MKA Celebrates 125 Years in Montclair
In a letter published in today's Montclair Times, the faculty, staff, trustees, students and alumni of Montclair Kimberley Academy expressed their gratitude to the community that they have called home since 1887:
"As we celebrate Montclair Kimberley Academy’s 125th Anniversary, we would like to thank our friends and neighbors in the Montclair community for all that you have done and continue to do help contribute to the unique strengths and character of our school.
Classes for eighteen boys at Montclair Academy began on September 19th, 1887 in a two-room schoolhouse on Clinton Avenue. With the support of a dozen Montclair families, Dr. John MacVicar founded Montclair Academy one hundred twenty-five years ago.
In choosing the school’s name and location, Dr. MacVicar bound the destiny of his academy to the character and qualities of the town of Montclair, as was also the case for MKA’s other “ancestor” schools; The Kimberley School (1906) and Brookside School (1925). We believe that all of our founders would be proud of our three-campus, Pre-K-12 school of over one thousand students.
MKA strives to foster the enduring strengths of Montclair by educating our students in a diverse, innovative, compassionate and exciting community. We value our relationships with all of the schools in Montclair, and we believe that great public, parochial and independent schools benefit from one another.
We are proud of our history and of our Montclair heritage. We thank the town and our neighbors for helping Dr. MacVicar’s school flourish. We aspire to be as much of a source of pride to our hometown as Montclair is to MKA."
With gratitude,
The Faculty, Staff, Trustees, Students and Alumni of Montclair Kimberley Academy