, trustees, the status of the Academy, and religious groups, both in Pictou and the province. For many years, the Legislative Assembly approved a grant for the Academy but the Council rejected or reduced the grant. McCulloch fought vigorously for his ideas, but by 1837, he was in a very difficult position and left the Academy to become the first principal of the new Dalhousie College in Halifax.
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