George Floyd, headmaster John McWilliams said, "We must be willing to confront the uncomfortable fact that The Montgomery Academy, like many other independent schools founded in the South during the late 1950s, was not immune to the divisive forces of racism that shaped this city and community over the course of its history". Facilities The Montgomery Academy's first home was in a historic mansion, built in 1906, and serving as the official residence of Alabama's governor between 1911 and 1950 which was torn down to make way for Interstate 85. In 1963, the school relocated to a new site on Vaughn Road, now the premises of the Middle and Upper Schools. As student body size steadily grew, the initial twelve classrooms and lunchroom/auditorium were supplemented by seven classrooms and a library in 1965, four classrooms and a gymnasium in 1966, five classrooms in 1967, and three Montessori areas in 1971. The Perry Hill Road Campus for the Lower School, which by that time included "Form K" (Kindergarten), was opened in the late 1980s. In 1996 the Vaughn Road campus added the Garzon Library, designed by local architects Seay Seay and Litchfield. The library's central octagonal rotunda establishes a focal landmark for the Upper School Campus. The firm was then later contracted to design a new building, the Mary Katherine Archibald Blount Upper School, as well as a pedestrian bridge connecting the academic campus with newly built athletic fields across the busy Vaughn Road. These fields included new baseball, softball, and soccer fields. Previously, the land which is now the athletic campus had been an immense lawn for a Masonic retirement home. In the summer of 2007, the school began a renovation, completed in 2009, of the old Mead Hall, which includes James W. Wilson Jr. Theater, as well as facilities for the forensics and drama programs. The project also includes Sahlie Upper School Commons, an extension to the existing Upper School Building, as well as a state-of-the-art track and field facility around the Hutchinson Soccer Field. The track was built by the same company that was contracted to install the track for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Academics The Montgomery Academy's curriculum is entirely college preparatory, with more than 85 different high school course choices in nine disciplines. Students must carry at least five academic courses at all times. Thirty AP and honors sections are offered in all core areas.