History

Dating our origins to 1838, Sewickley Academy is the oldest independent day school in the Pittsburgh area. The school began as an academy for boys, struggled through the Civil War years and Reconstruction, and even closed for a time when many students went off to fight - some for the North and others on the side of the Confederacy. In the 1870s the school was reorganized as an English and Classical School for Boys and Girls, located across Beaver Road from the present Sewickley Academy. Over a decade later, the headmaster's departure for Europe precipitated the closing of the school. It reopened as the Sewickley Preparatory School, later renamed for its new principal, Miss Maude Munson.

In 1925, consolidation of Miss Munson's School (mostly boys) and Miss Dickinson's School (predominantly girls) formed a new Sewickley Academy. Moving to the present site in 1927 permitted all grades - Kindergarten through Grade 9 - to be located on a single campus. The school was widely respected for solid preparation of girls and boys for secondary schools throughout the East. In 1963, Sewickley Academy opened the Senior School, allowing students to complete their education as Academy graduates.

Sewickley Academy remained predominantly a community school, with students coming from nearby areas, until the early 1980s. Since then, an emphasis on increasing diversity has resulted in a student body which truly represents the rich cultural fabric of western Pennsylvania. Students come from more than 50 school districts including several in eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia.