Marin Academy (familiarly known as MA) is a

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high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish for " St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's populatio ...

. Located on the campus that for decades housed the San Rafael Military Academy prior to its closure, Marin Academy was founded in 1971 with 118 faculty members and a

student body A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

of 449. Marin Academy is one of the most competitive private high schools in the Bay Area. In the 2015–2016 school year, Marin Academy accepted only one in four students who applied.

Curriculum

MA requires students to take two years of one of its performing or visual arts programs, four years of English, three years of History, three years of Mathematics, three years of Science (Biology, Chemistry, and one Physics course are required), and two semesters of Human Development, a health and social awareness class. In addition to classroom instruction, Marin Academy students undertake a number of non-traditional learning experiences such as minicourse, the Outings program, end-of-year projects (EOY), wilderness quest, and mandatory senior speeches or senior arts performances. Another unique program is the Marin Academy Research Collaborative (MARC), where students conduct independent research during their junior and senior years. The student body sustains many socially conscious student organizations and has been active in politics in Marin. The school conducts annual conferences and workshops on equality and social justice, called the Conference on Democracy and has a tradition of seniors delivering speeches to school assemblies.

Academics

Marin Academy is an academically focused school, with a student-to-teacher ratio of 9:1 and an average class size of 15. More than two-thirds of the faculty hold advanced degrees. More than 99% of Marin Academy graduates go on to attend a four-year college or university. Travis Brownley, an educator who was the

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of the Groton School, was appointed the Head of School in 2008 following the departure of the previous head of school, Bodie Brizendine, who had led the school for 12 years, and Dick Drew, who served as interim head of school. The Bodie Brizendine Leadership Center (BBLC), a centrally located building on campus, houses faculty offices, math classrooms, and the school cafeteria.

Athletics

Marin Academy has developed a strong athletics program, highlighted by successes in boys' and girls' soccer, cross country, boys' lacrosse, boys'

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

, and girls' volleyball. The school competes in The Bay Counties League (BCL) within the

North Coast Section The North Coast Section (NCS) is a part of the California Interscholastic Federation, governing the eastern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area, up along the northern coast of the state of California, from Fremont in the south to Crescent C ...

(NCS). During the COVID era, the swimming and water polo teams were members of The Marin County Athletic League (MCAL). Marin Academy has won 11 North Coast Section championships in boys' soccer - 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022 - and is a regular contender for regional championships. Girls' varsity soccer won the BCL and placed second in the North Coast Section Championship, losing to the Branson High School 4–2, in 2002. In 2006, the boys' soccer team won their third NCS championship in a match against University High School. Tied 1-1 through overtime, the NCS championship game was decided by penalty kicks, in which MA won 5–4. MA also defeated University in the BCL finals that year. In 2007, MA and University again matched up in the BCL and NCS championships, with UHS winning BCL and MA winning NCS 2–0. In 2008 MA and University were matched up once again in the BCL final and the Wildcats defeated the Devils 2–0. The two schools are rivals. The girls' soccer team has won the last 6 BCL titles from 2016 to 2022 (undefeated against league opponents in the last 4 seasons) as well as ones in 2002 and 2010. In 2019 and in 2020 they advanced to NCS finals against Cardinal Newman and to CIF finals against Branson, coming up a goal short in 3 of the games and a penalty kick in the other. In 2022 MA girls soccer won their first NCS title and in 2023, they won their first Norcal Championship. The girls' volleyball team won the state and NCS division V championships in 2004, after losing to University High School in both the NCS and Northern California championship games the year before. In the 2022 fall season the team won the NCS title. In the 2012 spring season, the Girls' Varsity Swim Team set the first North Coast Section record in Marin Academy history, with a time of 1:34.82 in the 200 yard freestyle relay. The girls placed fifth overall at NCS, first out of Marin County teams, and first out of schools with fewer than one thousand students. The Marin Academy boys' water polo team placed first in NCS DII in 2017 after defeating

Alameda High School Alameda High School is a co-educational state high school serving grades 9–12. It is located in Alameda, California, United States, and is part of the Alameda Unified School District. History The suggestion to open a "Preparatory Department o ...

13–8. In both 2021 and 2022 the team placed second in NCS DII. The Marin Academy Cross Country team placed first in NCS DII in 2015 and placed second in the California State Championships D V in both 2013 and 2015. Current athletics offered include (but are not limited to): Fall Sports * Cross Country * Girls' Volleyball * Boys' and Girls' Waterpolo * Girls' Tennis * Girls' Golf Winter Sports * Boys' and Girls' Basketball * Boys' and Girls' Soccer Spring Sports * Baseball * Boys' and Girls' Swimming * Boys' and Girls' Lacrosse * Boys' and Girls' Track and Field * Boys' Golf * Boys' Tennis

Notable alumni

The following people attended Marin Academy (the year shown is their year of graduation or, for non-graduates, the year that their class graduated) *

Rozzi Crane Rosalind Elizabeth "Rozzi" Crane (born May 2, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter from San Francisco. At 19 years old, Crane made her name known by being discovered by Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine. Soon after she was touring the country w ...

('09) – singer-songwriter *

Buck Ellison Buck Ellison (born 1987) is an American visual artist, known for his photography. He lives and works in Los Angeles. Biography Buck Ellison was born in 1987 in San Francisco, California. He received a BA degree in German literature from Columbia ...

('06) – artist *

Rumi Neely Rumi Neely is an American fashion blogger known for her style and photography. Biography Neely created "Fashion Toast" in 2008 and in tandem with an eBay vintage store called "Treasure Chest Vintage." By 2009, it was receiving over 35,000 hits pe ...

('00) – fashion blogger at Fashion Toast *

Carré Otis Carré Brennan Otis (born September 28, 1968) is an American model and actress. Early life Carré Otis was born in San Francisco, and raised in Marin County, California, along with her older sister Chrisse and her younger brother Jordan. She at ...

('87) – actress and model * Ruth Parasol ('84) – co-founder

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Jason Rezaian Jason Rezaian ( fa, جیسون رضائیان; born on March 16, 1976) is an Iranian-American journalist who served as Tehran bureau chief for ''The Washington Post''. He was convicted of espionage in a closed-door trial in Iran in 2015. On Jul ...

('94) – reporter for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' *

Peter Som Peter Som (born 1970) is a Chinese American fashion designer. He was creative director for Bill Bass and creative consultant for Tommy Hilfiger, where he designed the women’s wear collection, prior to founding his eponymous label. Born and rai ...

('89) — fashion designer

Controversy

Marin Academy was involved in the 2019 college cheating scandal dubbed "varsity blues" where parents cheated their children into colleges. Between one and three students from Marin Academy had parents who were involved: one presumably including Todd and Diane Blake of Ross who pleaded guilty to the charges.

References

External links

Marin Academy website

Archive of Academic Courses

High schools in Marin County, California Private high schools in California Education in San Rafael, California Buildings and structures in San Rafael, California Educational institutions established in 1971 1971 establishments in California {{Coord, 37.9762, -122.5347, source:googlemaps, display=title