Dara Academy
Dara Academy
Dara Academy, located in the city of Chiang Mai, is one of northern Thailand's oldest schools. It is a private school under the Church of Christ of Thailand. Classes are offered from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. Currently, there are approximately 6,000 students and 34 Native English teachers.
School Vision
Dara Academy provides learners an education to enhance their morality and ethics, to expose them to essential life skills, to inspire pride in their culture and to increase awareness of the environment and its conservation. Dara learners will be knowledgeable and will possess abilities in many subjects including Thai, English, Mathematics, Science and Technology. Dara will aesthetically develop its buildings and grounds, thereby providing a nurturing environment in which to learn. Dara strives to enhance community and alumni relations. Dara has a sound infra-structure with attention to security and to hiring qualified personnel. The teachers and staff at Dara have a high professional teaching and administrative standard.
Curriculum Vision
Dara Academy believes that our students are the power of the nation. We educate them to be balanced in health, knowledge, and morals to conserve Thai culture, protect the environment, and have awareness of being Thai citizens and citizens for the world. They will have the life skills based on the principles of sufficiency economy and basic skills including the attitude necessary for advanced education. We believe that everyone can learn and fulfill their potential.
History
Dara Academy is the oldest and largest private school in northern Thailand and as a result is one of the most well-known schools in the whole of Thailand. It was the first girls' school in the Northern provinces and aimed to provide girls with the same educational opportunities that were available to boys who at the time were educated in Buddhist monasteries.
The school was founded by American missionaries Reverend Dr. Daniel McGilvary and Mrs. Sophia McGilvary. Their efforts began in 1875 when Sophia began teaching small classes in her home to local Christian girls. Several years later in 1879 the classes expanded and the Chiang Mai Girls School was founded near the Nawarat Bridge. The site of this original school is now the Church of Christ in Thailand. The first directors of the school were Mary Campbell and Edna Cole. They oversaw the education of 18 full time and 11 part time students. The school’s success served as a model for other mission schools that were expanding throughout the northern provinces of Thailand in the 1890’s.
The school had a prominent patron, the royal consort Pra Raj Chaya Chao Dara Ratsamee who was known in Chiang Mai as Princess Dara and was the daughter of Pra Chao Inthawichayanon the seventh King of Chiang Mai. In 1888 King Rama V would change the schools name to “Pra Raj Chaya’s Girl’s School” to honor Princess Dara.
The 1920’s saw many changes for the school with enrollment rapidly increasing from 76 students at the beginning of the decade to nearly 300 by the end. These changes were overseen by Julia Hatch who in 1921 became the school director and aligned Dara Academy’s curriculum with that of the Thai Ministry of education. This meant that Dara’s students would be testing alongside students from government schools for the first time. In 1923 the Matayom department became known as “Dara Academy” and relocated to the school’s current location to handle the rapidly increasing enrollment and number of boarding students. The original classroom that was built now serves as the school library. In the midst of this expansion Dara Academy was honored with a Royal visit from King Rama VII in 1925.
Dara Academy received formal accreditation from the Thai Ministry of education in 1940 but was temporarily closed during the Second World war. By 1947 the school had once again expanded and began teaching upper Matayom courses at the present site. In 1958 the school was honored with another Royal visit, this time from King Rama IX. In 1963 Anuban and Prathom classes were moved from the site at Nawarat Bridge to the existing campus alongside the Matayom classes.
Currently Dara Academy is a coeducational school with an enrollment of approximately 6,000 Anuban, Prathom, and Matayom students. The director of the school is Dr. Chuanpis Liengphrapaipant.
