ACHIEVEMENTS

The story of Accra Academy is one of sacrifice struggle, survival and success. It took the personal sacrifice of the founding fathers to the point of some sacrificing their salaries for a number of years to see the school through turbulent years of struggle to survive.

Today, Accra Academy stands as the success story of what a vision carefully nurtured by devotion, dedication, discipline and perseverance can achieve. The four founding fathers, all the members of staff, both teaching and non-teaching, the Board of Governors, the Parent-Teacher Association and all well-wishers who have been witnesses to this drama of a sixty-year journey will acknowledge with joy that the seed sown by the founders indeed fell on fertile ground and have yielded many worthy fruits.

Many old students of the school occupy enviable positions in and outside the country: -public servants, diplomats, politicians, jurists, doctors, engineers, university professors, lawyers, teachers, chiefs and business executives and a host of others. Perhaps the most notable achievement is the election of Hon. Paul Boateng, an old boy, into the British House of Commons.

THE SCHOOL CREST

THE LION: King of Beasts. It represents the Lion of Justice explemplifying poise and controlled power.

THE SUN: This represents the brilliance of knowledge, dispersing ignorance and superstition.

THE THREE CHAINS: The union of three chains stands for the Pauline virtues of Faith, Hope and Love.

THE PALM TREE: The palm tree thrives where other trees can hardly stand. Here it represents Triumph over environmental handicaps.

COCOA TREE: Symbol of Ghana's wealth. It means the proper use of wealth to sweeten the cares of life.

THE SCHOOL MOTTO: Esse Quam Videri - translated as "To be, rather than to seem."

THE SCHOOL SONG

1 - Accra Academy our pride. The school of no regrets. In her our little minds were shaped. To serve our Nation Great.
2 - In Ellen House our School was born. To men of sacrifice. The cradle low, the hands so few. The future, blurred and bleak.
3 - We humbly bow in gratitude. To all who chiselled us. Their praises we shall sing always. Their memories still revered.
4 - From humble growth this school of ours. A pride of place has won. Her children great in every clime Of Ghana's great domain.
5 - 0 Lord, to Thee we dedicate Accra Academy. Esse Quam Videri, we say and Bleoo, Accra Aca.

Welcome to Accra Academy Alumni Web site!!!!! Esse Quam Videri - To be, rather than to seem.!!!!! Accra Aca Bleooo!!!!!!!!

HISTORY

On a gentle hill to the north as one enters Accra on the Winneba road, a tall white tower beshadows the campus of Accra Academy.
Over sixty years ago in the slums of James Town, Mrs. Ellen Buckle let her large two storied house for use as a classroom block to accommodate the newly founded Accra Academy.

It was to satisfy the urgent need for a secondary school which would provide good tuition at a reasonable cost to children from less fortunate homes who had the aptitude but whose parents could not send them to schools like Achimota, Mfantsipim and Adisadel that the late Dr. K. G. Konuah, the late G.N. Alema (BA, Oxon.), the late S.N. Awuletey (inter BA, Durham) and the late J.A. Halm-Addo founded Accra Academy as a private educational enterprise. After repair work had been completed on Ellen House and furniture procured, Accra Academy was officially opened on 20th July, 1931. The school started with a school population of 19 distributed into forms one to three including A.K.
Konuah (later Headmaster), C.S. Duah (later a member of the teaching staff), R.Q.E. Blankson (later Town Engineer, Accra Municipal Council) and F.G.Torto (later Professor of Chemistry at the University of Ghana, Legon).

The original teaching staff comprised the four founders and the two others who had just completed Mfantsipim School. These were M.F. Dei-Anang and S.S. Sackey who for twenty years worked the dual capacity of teacher and school Bursar.

The school offered a wide range of courses in Arts, Science and Business. Mr. S.N. Awuletey taught shorthand and Book-keeping. Today, Accra Academy
stands as one of the foremost institutions in the country, firmly built on the foundations laid by S.N. Awuletey.

Mr. W.K. Lutterodt set up the Science Department and arranged practical lessons at Achimota School at weekends for his students while Mr. G.N. Alema taught Agricultural Science and held practical lessons on his farm In December, 1932, the first batch of ten students were presented for the Junior Cambridge School Certificate Examination. Seven of these passed.

In 1939, forty five students were entered for the Senior Cambridge School Certificate Examination. Forty two of these passed of whom ten obtained exemption from the London Matriculation Examination. The impressive examination results recorded by the school soon caught the attention of the Department of Education and in 1947, a recommendation was made to the Director of Education to place Accra Academy on the list of government assisted schools and from 1st January, 1950, Accra Academy became a government assisted
secondary school.

Even though the school started as a day school, accommodation was later on secured in Claremont House, a storey building adjoining Ellen house, to provide limited boarding facilities. In the course of time, the school began to work towards the acquisition of a plot of land for the erection of permanent building structures. Plots acquired at Kokomlemle and later Korle Gonno were given up because of protracted litigation and remoteness of site, respectively.

In 1957, however, the school was offered a thirty seven acre plot at Bubuashie, off Winneba Road by the C.P.P. government as a result of negotiations in which Mr. J.A. Halm-Addo was very instrumental. The contract for the construction of permanent buildings on the new site was awarded to J. Monta & Sons in October, 1959. Actual work on the site began in December, 1959, and in July, 1961, the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of the school, the contractors handed over the complete buildings to the school authorities. In September of that year, staff and students moved to the present site.

The new buildings were officially opened later in February, 1962, by Mr. A.J. Dowuona-Hammond, then Minister of Education. A dormitory block to provide boarding facilities was completed in 1966.

By 1965, the student enrolment had risen to nearly 600, one third of whom continued to be day students. Due to its exceptional academic attainments, A sixth Form department was added to help the products of the school who qualify to gain ready admission into this sector. The courses offered initially were the Arts and Science.

Fifteen Arts and eight Science students were offered admission for the 1961/62 academic year. Business Education was incorporated into Sixth Form studies in the school in September, 1970. The fiftieth year 1981 of Accra Academy outdoored a full fledged second cycle institution with a student population of 900. Staff establishment was 52. SPORTS The period also recorded laudable attainments in sports. As early as 1934, the school appointed a sports master to run the
students sporting activities like soccer, athletics and hockey. Inadequate sporting facilities did not deter the sportsmen.

They made their mark on the national sports map. The school won the AGGREY SHIELD together with seven other enviable trophies in the annual inter college athletics competition in 1950. It was from this competition that the slogan "Accra Aca, Bleoo" came into being. Some of the outstanding national athletes produced by the school are: Mr. Adjin-Tettey, ex-senior Athletics coach of the National Sports Council; Mr. Kofi Aryeetey, also of the National Sports Council; Mr. J.K. Aduakwa, coach, University of Ghana; Mr. Alex Asiedu, Director, Sports College, Winneba; Mr. Ohene Djan, Director of Sports (C.O.S.) during the First Republic; Mr. E.J.C. Quaye and Mr. H.P. Nyemitei, nationally acclaimed sportsmen were also old boys who contributed immensely to sports in Ghana.

NEW STATUS

Accra Academy is among the 11 secondary schools granted semi-autonomous status by the former P.N.D.C. Secretary for Education, Mr. K.B. Asante in 1990. Arrangements were completed with
Thomas Alleyne's High School of Uttoxetter, Staffordshire, to undertake a twinning programme from
the 1991/92 academic year with exchange of ten students and two members of staff for three weeks from each school. Accra Academy has grown from strength to strength despite many setbacks like inadequate boarding and catering facilities, staff accommodation, classrooms and library facilities.

With admission of senior Secondary Students in the 1990/91 academic year, the student population has increased to 1970 out of which 100 are girls in the Sixth Form. The administration of the school since the time of its foundation has been characterized by a remarkable degree of stability. Frequent changes of headmasters has not been the want of Accra Academy.

For the sixty years of its existence, the school has had only four headmasters. Dr. K.G. Konuah, co-founder and first headmaster held office for 21 years from 1931 to 1952. He was succeeded b Mr. Allotei Kobina Konuah - a foundation student and later a teacher. It was during his tenure from 1952 to 1967 that the school moved to the present site at Bubuashie. Then came Mr. Jacob Korley Okine, a past student and teacher. He was headmaster for 19 years, from 1967 to 1986. It was from Mr. Okine, that Mr. Vincent Birch Freeman, also a past student took over as headmaster in November, 1986, having been headmaster of Ebenezer Secondary School for twelve years. Mr. Freeman's tenure of office ended in 1996. At the end of Mr. Freeman's term of office as headmaster, Accra Academy had a tradition broken. The fifth head and the current Headmistress of the school, Mrs Beatrice Lokko, is a woman and on-old student.

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