A home of our own
Since we have a very classical view of education, we would ideally like to build the Academy from the ground up in the spirit of Plato's Academy and Socrates' Lyceum.
But in the meantime we've been looking at other viable and affordable alternatives, starting in our own backyard, so-to-speak.
There is the abandoned Coggeshall School on Van Zandt Avenue right down the street from us that would definitely be a great fit, for us as well as the city of Newport. There's also a huge old-school warehouse at 1 Cherry Street, on The Point, that would do quite nicely too.
We are exploring these opportunities.
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We've also been looking throughout New England: a recently-closed Catholic High School in Plymouth, MA, and an abandoned insane asylum in Medfield, MA – oh, the irony! – have crossed our radar.
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But we think Newport is such a special place and the Academy will be such an asset and magnet that we'd like to stay here.
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"Someday, in the distant future, our grand-children' s grand-children will develop a new equivalent of our classrooms. They will spend many hours in front of boxes with fires glowing within. May they have the wisdom to know the difference between light and knowledge."
– Plato
We always like to think BIG.
Anybody have a spare mansion lying around on the grass they're not using?
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Seriously, we're convinced that education should be housed in an architectural environment that is as respected and inspiring as the precious knowledge it's entrusted with. "Seaview" would be the perfect location for the Old's Cool Academy–which will revitalize this sleeping beauty and eventually become a world-class educational institution and a respected and valued asset to the City of Newport.
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A stupendous location overlooking the Atlantic, brilliant stonework and historic design, plenty of classrooms, built-in barracks, mess hall, theater, academic quad, tennis courts, and direct access to the ocean, perfect for our sailing team (420s) and our rowing crew.
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What better place to invest in the future education of our children in the tried-and-true Classical Education and the time-honored traditions that inspired our great Constitutional Republic than this?​
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Doesn't hurt to dream.
Park the car in Harvard Yard
The Classical Education vision of a "quad" is alive and well today and can be seen all around us. It first found its home on these shores in 1636: Harvard is the embodiment of this ancient ideal–no more than 3-story academic buildings, library, chapel, dorms, surrounding a green that's filled with nature, i.e. grass, plants, flowers, leaves, and trees. Yale, Princeton, and the rest of the Ivies followed suit, as well as numerous other prep schools and colleges across America.
This is our long-term vision too - a 10 acre plot of land with an academic quad consisting of a brick administration building, classrooms, library/mess hall, a gymnasium with an indoor basketball court and track, and a barracks. Out back of that will be an athletic field for football/rugby/lacrosse, and tennis and pickle ball courts. Maybe even a pond for ice hockey.
Further afield will literally be the acres for our working farm, with a barn for animals, including horses, a skeet shooting range, and motorcycle dirt track.
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The Academy will be filled with big ideas and will need room for all of them to grow and flourish.
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