Massanutten Military Academy - Review #3

Massanutten Military Academy has been developing leaders of character since 1899 by instilling Courage, Purity, and Industry in its cadets. The Academy uniquely prepares its student body for a successful, productive life by challenging them in three ways; Academic (earning a College Preparatory Diploma with school grades), Physical (playing sports competitively at the high school level), and Leadership (active participation in a rigid, structured, military environment).

Three unforgettable accomplishments: 1) The summer school after my junior year I served as the cadet battalion commander, the highest position in the Corps of Cadets. 2) My senior year I served as a cadet company commander, where I had the opportunity to lead in a more focused way, interacting with all 40 cadets in my unit face-to-face every day, multiple times per day. 3) My senior year I earned my acceptance the United States Military Academy at West Point, and a four-year scholarship to the Virginia Military Academy and The Citadel.

I would have become completed invested in the military structure even sooner than I did.

I loved the structure and the friendships I made while at the Academy.

You get out of this experience what you put into it! Trust the faculty and cadet leadership; they WANT to see you succeed!!

There are three things that make Massanutten Military Academy extraordinarily unique when it comes to academics. The first is the Academy's small class sizes. Are typically about 12 cadets to every teacher, which means that instructors have the opportunity to spend more one-on-one time with each cadet. I was able to leverage this during my time as a cadet to help bolster my understanding of subjects that I had difficulty with. Second is the Academy's plethora of academic programs. Massanutten Military Academy offers online classes, an International Baccalaureatte program, and STEM tracks to help cadets prepare themselves for a highly sought-after academic major in college. Third, Massanutten Military Academy boasts a 100% college acceptance rate for all of its graduates, and an average of $90,000 in college scholarships. I believe the Academy had a direct positive influence on my ability to get accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Massanutten Military Academy has an excellent mandatory athletic program. What I enjoyed most is that not only is there an activity for every cadet, but the Academy also does a great job of connecting leadership development to participation in its sports teams (not surprising, as the Academy's mascot is 'The Colonels'). I found extra confidence and credibility as a leader after proving myself out on the athletic field, particularly in the Raiders program.

I did not participate in visual arts or music, but I know Massanutten Military Academy has a music program, and historically has even had it's own 'Band Company,' a unit of cadets that march and play their instruments together every day during formation and parades.

Cadets at Massanutten Military Academy spend quite a bit of time volunteering throughout the community of their own town, Woodstock, VA. The town and the Academy have come to have a great, symbiotic relationship as a result of this.

The dorms at this Academy are unique because they are split up according to which unit a cadet is in. This made for a competitive environment in which different companies would try to have the most organized, or cleanest dorm. Cadets are expected to keep their rooms extremely clean, organized, and uniform to the standards set forth by Massanutten Military Academy.

All dining is provided by Brock, a proven nutrition company. Cadets march to the mess hall and eat three full, nutritious meals per day.

Cadets are allowed to walk into town on the weekends. Woodstock is a small town in the Shenandoah Valley with “mom and pop” shops and restaurants within walking distance of the school.

Social life is influenced by the cadet rank structure. Leaders tend to have meetings to discuss cadet operations, and these meetings will develop bonds between cadets. This same concept applies to each level of cadet leadership, and also manifests itself into cadets on the same sports teams.