Military Schools Thrive as Public Embraces Greater Discipline

Sgt. James Healey gives a tour of his spartan barracks room at “Little West Point.”

A shampoo bottle, hairbrush and toothpaste tube are arranged perfectly parallel on his dresser. Shoes toe an invisible line beneath the bunk, and the sheets are tucked tightly under the mattress.

Healey leans over the wool blanket and flings a quarter down.

It bounces--barely.

Not bad for a high school sophomore.

Healey, a 15-year-old cadet at the New York Military Academy, attends one of the nation’s few remaining military prep schools.

For a while in the war-weary 1970s, it appeared such spit-and-polish schools were marching toward oblivion. But in recent years--as school uniforms and student discipline have become front-burner issues in education--the New York Military Academy and prep schools like it have reported modest enrollment gains.

“Part of it is, how can I explain, because of the mess in the public school system,” said Commander Laurence Upham of the Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The backbone of schools such as New York Military Academy remains military discipline, from the 6 a.m. formations in uniform to taps at 10 p.m.

Just a five-mile hike from the U.S. Military Academy, the school is sometimes called “Little West Point” because it takes 5th- through 12th-graders.

“People are seeing a need for the structure and discipline,” said Supt. Philip D. Riley, a retired U.S. Army colonel who took over the school three years ago. “There seems to be considerable confusion, I think, outside in our society about just which way to turn particular kids that seemingly aren’t being successful.”

There is no such confusion here.

New cadets must tame teenage mouthiness and pare their responses to “Yes, sir!” “No, sir!” “No excuse, sir!” “Sir, may I ask a question?” and “Sir, I do not understand.” (“Ma’am” is used when addressing female superiors.)

The academy’s Cadet Manual is 62 pages and details prohibitions ranging from theft and cheating to chewing gum in ranks.

The structure is enforced to breed discipline--a selling point to parents looking to get their child’s grades up for college.

“You get more calls now with parents saying, ‘He’s a fine lad, but he’s running with a crowd we’re concerned with,’ ” said retired Gen. Willard Scott, executive director of the Alexandria, Va.-based Assn. of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States.

Scott’s group counts 34 member schools that are teaching precollege students today, down from the century-high mark of about 54 during the Korean War. For the last 100 years, the schools have enjoyed popularity during periods of war and tougher times during recessions.

The exception was the unpopular Vietnam War. That was a time when many schools closed their doors for good.

But in the wake of the Persian Gulf War, Scott has noticed enrollment increases.

“Not dramatic but steady,” he said.

However, these are still perilous times for any sort of boarding school, he added.

In keeping with the times, many military schools are stressing academics over martial concerns. At the New York academy, for instance, the curriculum includes the arts.

“There is a perception of military schools as being similar to a reformatory,” Scott said. “They want the perception that this is a college preparatory school.”

Many students liken academy life to medicine: maybe a tad unpleasant, but good for you.

Cadet Pvt. Jennifer Meurer, a junior, rolls her eyes when asked whether she likes it here. But she also notes that back home in Toronto, her grades at a local art school were dismal. She hopes the change of atmosphere will help.

“Everything in my old school was artsy, and now I’m marching,” she says.

Another cadet, Capt. Shamica Nurse, recites a litany of hardships: predawn formations, room inspections and push-ups for infractions, such as tardiness. But in the next breath, the 12th-grader says: “I like it here. It’s gotten better every year.”

Tuition can run high; $15,500 at New York Military Academy, for example. But financial aid and scholarships are available.

The high cost has helped give the school the image of a boarding school for a homogeneous group of rich kids--its most famous alumnus is Donald Trump--but academy officials are quick to bat that image down.

In addition to 75 foreign students--from Japan, Peru, Ethiopia, Poland and elsewhere--this year, there are students from working- and middle-class families. And 34 of the 280 cadets are girls.

The school began accepting girls in 1976, putting it in accord with junior ROTC policies, Riley said.

Soon after that, the giant plaque in the main academic hall that honors top students had its name changed from “Head Boys” to “Head Cadets.” In 15 years, eight of the head cadets have been female.

At a time when some military colleges are having an excruciating time assimilating women, Riley reports no major problems. He comes down hard on boys who harass girls, he says.

Complaints from female cadets tend to involve being greatly outnumbered and having to deal with boys when they act like “a bunch of knuckleheads.”

“What do you expect? There’s like a 10-to-1 boy-girl ratio,” Cadet Sgt. Felicia Penza said. “My goodness!”