Archmere Academy
Encyclopedia
Archmere Academy is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school of 474 students in Claymont, Delaware
. It is run independently within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington
.
, initially as an all-boys school, in the former home of U.S. industrialist John J. Raskob
. It was also a boarding school, but due to the space available at the time, the size of the school was quite small. Over time, the school grew in size, forgoing the style of a boarding school, and eventually accepting girls in 1975.
In April 2001, an internal dispute among the Norbertines relating to the establishment of Claymont Priory separate from Daylesford Abbey spilled over into the administration of Archmere Academy and left the campus in turmoil. Interventions from noted alumnus
, and now Vice President of the United States
, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and the superior general of the Norbertines in Rome, Abbot Hermenegild Noyens, calmed the turmoil and eventually resulted in the Academy taking control of the former Raskob residence, known as "The Patio".
, foreign language
, history, and the sciences. Choices for elective classes include art, yearbook (which meets during class time), band, chorus, and computer courses.
Archmere offers a large number of AP courses, including Spanish, French, German, Statistics, Calculus, both AB and BC, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Environmental Science, Art Portfolio in 2-D and 3-D, Computer Science, English, Composition, US History, European History, and World History.
for interscholastic sports such as football
, field hockey
, basketball
, ice hockey
, soccer, swimming
, diving
, lacrosse
, volleyball
, golf
, tennis
, cheerleading
, baseball
, softball
, cross country
, track and field
, and wrestling
.
Archmere's campus features two artificial turf fields (utilized by football, M/W soccer, M/W lacrosse, and field hockey), a baseball field (upgraded with dugouts), a softball field (upgraded with dugouts), six tennis courts, and a running track.
to the 20th century including jazz
and Broadway
. Instruction is provided mostly through rehearsal experience although there is also a course on music theory for advanced students. Performing groups include the Concert Band, Concert Choir, Jazz Band, and Mastersingers. The Mastersingers was founded in 1988 and consists of 21–25 students selected by audition at the beginning of the school year. In addition to giving community concerts, they compete nationally and internationally and supply music for school liturgies.
Claymont, Delaware
Claymont is a census-designated place in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 9,220 at the 2000 census.-History:...
. It is run independently within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington
Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington
-External links:**...
.
History
Archmere was founded in 1932 by the Norbertine religious orderReligious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...
, initially as an all-boys school, in the former home of U.S. industrialist John J. Raskob
John J. Raskob
John Jakob Raskob, KCSG was a financial executive and businessman for DuPont and General Motors, and the builder of the Empire State Building. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1928 to 1932 and a key supporter of Alfred E. Smith's candidacy for President of the United...
. It was also a boarding school, but due to the space available at the time, the size of the school was quite small. Over time, the school grew in size, forgoing the style of a boarding school, and eventually accepting girls in 1975.
In April 2001, an internal dispute among the Norbertines relating to the establishment of Claymont Priory separate from Daylesford Abbey spilled over into the administration of Archmere Academy and left the campus in turmoil. Interventions from noted alumnus
Alumnus
An alumnus , according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a graduate of a school, college, or university." An alumnus can also be a former member, employee, contributor or inmate as well as a former student. In addition, an alumna is "a female graduate or former student of a school, college,...
, and now Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and the superior general of the Norbertines in Rome, Abbot Hermenegild Noyens, calmed the turmoil and eventually resulted in the Academy taking control of the former Raskob residence, known as "The Patio".
Academics
Archmere students are required to take a large number of courses in a variety of areas, including eight semesters of English, as well as seven semesters of religion, and six semesters of mathematicsMathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, foreign language
Foreign language
A foreign language is a language indigenous to another country. It is also a language not spoken in the native country of the person referred to, i.e. an English speaker living in Japan can say that Japanese is a foreign language to him or her...
, history, and the sciences. Choices for elective classes include art, yearbook (which meets during class time), band, chorus, and computer courses.
Archmere offers a large number of AP courses, including Spanish, French, German, Statistics, Calculus, both AB and BC, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Environmental Science, Art Portfolio in 2-D and 3-D, Computer Science, English, Composition, US History, European History, and World History.
Athletics
Archmere competes in the Diamond State ConferenceDiamond State Conference
The Diamond State Conference is a high school sports conference comprising private schools in Delaware. Historically, the conference consisted of schools from Lower Delaware and existed until the 1969-70 school year when the Henlopen Conference was formed...
for interscholastic sports such as football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, soccer, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, and wrestling
Scholastic wrestling
Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...
.
Archmere's campus features two artificial turf fields (utilized by football, M/W soccer, M/W lacrosse, and field hockey), a baseball field (upgraded with dugouts), a softball field (upgraded with dugouts), six tennis courts, and a running track.
Music program
The music program at Archmere Academy is an elective program that focuses on performance practices from the RenaissanceRenaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
to the 20th century including jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and Broadway
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. Instruction is provided mostly through rehearsal experience although there is also a course on music theory for advanced students. Performing groups include the Concert Band, Concert Choir, Jazz Band, and Mastersingers. The Mastersingers was founded in 1988 and consists of 21–25 students selected by audition at the beginning of the school year. In addition to giving community concerts, they compete nationally and internationally and supply music for school liturgies.
Notable alumni
- Joseph R. Biden, Jr.Joe BidenJoseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...
, class of 1961 – Vice President of the United StatesVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term... - Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden IIIBeau BidenJoseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III is an American lawyer, Army JAG officer, and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He serves as the Attorney General of Delaware and a Major in the Delaware Army National Guard...
, class of 1987 – Delaware Attorney GeneralDelaware Attorney GeneralThe Attorney General of Delaware is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state of Delaware, and is the chief law officer and the head of the State Department of Justice.-Description of the office:... - Mark T. SmithMark T. SmithMark T. Smith is a celebrated American painter. He is best known for his colorful, complex paintings and his passion for the application of art into the fabric of everyday life.-Life:...
, American painter - Erin ArvedlundErin ArvedlundErin E. Arvedlund is a financial journalist who has written for Barron's, The Wall Street Journal, the Moscow Times, The New York Times, TheStreet.com, and Portfolio.com. On Feb. 1, 2011, her "Your Money" column debuted in The Philadelphia Inquirer...
, who wrote a book titled Too Good to Be True that outlined the suspicions of Bernard MadoffBernard MadoffBernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff is a former American businessman, stockbroker, investment advisor, and financier. He is the former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market, and the admitted operator of a Ponzi scheme that is considered to be the largest financial fraud in U.S...
's practice before the general public knew - Thomas J. CapanoThomas J. CapanoThomas J. Capano was a disbarred American lawyer and former Delaware deputy attorney general, who was convicted of the 1996 murder of Anne Marie Fahey, his former lover.-Background:...
, former deputy attorney general of Delaware who was convicted of the 1996 murder of Anne Marie Fahey in a case that made national headlines