Augusta Preparatory Day School (APDS) is a non-sectarian, independent school in Augusta, Georgia, United States. It accepts students from age two through twelfth grade.
History
Augusta Preparatory School began with 38 students in grades 7–12 on September 5, 1961. Augusta Country Day School was founded in 1972, and accepted students from kindergarten through fifth grade. The schools were merged to form Augusta Preparatory Day School in 1988.[1]
Today, Augusta Prep is organized into three divisions: The Lower School enrolls students age two through grade 4, the Middle School enrolls students in grades 5 through 8, and the Upper School enrolls students in grades 9 through 12. Augusta Prep features Spanish introduced in kindergarten, chess starting in first grade, a world fair (global education) in fourth grade, fine arts introduced in Lower School, cyber and robotics in Middle and Upper School, French and Spanish in Middle School, performing arts in Middle and Upper School, athletics in Middle and Upper School. The Upper School offers 36 AP and Honors courses in engaging and challenging environment.[2] Niche.com ranks Augusta Prep as one of the top private schools in Georgia, as well as the top school for STEM in the Augusta area.
Augusta Prep is the only school in the state of Georgia that is a member of the Malone Family Foundation. In 2009, Augusta Prep was selected as one of just 48 schools nationwide to receive a $2 million endowment from the Malone Foundation. Augusta Prep uses interest from the endowment to fund the annual Malone Scholarship program, which offers renewable scholarships to help further provide educational opportunities for new students in the top five percent of their class who demonstrate academic achievement, exemplary citizenship, and leadership potential, as well as financial need. On June 13, 2023, Augusta Prep received an additional $500,000 grant from the Malone Family Foundation.
On Nov. 6, 2020, Middle School math teacher Ryan Kho was named the Georgia Independent Schools Association (GISA) Middle School Teacher of the Year.
On Jan. 24, 2023, Augusta Prep held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $11.2 million, state-of-the-art W. Rodger Giles Institute for Inquiry. This one-of-a-kind STEM building in the Augusta area.is expected to open in 2024.
During the 2022-2023 school year, seven seniors were recognized in the National Merit Scholarship program, while two students earned National Merit scholarships.
Augusta Prep is known for its strong science and engineering program. Prep also offers a Motorsports Engineering led by faculty member Eric Member. The Motorsports Engineering team builds and races its own cars in various competitions.
Athletics
At the varsity level, Augusta Prep is a member of the Georgia Independent School Association competes in Region 4-AA. Prep has 19 varsity sports, to include baseball, basketball, clay target shooting, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field and volleyball.
Augusta Prep has one of the best athletics programs in the Augusta area with 57 State Championships, 55 State Runner-up Championships and 159 Region Championships in our 61-year school history. In the 2018–19 school year, Augusta Prep featured 85 percent of all students competing in at least one sports in grades 6–12, with 59 percent playing two sports and 28 percent playing three sports. Middle School teams won seven championships and added three-up titles. The Upper School varsity sports teams won three GISA championships (girls cross country, girls track and field, girls soccer), added four state runner-up finishes (boys swimming, girls swimming, boys cross country, boys track and field) and took home eight GISA region championships. Augusta Prep won the GISA Class AAA All-Sports Trophy for 2018–19.
The varsity girls soccer program captured its seventh state championship since 2014 with a 3-0 victory over Holy Spirit Prep in the GISA Class AA championship match on May 10 at Mercer University.
On April 26, 2023, five Augusta Prep football players signed college offers with Sewanee, Tuskegee and LaGrange. Earlier in the school year, another senior football player signed with Culver-Stockton.
Larry Mize, the 1987 Masters Tournament champion, graduated from Augusta Prep in 1976. Mize defeated two of the top players in golf at the time, Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman, in a sudden-death playoff. Mize famously chipped in from off the green for birdie at No. 11 to win the green jacket.
References
- ^ a b "Prep at a Glance". Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
- ^ "The Prep Advantage". www.augustaprep.org. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
