Bacon Academy
611 Norwich Ave., Colchester, CT, 06415-2142 - Map Map

School Overview:
Definition of Terms
Bacon Academy
School Level High school
Grades Offered Grades 9 - 12
County New London County, CT
Students & Faculty
Total Students 745 students
% Male / % Female 50%  /  50%
Total Classroom Teachers 68 teachers
Students by Grade
Grade 9 - 44 students
Grade 10 - 254 students
Grade 11 - 226 students
Grade 12 - 221 students
This School
(CT) School Average
Teacher : Student Ratio 1:11 1:13
Students by Ethnicity
This School
(CT) School Average
% American Indian 1% n/a
% Asian 1% 2%
% Hispanic 2% 13%
% Black 4% 16%
% White 93% 67%
Additional Student Information
This School
(CT) School Average
% Eligible for Free Lunch n/a 19%
% Eligible for Reduced Lunch n/a 6%
% Migrant Students Enrolled n/a n/a
School Performance:
(CT) Statewide Testing Performance
School Statewide Performance View Education Department Test Scores
School District:
School District Name Colchester School District
This School's Agency
(CT) District Average
Number of Schools Managed 5 6
Number of Students Managed 3,227 students 2,969 students
District Total Revenue $35,117,000 $38,028,000
District Expenditure $32,952,000 $36,375,000
District Revenue / Student $10,882 $12,808
District Expenditure / Student $10,211 $12,252
District Graduation Rates 94% 79%
In the News:
View all past news stories
School Notes:
  • Bacon Academy is a public high school in Colchester, Connecticut, in the United States.
  • In 1800 a prominent Colchester farmer, Pierpont Bacon, died and left an endowment of thirty-five thousand dollars (equivalent to about four-hundred thousand today). The endowment was to the
  • inhabitants of the First Society of Colchester for the purpose of supporting and maintaining a school…for the instruction of Youth in Reading and writing English, in Artithmetic, Mathimaticks, and the Languages, or such other branches of Learning.
  • This established the academy that bears his name. Bacon Academy’s doors opened to the children of Colchester on the first of November 1803 and from that point forward, prepared many young men and women for the life that lay ahead.
  • Bacon Academy is also well known for both sports and academics. During the 2007-2008 school year, the wrestling team was ranked third in the state behind perennial power, Danbury. Also during the 2007-2008 school year, the girls soccer team won the ECC championship and continued on into the semifinals of the state tournament for the L division.
  • On March 21, 2009, the Varsity Girls Basketball team won the Class M State Championship with a 55-53 victory over Berlin at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Senior guard Brooke Bailey hit the game-winning shot, a 12-foot turnaround jumper in the paint with 3.9 seconds left as Bacon (25-2) rallied from a 9-point fourth quarter deficit. Bailey earned Most Valuable Player honors with 22 points while sophomore Katie Mahoney also had 22 points, with 11 coming in the fourth quarter. Bailey also signed a letter of intent to attend Division I Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, CT on a full basketball scholarship.
  • Head Coach Dave Shea, a 1952 graduate of Bacon, won his 592nd career game and became only the second coach in CT history to have won both a girls and boys state championship. Bacon won the 1981 Class S boys title over Canton. Shea coached his son John, a sophomore, while he also coached Mahoney, his granddaughter, in the girls state title victory. (1)
  • Shea also will be inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame on Oct. 9, 2009 at the Mohegan Sun Casino (2)
  • The school made national headlines in 2004, when it was closed due to an outbreak of the flu virus. Over five-hundred students and faculty called out sick, and consequently led to the sanitation of the entire building.
  • Also in 2008; it was prominently and locally known that the developement of H1N1 had caused mass panic at the school and in turn had used up all of it's han
  • History
  • In its early days, Bacon Academy had a reputation of quality preparation for colleges around the country. Local children attended the school at no cost. Bacon’s status was recognized by many prominent fathers of the nineteenth century.
  • The trustees established that there were to be three terms in a typical school year. The first started in September and ended in December; the second from January to April; and the third from May to August. Early class rolls show that the number of local students would be less in planting and harvesting season, many of them skipping semesters and/or returning either late in the first term or leaving early in the second and zero attendance in the third.
  • Early Bacon students did not earn a diploma or graduate after four years like today. Instead, the school had a system divided into three branches. In the first branch, a young student learned such subjects as languages, grammar and mathematics. During the second branch, he or she would be taught writing, geometry, and rhetoric. The last branch would be similar to the common or grammar school. Age never factored into a student’s ability. Some students would leave Bacon at fifteen or sixteen if they completed the branches. In 1886, the branch structure was abandoned for the current four-year system and by 1890, the first modern-day commencement occurred with each graduate receiving a diploma.
  • The school bell would toll at five-thirty in the morning during the first and third term and at seven in the winter for those in branches one and two. During which two scholars would be chosen each day to practice public speaking in front of instructors and other students. Following the speech, the day would begin with the scholars from the common branch joining the others for the Morning Prayer. Afterward, the preceptor (principal) would talk about morals and the studies of his students. This routine was eliminated after 1846 when the bells tolled only for the start of the school day.
  • Life as a Bacon student was strict. The attitude of the scholar had to be forthright and that of a lady or gentleman. In or out of school, they would have behaved properly and dressed neatly or otherwise punished by means of “reproof, correction, admonition, or expulsion.” While in class, all pupils would sit diligently at their desk and learn the Greek or Latin classics. At home, the student usually studied when not working on their father’s farm or doing chores for their boarding master.
  • After the centennial celebration the national reputation of the school declined and the Academy was primarily for those in surrounding towns. Eventually Bacon became the public high school for the town. In 1962, the student population in the then 160 year old building on Main Street had exceeded its use and they moved to the new facility adjacent to the grammar school. A major building spurt in the 1980s again forced the construction of another high school less than a mile east. In 1993 the doors opened in the current location.
  • In 2003, Bacon Academy celebrated its 200th anniversary, kicked off by a special concert from the Bacon Academy Bands, led by director Thomas Kessler. Other events included an all-class reunion, golf tournament, and a town-wide open house at all of the buildings to ever house the school.
  • Famous Alumni
  • Stephen F. Austin — The "father of Texas"
  • William Alfred Buckingham — Governor of CT and Republican Senator for Connecticut from 1869-1875
  • Lyman Trumbull - U.S. Senator of Illinois, Author of 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments to the US Constitution
  • Morrison Remick Waite — Supreme Court Justice, January 1874- March 23 1888
  • Ron Wotus — Major League Baseball player and current bench coach for the San Francisco Giants
  • Chad Bromley — Hip hop artist under the name "Apathy" signed to Atlantic Records.
  • Saint Anthony - Patron Saint of Bacon.
  • The New England Historical and Genealogical Register by Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, p. 78
  • Colchester Cemetery - Bigelow Society
  • Bacon Academy
  • (1)
  • http://www.norwichbulletin.com/sports/highschool/x2085745627/Bacons-Shea-tabbed-for-New-England-Basketball-Hall-of-Fame (2)
  • External links
  • Bacon Academy
  • Bacon Academy Band Alumni
  • Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.
  • Add/edit information about this school (e.g., awards, news stories, notable alumni, fun facts)
 
School Zip Code:
About This Zip Code (06415)
School Zip (06415)
(CT) State Average
Population (Approximate) 15,303 people 3,282,160 people
% (age 25+) w/College Degree 41% 35%
Population Average Age 36 years old 37 years old
Average Household size 2.7 persons 2.4 persons
Median Household Income $64,560 $52,927
Avg. # of Rooms in Household 5.9 rooms 5.5 rooms
Median Age of Housing Structure 33 years old 48 years old
View Current Housing Listings View current housing listings in this area
Median Value of Housing Unit
Zipcode (06415)


Zillow Median Value of Housing Unit
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Zillow Median Value of Housing Unit
% Owning / % Renting 78% / 22% 62% / 38%
School Map:
1. Lyman Memorial High School - 489 students - 4.4 mi. away - view location
2. Rham High School - 821 students - 7.1 mi. away - view location
3. Montville High School - 684 students - 8.2 mi. away - view location
4. Nathan Hale-ray High School - 253 students - 8.9 mi. away - view location
5. Franklin Elementary School - 231 students - 9.3 mi. away - view location
View all schools in: Colchester, New London County, Zip 06415 
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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects 2006 statistics (most recent year available).

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