The Academy @ Shawnee

The Academy @ Shawnee (formerly, Shawnee High School Magnet Career Academy [MCA]), is a magnet middle school and high school (grades 6-12) in the Jefferson County Public School District in Louisville, Kentucky, with a focus in Aerospace, which is the number one export in the state of Kentucky.[2] Qualifying students choose from Aerospace-Flight, Aerospace Engineering, Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC). The Academy offers the Advance Program and Advanced Placement (AP) courses, as well as some dual-credit and a pre-engineering course via Project Lead the Way. It is one of five West Louisville schools selected as part of the Signature Partnership initiative with the University of Louisville.[3] The Academy@ Shawnee also houses the Challenger Learning Center,[4] which offers science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) student learning exercises, or missions, which are housed in a realistic looking environment that was modeled after the Challenger space shuttle and control room.

The Academy @ Shawnee
Entrance outside the main office
Address
4001 Herman St.

Louisville
,
Kentucky

United States
Coordinates38.26090°N 85.81500°W / 38.26090; -85.81500
Information
TypePublic
Established1927
School districtJefferson County Public Schools
PrincipalKimberly Rice
Faculty51 (FTE)[1]
GradesPK, 6–12
Enrollment578 (2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio11.33[1]
Color(s)Navy and Gold          
NicknameGolden Eagles
InformationMagnet Program School
Websitewww.academyatshawnee.org

The Academy @Shawnee began as a high school and [5] incorporated a middle school in the fall of 2013. The aerospace magnet is smaller in enrollment in comparison to other middle schools in Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), and offers learning opportunities to students such as the Challenger Learning Center. The middle school ranked in the 99th percentile when test scores came out after the first year. It had the highest accountability score of any middle school in JCPS, second-highest in the state of Kentucky.[6]

The Academy @ Shawnee is the only high school in the United States that offers the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 141 Private Pilot License Course, which includes ground school and flight hours. Students have the opportunity to pursue a pilot's license which transfers as credit hours in select universities. Students fly simulators, take familiarization flights, build scale models, and take field trips to Aerospace companies such as UPS. The Academy @ Shawnee offers additional Aerospace and flight courses. Some of these courses are dual credit. The Academy @ Shawnee is partnered with the National Air and Space Education Institute (NASEI) which allows student to compete with other aviation students.[7] During the junior year, the actual FAA curriculum for Ground School starts as students begin to work towards the opportunity to spend their senior year flying and earning their Private Pilots License. The Academy @ Shawnee also has an award-winning NJROTC program (Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps) which hold 110 students in the program. The Academy's sports programs are Football, Basketball, Swimming, Wrestling, Track and Field, Volleyball, Baseball and Softball. Basketball is the only sport to win a State Championships which was in March 1973 at Freedom Hall. Shawnee beat Male High School 81 to 68. Samuel Robinson was principal and James "Honeybee" Gordon was the head coach.[8]

The school building sits on a large campus and is Gothic-inspired in its architectural design; it was constructed in 1927[9] and is on the National Register of Historic Places (reference number 84000277). The school had a listed enrollment of 593 students for the 2014/15 school year.[10]

Notable alumni
  • Martha Rofheart - American Stage Actress & Historical Novelist, Class of 1933
  • Gerald Neal - Kentucky State Senator, Class of 1963
  • Ed Hamilton - World-renowned Sculptor, Class of 1965
  • George F. Karem - American Scholar and Educator, Class of 1965
  • Rudy Macklin - Professional Basketball Player, Class of 1976

See also
  • Public schools in Louisville, Kentucky

References
  1. "The Academy @ Shawnee". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  2. "Kentucky's exports are flying high with aerospace, The Lane Report". May 11, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  3. Signature Partnership - University of Louisville Archived September 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "The Challenger Learning Center". Archived from the original on March 8, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  5. "The Academy @ Shawnee - Middle Academy". Archived from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  6. Ross, Allison (October 15, 2014). "Shawnee mid-school's success key part of plan". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, KY.
  7. "Air+Space Academy – National Air & Space Education Institute". Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  8. "The Academy @ Shawnee -- Louisville, KY". Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  9. Dedication plaque located inside main entrance gives date of December 20, 1927
  10. Jefferson County Public Schools 2014-2015 High Schools Profile Archived April 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
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