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Pace Academy
2 reviews for Pace Academy
I have some incredible memories of Pace and loved almost every minute of my 6 years there. When I graduated in 2002, Pace had an Upper (7-12) and Lower (Pre-1st-6) School, no football team, incredible faculty, and a strong focus on the arts. Much of that has changed in the past 6 years and I find it rather upsetting.
When I graduated from Pace I could see where it was headed and I'm glad I got out when I did. The addition of the Inman Center (ridiculous sports complex) and the disconnect between the administration, students, teachers, and parents were major warning signs that Pace wasn't going to be the school I loved much longer. Some of my most favorite teachers had already left (Mr. Gillespie, Mrs. Minick, Mr. Espey) and not due to retirement. The Inman Center was marketed as an incredible addition to the school, but I much preferred the old Boyd gym: it felt like a high school gym in contrast to the pomposity that the Inman Center projected with its 4-sided scoreboard and Coca-Cola advertisements.
The late-1990's Pace was the best. There was an incredibly strong focus on the arts. Every theater production was better than most professional ones I've seen and the studio art programs were flourishing, especially with the addition of Rick Berman in ceramics. Debate was still Pace's strength, winning the national championship every year like clockwork. Some people may think that these things aren't worth as much as a champion football team, but in my opinion they were far superior. I would have much rather watched my classmates perform in Cabaret (our school talent show) or see their art at a local gallery than watch them pummel someone on the football field. Sure, it was a different environment, but that's why I liked it. That's what made Pace unique.
Another leg up (at least in my opinion) that Pace had over its rivals was its small size: I graduated with 82 others. The size was the main selling point for my family, as we were able to have very special relationships with both our teachers and our classmates. I don't think I would have enjoyed high school any other way. As Jack said, Pace also had a very strong Jewish community which I know shaped how I am today (including my unabashed love for matzoh and latkes).
The education I received at Pace was top notch. Some of the teachers there made a profound impact on my life and I still remember what they taught me, word for word. Furthermore, I wouldn't feel weird calling a number of them up, just to ask them how they're doing. I still remember Mrs. Hayes teaching us about 1588, Mr. Horner's obsession with German history, right down to the art and music, Mr. Smith's "quiet" ability to explain concepts to the least mathematical among us, Mr. Carson's passion for the written word, Mrs. Durlin's ability to make your measly writing sound like Shakespeare.... I could go on an on. Sure, things weren't perfect: the science department saw a lot of turnover and there were definitely some less than enthusiastic teachers. Still, my education at Pace has served me very well.
Today Pace has a football team, which to me indicates a "selling out" of sorts. Along with that football team has come an "master plan" to build more and more athletic facilities. The focus has obviously shifted to athletics, making Pace much more of a run of the mill prep school. They've also added a Middle School, segmenting the student body (I think 7th graders can learn a lot from seniors) and allowing room for the school to grow (NOT good). While I believe the relationship between parents, administrators and students has improved with the new headmaster, as an alum I don't like the direction that Pace is headed.
I had always imagined coming back to Atlanta and being a teacher at Pace, and at the very least sending my children there (if I could afford it!) but now I'm not so sure.
I graduated from Pace in 2003. Like many generations before and after me, I feel like my graduating class was "its best ever" and the golden years are behind us, but I recognize that opinion may possibly be a little biased.
There were a lot of things to like about Pace. Socially, you grow up with a class that expands from around 40 in elementary school to ~90 in high school; that can be both good and bad but worked well enough for me. As a (young) adult, I know find myself extraordinarily comfortable in small groups and adept at making strong bonds with my closest friends, but less comfortable in large groups. Whether that means Pace was perfect for me or Pace formed me I cannot say, but it's certainly a big difference between Pace and public school.
The education is stellar, particularly in the humanities. Some teachers are better than others, but just about every single one of them cared deeply about his/her students, and there were certainly some great ones (Mr. Smith, in math, and Mr. Carson, in English, were among my personal favorites, though there were many other excellent ones). I will say that as a high achiever I feel I could have been pushed more, and I don't think Pace necessarily gives its students all the resources and motivation it could to do research or study higher-level math, but that is a niche complaint.
When I was at Pace, it had no football team, and it was alone among its rivals in Lovett and Westminster at having a large Jewish community. It was known as the most community-based, nurturing, and liberal of the the three schools. To be sure, there was still an extremely large contingent of rich white conservatives (more noticeable in retrospect, having moved to the Bay Area), along with a relative lack of (particularly non-black) minorities, but as a less wealthy, extremely liberal (but still white male) I still felt relatively comfortable. Michael Murphy, the headmaster during most of my time at Pace, and Lolly Hand, the Upper School head, were strong advocates for liberal policy at Pace, but they faced pressure from the board to maintain "Christian" values and other such things. I remember specifically a meeting of students who wanted to form an LBGT chapter at pace -- there were no openly gay students during my time at Pace, though one did come out afterwards. Mr Murphy said he simply could not authorize a gay-supporting club for certainty of losing his job. My fears are that Mr. Murphy quit partially because of this strife, and I wonder if Pace will not/has not become more conservative since I have left. The recent scrapping of the fall soccer league (we were #2 nationally the year after I graduated) for a football team (that will never be any good) may be an indicator that indeed Pace is becoming more like its rivals for the worse.
All said, I do recommend Pace as an excellent environment for at the very least children like me -- self-motivated and comfortable in small groups. As a liberal parent I would have concerns about the power of the Christian / Republican board of directors and power at Pace, and as a mathematician I would try to ensure excellent students were not content to pursue mathematics/science to the limited extent that Pace encourages. These questions aside I would send my own child there.
