Providence Day School
Providence Day School is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. History Providence Day School was founded in September 1970. The school was the largest of a number of independent schools in the Charlotte area that were quickly formed in response to busing orders that had been handed down by James Bryan McMillan, a District Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Several leaders of an area anti-busing group called the Concerned Parents Association helped start Providence Day as an alternative to the newly integrated Charlotte-Mecklenburg public school system. The founders organized as the Southeast Community Corporation and began advertising for applications for fifth and sixth grade students in September 1970 on a "first-come, first-served basis". In early September 1970, an approximately site that included a former residence was secured at the intersection of Sardis and Rama Roads. The school was initially housed in four rooms inside the residence and four mobile classrooms. Classes began on September 28, 1970 with five certified teachers and 180 students in fifth and sixth grades. The school operated without a headmaster until William T. Townsend Jr. was hired in May 1971. In February 1971 the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction approved Providence Day School as a private school. A new facility that included 13 new classrooms, administrative offices and a teachers' lounge was constructed prior to the 1971–72 school year. Also in 1972, Douglas C. Eveleth was named new headmaster, joining Providence Day from Cape Fear Academy in Wilmington, North Carolina. The student body grew rapidly in the early 1970s and by October 1974 had an enrollment of 670 students in first through twelfth grades. In December 1975, the school received accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The size of the campus more than doubled in 1981 due to the $500,000 purchase of of adjacent land. Each enrolled family was assessed $1,000 to finance the purchase. The athletic center built on the land was named in honor of Thomas Ridenhour, who served as president of the board of trustees for 13 years. The school expanded again in 1990, adding the McMahon Fine Arts Center, a facility including a 500-seat theater, dining hall, and classrooms for both music and art. Also in 1990, Providence Day added an additional of land to the campus for $1.2 million. The Dickson-Hemby Technology Center, housing computer labs, conference rooms, faculty offices and STEM classrooms was opened in 1998. In 2015, Providence Day launched a comprehensive fund-raising campaign that financed a new academic center, campus gateway building and additional parking, while also increasing the size of the school's endowment and annual fund. Eugene Bratek became the school's third headmaster in 1986. Upon his retirement from the school in 2007, a new teleconferencing center in the school's fine arts building was named in his honor. Bratek was succeeded by Jack Creeden who served in