We Honor Our Heritage...
Woodward Academy has always been a school of its time and yet, often and in many ways, ahead of its time.
In 1900, Atlanta had a population of 89,872. It was three years before Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first flight in Kitty Hawk, N.C., and the world had not yet seen its first silent film, World Series, or Nobel Prize. Colonel John Charles Woodward was a young Georgia educator who had earned his master’s degree at the University of Chicago and returned to his native state eager to put his philosophies about education into practice. He and his wife, Lucile, settled in College Park to establish Georgia Military Academy, a place where students would grow not only in knowledge but also in the qualities—service to others, strong character, responsibility, problem-solving—that transformed their lives and the world around them.
Surviving and even thriving through world wars, a Great Depression, and two global pandemics, the Academy continues to embrace Col. Woodward’s philosophies and to interpret them in ways that are relevant to today’s students and the challenges of our times. Woodward is a place where caring, engaged citizens grow. It’s a place where children are equipped with empathy, thoughtfulness, confidence, tenacity, and resilience—with a foundation strong enough to support whatever future they can imagine for themselves. Although Col. Woodward may never have foreseen the educational advances of the digital age, he would still recognize the school he founded in the trials and triumphs that students navigate today, in the dedicated educators who guide them, and in the thousands of alumni who make a difference in our world.
OPENING THE DOORS AT GMA
(1900-1929)
1920-1929
1920
- Memorial Hall built
- Junior School established
1929
- Marching band named for Robert W. Woodruff
HONORING OUR MILITARY PAST
(1930-1959)
SETTING TRANSFORMATION IN MOTION
(1960-1969)
1964-1965
1964
- GMA admitted 32 female students
- Brewster Hall built on the site of the original Founder's Hall, now Jane Woodruff Hall
1965
- First female students graduated
CONTINUING ON THE PATH OF CHANGE
(1970-1989)
1971
- Woodward Academy integrated, enrolling its first Black students
- Individualized Studies Program (now called the Transition Program) established
- Woodward Academy opened the Busey School in Riverdale, serving elementary students
BUILDING ON OUR FOUNDATION OF EXCELLENCE
(1990-2009)
1996-1999
1996
- Graduating seniors celebrated the first "Last Blast"
- Statue to honor Robert W. Woodruff '08 dedicated
1999
- Carlos Administration Building expanded
- Thomas Hall Lower School opened
- Richardson Hall major renovation completed; Anthony A. Malizia Sr. Amphitheatre constructed
PROVIDING THE COMPASS FOR GROWTH
(2010-Present)
2010-2013
2012
- Horizons at Woodward Academy established to provide summer enrichment opportunities for students from local public schools
2013
- Athletic fields constructed off Willingham Drive
- Brand Hall repurposed as Center for Innovation
- West Commons opened for additional student dining
- McKay House renovated
- Woodward Hall renamed Brewster Hall
2020
- Global coronavirus pandemic closed campus for the first time in 120 years, shifting school to virtual learning until the end of the semester
Woodward History Center Dedication video