Ruby G. Woodson - Cromwell Academy Founded

Cromwell Academy Founded

She spent thirteen years teaching chemistry and physics in the Washington, D.C. public school system before founding Cromwell Academy, a private secondary school to serve gifted minority students in the district. The academy was founded in 1973 in a church annex and soon was sending many of its students to classes at Georgetown University and Howard University for credits toward their secondary diplomas. The inspiration for the name of the academy was Otelia Cromwell, an educator who was the first black woman awarded a Ph.D by Yale University. A reputation developed quickly by the academy for its academic achievements, attracting the enrollment of their children by prominent people as well as the gifted and aspiring members of disadvantaged groups whose teachers advised application to the academy. Bill Cosby sent his son, Ennis, and the president of Venezuela sent his daughter.

Woodson was a pivotal figure in the day-to-day administration of the academy and fulfilled many other roles such as college placement adviser, guidance counselor, as well as instructor. Initial difficulties encountered in operating expenses often were resolved by donations from Woodson's personal savings.

The student body of the academy was small and familial. Often, instruction in life skills also fell to Woodson, who helped the students with financing as well as handling personal issues and later, negotiating such things as the purchase of automobiles and houses. Donations were sought to develop a scholarship program to assist many of the students. Ruby had overcome dyslexia in her efforts to excel and was able to provide special insights to children coping with similar hurdles. She inspired the students with her own high standards of ethics and morality and helped them develop personal discipline and self-respect. She taught them how to make applications to colleges appropriate to their interests and abilities and to apply for scholarships.

The students from the academy gained entrance to the best academic institutions in the country and soon Woodson’s students were awarded baccalaureate and advanced degrees form Columbia University, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Yale University, and Vassar College. The academy became recognized for academic excellence.

One 1979 graduate of the academy, Lisa S. Martin, later was graduated from Yale University and Emory University and is a practicing psychologist in Maryland. She attests to the power Woodson had to inspire her students, making them feel able to meet any type of academic challenge and motivating them to win acceptance at the institutions of their choice, be it Ivy League, the big ten, or top southern colleges. Woodson's achievements were lauded in the Washington Post and by the United States Department of Education.