page_title: Montrose Academy
section_title: Extension
hierarchical_section_title: Montrose Academy / History / Extension
caption_attribution_description: English: A side elevation view of Montrose Academy, Angus, in 1898, from a drawing published in the Dundee Courier.
context_page_description: Montrose Academy is a state secondary school in Montrose, Angus, Scotland. Its history extends as far back as the 16th century grammar school with evidence of schooling in Montrose found as early as 1329. In 1815 Montrose Academy was built and established as a fee-paying school. Due to its prominence as an educational establishment it had a history of teaching learned men who later earned esteemed positions, some of whom are well-known.
  It is now a comprehensive school which serves the surrounding local community with a roll of around 900 students and a staff of 79. Most pupils come from the associated primary schools of Borrowfield, Ferryden, Lochside, Rosemount, Southesk and St Margaret’s. A number of pupils come from outside the catchment area.
  Montrose Academy colours are maroon and gold which appear on the school tie in broad stripes. The school badge depicts the gilded dome, a prominent feature of the facade on the old building. The school has a traditional house system and prefect system.
context_section_description: Montrose Academy has steadily expanded in size and range of studies offered. An endowment in 1891 provided facilities for a new science and art school. In 1898, after the closure of Dorward's Seminary, its building was renovated, extended and added to Montrose Academy. This provided a new assembly hall, and allowed space to complete a new gymnasium, which at the time was one of the largest in Scotland. Tuition of the classics continued into the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The curriculum expanded at the beginning of the twentieth century to include more scientific subject matter. By 1900 gymnastics and swimming were introduced to the curriculum. In 1895, the school was described as having two separate entrances for boys and girls. The classrooms were heated with open fires during the winter and the walls were decorated with pictures, photographs and maps gifted by former pupils. There was also a preparatory school attached - Montrose Academy Elementary School, which existed until the 1970s. In 1932 the local Townhead School, which taught commercial and technical subjects, became part of Montrose Academy. It was fully amalgamated by the 1950s.
  Universal secondary education was enacted in 1936 but schools were split on a meritocratic basis, between "junior secondary schools" leading to no qualifications and "senior secondary schools", like Montrose Academy, where pupils would earn a leaving certificate and university entrance. Montrose Academy eventually became a state school in 1965 after the introduction of comprehensive schools throughout Scotland.
  Montrose Academy is a community school, and its catchment area extends to the surrounding villages of Craigo, Hillside and Ferryden. The feeder schools are Borrowfield Primary School, Ferryden Primary School, Lochside Primary School, Southesk Primary School, St Margaret's Primary School and Rosemount.
caption: Side elevation of Montrose Academy in 1898, showing the recently added Dorward's Seminary building
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