"For many years [circa 1880]…educators, ministers and business leaders had been aware of a serious defect in their educational facilities. They had no good preparatory school for boys and young men. The public high school was still in its initial stages of development and although one had been opened in Lexington it was considered unsatisfactory. Therefore at this time the majority of the people thought that the solution for their problem lay in the founding of a good preparatory school for boys and young men rather than in the development of a public high school."

                  The Story of Wentworth by Raymond W. Settle

Wentworth Military Academy & Junior College was founded in 1880 initially as Hobson’s Select School for Boys. A year later, the school became Wentworth Male Academy when the school’s benefactor, Stephen G. Wentworth, purchased the school and re-named it in memory of his recently deceased son, William. Its purpose was to prepare its graduates for college and professional life. That mission remains unchanged after 125 years and now applies to young women as well as men.

The evolution to a military school was gradual and prompted by the students themselves, who began to conduct drill and maneuvers with broomsticks as an extracurricular activity. The school’s leaders saw in their efforts good outcomes, such as improved discipline and fitness, and formalized military regimen into the overall boarding program. In the catalog for the 1884-1885 school year, they articulated the reasons for making the Academy a military school; foremost among them was this:

           Students learn more with military training than without it.

This core belief and the Academy’s mission of preparing young people for admission to the nation’s best colleges and universities remain central to Wentworth’s academic and boarding program today.

For more information, check out:

Extended History of Wentworth

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