Brandon Hall School was the only

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

college preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two so ...

and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

serving grades 6–12 in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States, in

Metro Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ...

. Located within a forested area along the Chattahoochee River, the school offered a broad range of athletic and arts-oriented opportunities and a variety of multi-cultural and travel experiences. The school had approximately 140 students. Annual high school tuition for day students was $30,250, while residence students were listed at $59,150. Scholarships and aid were available.

History

Founded in 1959 by Theodore and Shirley Hecht, Brandon Hall School was located on a pristine 27-acre campus on the Chattahoochee River. The campus was the former summer estate of prominent Atlantan Morris Brandon and his wife, Harriet Inman, and includes the original 1920s residence. Under Mr. Hecht’s guidance, 1959 – 1980, Brandon Hall School provided one-to-one instruction to boys from across the country. From 1980 to the present, the school had undergone many changes and improvements under the various Heads of School. During this time, the academic buildings and dormitory were built, and the school joined the Atlanta Athletic Conference while introducing a variety of competitive sports for both girls and boys. The Resident Housing was built for faculty and staff wishing to live on campus, and the Great Hall was renovated to create a welcoming entrance to the school. The school received

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

recognition as a

Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

for the 1984–1985 school year. The School announced in an email to parents on May 22, 2023, that it lacked the finances to operate during the 2023-24 term. Parents who had already paid a deposit for the next school year were warned about the financial situation in an email on May 1. In September 2023, the school filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

and is planning to sell all of its assets to pay off creditors. A former teacher at the school,

Kevin Ricks Kevin Ricks (born 1960) is a convicted sexual predator who targeted mostly high-school age boys from at least the late 1970s until his arrest in 2010. 1970s Ricks's first known victim was targeted at a summer camp in North Carolina in 1978. This ...

, was jailed for child sexual abuse in 2011.

Accreditation

Brandon Hall School is accredited by AdvancEd

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

and the

Southern Association of Independent Schools {{Cleanup-spam, date=April 2011 The Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) is a U.S.-based voluntary organization of more than 380 independent elementary and secondary schools through the South, representing more than 220,000 students. ...

. The school is also a member of the Atlanta Area Association of Independent Schools, the

National Association of Independent Schools The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1962, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, boar ...

, Small Boarding Schools Association, and the Association of Boarding Schools.

Academics

Students experience a college preparatory curriculum that focuses on

STEAM Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

fields of study (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics), project-based learning, and innovative technologies.

Arts

The Fine Arts Department at Brandon Hall School offers courses in Drawing and Painting, Mixed Media Sculpture, Printmaking, Middle School Theatre, Drama, Acting Methods and Techniques, Technical Theatre, Musical Theatre, Integrated Fine Arts, Vocal Music, and Instrumental Music. In 2016, Brandon Hall School won a state title for a one-act play performance of "

Almost, Maine ''Almost, Maine'' is a play by John Cariani, comprising nine short plays that explore love and loss in a remote, mythical almost-town called Almost, Maine. It premiered at the Portland Stage Company in Portland, Maine in 2004, where it broke ...

Athletics

As a member of the

Georgia Independent School Association The Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) is an association of private, independent, and parochial schools throughout the state of Georgia. It was established in 1967 as the Georgia Association of Independent Schools, at the time a large n ...

, Brandon Hall offers varsity, junior varsity, and middle school level sports, including cross country,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

Student life

The school offers extracurricular clubs and activities, sports, and community service opportunities. Students have opportunities to travel domestically and abroad, as well as take part in field days, Homecoming, prom, and ball games.

Student travel programs

Students take learning-standards-based trips domestically and abroad during both the school year and summer.

References

External links

*
The Association of Boarding Schools profile
{{authority control Boarding schools in Georgia (U.S. state) Preparatory schools in Georgia (U.S. state) Private middle schools in Sandy Springs, Georgia Private high schools in Sandy Springs, Georgia Educational institutions established in 1959 1959 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 Educational institutions disestablished in 2023 2023 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)