UMS-Wright Preparatory School


UMS-Wright is an independent co-educational preparatory school in Mobile, Alabama. The school was founded in 1893 as University Military School, and in 1988 it combined with Julius T Wright School for Girls to form UMS-Wright Preparatory School. UMS-Wright is the oldest private school in the state of Alabama.

History

University Military School

UMS-Wright Preparatory opened as University Military School on October 2, 1893. The school's founder and first headmaster was Dr. Julius T Wright. The day of the opening, the city of Mobile was struck by the 1893 Cheniere Caminada hurricane but the school still decided to open its doors that day on 559 Conti Street. The school opened with a single teacher and twenty-five pupils and a tuition of $8 a month. Dr. Wright served as the headmaster of the school until his death in 1931. William Pape took over after Dr. Wright. Pape died in 1943 and his family turned control of the school over to the non-profit corporation, the UMS Alumni and Parents Association, Inc. UMS moved to its current location on North Mobile Street in 1956 to accommodate the growing enrollment in the school.

Girls Preparatory School

Thirty years after the opening of University Military School Julius T Wright opened Girls Preparatory School in 1923 to provide a similar education to the young women of the Mobile community. It only lasted eight years as it closed after the death of Dr. Wright in 1931.

Julius T Wright School for Girls

Julius T Wright School for Girls opened in 1956 at the same location as Girls Preparatory School at 1315 Dauphin Street, which had been newly renovated. It came after a long campaign by alumni of the original Girls Preparatory School to have a female equivalent to University Military School. The school moved to 1400 S University Blvd in 1972. It remained there until its merger with University Military School in 1988.

UMS-Wright Preparatory School

In 1988, University Military School and Julius T Wright School for Girls followed the trend of many other single-gender schools around the country and combined to form the co-educational UMS-Wright Preparatory School. Dr. Tony Havard, a member of the UMS English faculty, was named the headmaster and is now the current president of the school.

Description

Structure

The school has a three-level structure: the Lower School, the Middle School, and the Upper School.

Campus

Located on Campus are five Lower School buildings, two middle school buildings, and one high school building. All three have separate offices and principals. The campus also houses two full-size gymnasiums, a weight training facility, and an athletic training facility. The football stadium, Cooper Stadium, is surrounded by a four-hundred meter track. Also located on Campus are two multi-purpose fields, a twenty-five meter swimming pool, a baseball field, and a softball field.

Athletics

UMS-Wright offers thirteen team sports for students from lower school to high school. The school competes in the AHSAA division 4A. The Sports offered include cross country, football, soccer, tennis, swimming and diving, track and field, softball, baseball, bass fishing, and bowling.
UMS-Wright also has a long-standing athletic rivalry with St. Paul's Episcopal School, another local private high school that is just 2.2 miles away down Old Shell Road. In football and track and field, the two teams meet every year in the "Battle of Old Shell Road."

State titles

UMS-Wright has 156 total state championship titles:
UMS Wright was ranked second out of ninety-seven schools in Niche.com "Best Private K-12 Schools in Alabama" ranking. The average ACT score is 30 and the average SAT score in 1360. 99% of graduating seniors attend a four-year college or university, with the 3 most popular being the University of Alabama, Auburn University, and the University of South Alabama. The school currently has 1,150 students enrolled with a student-teacher ratio of 8:1.

Classes offered

Advanced Placement Courses

Clubs

The Honor Council is composed of student representatives in grades 9-12 who are elected to promote honesty and integrity.

Notable alumni