Harris Academy is a co-educational comprehensive school in the West End of Dundee, Scotland. Harris Academy was founded in 1885 and is the oldest state school in Dundee. Harris Academy is also the largest state run school in Dundee in terms of number of pupils and the school campus building and is known for being one of the most successful schools in Dundee and Scotland by record of attainment and exam result successes which are considered 'well above average'.
Over the course of its history, Harris Academy has been housed at three locations across the city in Park Place, Perth Road and Lawton Road temporally, with its permanent campus based on Perth Road.
Admissions
The school is situated in the west of Dundee, north of the railway line, the A85 and Dundee Airport. The University of Dundee Botanic Garden is nearby to the west.
List of rectors
Houses
Harris Academy has a house system which allocates each pupil to one of four houses, named Birnam, Cawdor, Forres and Kinloch. The former three come from houses in William Shakespeare's "Macbeth". The latter comes from the name of George Kinloch, former MP and reformer in Dundee and from the village of Kinloch. Each of the houses has an associated colour, Birnam - Red, Cawdor - Yellow, Forres - Green, Kinloch - Blue. Each house competes against each other in Interhouse competitions; both sporting and academic. They receive points for their success, and at the end of the year, the points are totalled to declare the winner of the house championship. No house was awarded in the 2020–21 session as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
History
Harris Academy was established on 31 August 1885 through a bequest from corn-merchant and mill owner William Harris. The original building was in Park Place designed by Dundee architect James Ireland. William Harris had died in March 1883, two years before the opening of the new school.
The school's first rector was James Brebner and on the first day of the new school, approximately 1,035 pupils were enrolled. By 1888, the school population increased to 1,500 and continued to grow which breached the original building's capacity. With Morgan Academy opening in 1888, pressure on the school population eased.
A fire broke out in the school in 1912 and damaged several classrooms and questions were raised on whether the school was suitable enough to continue operating and whether a new school should be replaced but was initially rejected. Plans for an extension to the Park Place building was considered but a replacement school building was later granted and that it would be built on a new site rather than the existing site at Park Place.
A replacement school was designed by Patrick Thoms in 1926, taking several years to complete: the school moved to its present site on Perth Road on 21 April 1931.
Harris Academy was a selective secondary school until it became a comprehensive in 1973. The last intake to its Primary Department was August 1955.
Harris Academy moved to Lawton Road in 2013 as its former Perth Road building was revamped. On 22 June 2015, Dundee City Council voted to close Menzieshill High School and amalgamate the two schools. Pupils from Menzieshill High School transferred to Harris Academy in 2016 when the new Perth Road building was completed. 18 councillors voted in favour for Menzieshill High School to close with 14 councillors against the closure.
By the early 2020s, Harris Academy became the most populated secondary school in Dundee, with an intake of 1,345 pupils as of 2022, which by September 2023, had a capacity percentage of 103%. As a result, an extension to the 2016 Perth Road building was approved to be built at the southern end of the school campus, and is scheduled to be built by the 2023-24 term. This new extension will increase Harris Academy's capacity number to 1,500, cementing it's position as the largest public school in Dundee.
Buildings and grounds
Park Place building (1885-1931) Harris Academy's original building was located at Park Place in Dundee which opened on 31 August 1885. The Park Place building officially opened on 2 September 1885.
Due to the popularity of the school by more pupils joining Harris Academy, the Park Place building was too small for pupils to fit and therefore moved to Perth Road.
Former Perth Road building (1931-2013) The main building was built in 1931 after the school population outgrew the previous Park Place building and was officially opened by Sir James Irvine, principal of St. Andrews University on 1 May 1931.