The Lovett School is a

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 ...

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth Grade (also known as Grade 12, Senior Year, Standard 12, 12th Standard, 12th Class, or Class 12th or Class 12) is the twelfth and final Educational stage, year of Formal education, formal or compulsory education. It is typically the final ...

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

located in north

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, United States.

History

In September 1926, Eva Edwards Lovett, an educator who emphasized the development of the whole child, officially began the Lovett School with 20 boys and girls in first through third grades at a former home in Midtown Atlanta. By 1936, Lovett had become a day school, with a move to a wooded campus north of the city off West Wesley Road. In 1960-61, Lovett opened at 4075 Paces Ferry Road—Lovett's current location—with an enrollment of 1,024 students, representing all grades except the 12th. In 1962, Lovett's first senior class graduated, all having been accepted at colleges and universities of their choice. By 1964, both the elementary and high schools were accredited by the Georgia Commission of Accreditation (and each year subsequently), and the upper school was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Campus building projects continued through the 1960s, 70s, and 80s; bringing to campus the Kilpatrick Stadium, Loridans House, Smith Natatorium, Vasser Woolley Library, Fuqua Center, Wallace Gym, Hite Wellness Center, and more. In 1992, Lovett's philosophy was rewritten, a mission statement was developed, and the school also purchased 320 acres of cloudforest, known as Siempre Verde, in Ecuador for the purpose of establishing a research and education center. in 1999, the school was named an "independent school of distinction" in its Fall 1999 interim review by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2000-01 with events such as a history exhibition and a reunion for former alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the school. That year, Lovett also embarked on its 75th Anniversary Campaign to raise funds for a construction and improvement plan. The fundraising goal for Phase I of that project was $55 million. Phase II of the project was started in 2003 under new headmaster, William S. Peebles IV. It was completed in 2009 and included a new middle school and community center. In 2017, the school announced that Meredyth Cole would replace retiring Headmaster William S. Peebles IV at the end of the 2017–18 school year.

Integration struggles

In 1963, the Lovett School became the focus of a desegregation controversy when it rejected the applications of three black students. In 1963, Coretta Scott King contacted the school and asked if it had a racially nondiscriminatory admissions policy. When the school responded that it would admit a black student, her son, Martin Luther King III applied. However, there was not a guarantee that any particular student would be admitted. King was rejected. The Episcopal Diocese then distanced itself from the school. At the center of this long ago debate were the school's ties to the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, which had been established in 1954. The national Episcopal Church had issued directives to its member dioceses to integrate their institutions; the Lovett School's refusal to do so placed the bishop of Atlanta, the Rt. Rev. Randolph Claiborne Jr., in a difficult situation. After a number of pickets at the school organized by the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity, the diocese and school attempted to resolve the situation by severing ties with each other. In later years, the school reportedly revised its admission policy with regards to race. Today, the school features many multicultural programs.

Notable alumni

* Brent Abernathy (1996),

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

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, 1995 Dial Award winner,

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

, gold medalist in the 2000 Olympics (

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

) * David I. Adelman (1982), United States ambassador to the Republic of Singapore, 2010–2013. * Knox Culpepper (1981),

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

* Wes Gordon (2005), fashion designer *

Jeff Greenstein Jeff Greenstein (born November 21, 1963) is an American television writer, producer and director. Greenstein was the showrunner of ''Will & Grace'' and '' Dream On'', as well as on '' Partners'' and '' Getting Personal'', both of which he create ...

, television writer, producer, and director * Grant Haley (2014), NFL player * Gale Harold (1987), actor, '' Queer as Folk'', '' Vanished'', numerous movies and TV appearances * Mary Louise Kelly (1989), broadcaster and author * Shane Kimbrough (1985),

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

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* Christine Lakin (1997), actress; played "Al" on ''Step By Step'' as a child *

Charlotte Laws Charlotte Anne Laws (born May 11, 1960), also known by her stage name Missy Laws, is an American author, talk show host, animal rights advocate, anti-revenge porn activist, former politician, and actress. Laws is a former BBC News contributor a ...

(1978), author, talk show host, former Los Angeles

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animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

advocate, anti-

revenge porn Revenge porn is the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of individuals without their consent, with the punitive intention to create public humiliation or character assassination out of revenge against the victim. The material ma ...

activist (often called "the Erin Brockovich of revenge porn") * George Lombard (1994), Major League Baseball

* Whit Marshall, NFL player * Read Montague (1978), neuroscientist and author *

Eric Nam Eric Nam (; born November 17, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality based in South Korea. Since his debut in 2013, he was named ''GQ Koreas Man of the Year in 2016'','' included on ''Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia ...

(2007), Korean-American singer, featured on ''Birth of a Great Star 2'' in 2012 * Adam Nelson (1993), silver medalist in the 2000 Olympics and gold medalist at the 2004 Olympics (

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

) * Tivon Pennicott (2004),

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winning saxophonist * Miles Redd (1987), interior designer * Aaron Schunk (2016), baseball player * Kabir Sehgal (2001), author and Grammy-winning producer * Jens Söring (1984), German citizen convicted for the 1985 double murderer of his then girlfriend's parents * Mark Stringer (1982), conductor * Maggie Thrash (2003), author * Liza Wieland (1978), author * Burke Whitman (1974), Major General, United States Marine Corps

References

External links

The Lovett School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovett School Private K-12 schools in Atlanta Educational institutions established in 1926 1926 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)