Naval Academy Prep School Parent Page.

Franklin D. Roosevelt along with our early leaders recognized the importance of providing an institution capable of providing a "foundation of excellence" for young men in the military. Nearly a century later, President Roosevelt's efforts coupled with a long tradition of superb United States Naval Academy Superintendents have made success a reality while providing substantial returns for our nation. Mr. Roosevelt, as assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1920 officially secured the Naval Academy Preparatory School's (NAPS) administrative foundation, informal preparatory classes began in the early 1900's. A law passed in 1914 set the initial guidelines for the course of instruction, eligibility and enrollment. Many of our country's greatest leaders began their careers at the Naval Academy Preparatory School before heading on to our nations top sea service academies. Alumni include Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, Astronauts, government officials, authors and thousands of military officers who have demonstrated the "right stuff" defending our way of life in every capacity and corner of the world.

The Naval Academy Preparatory School achieved this success despite being relocated numerous times, including stints at Naval Station's Newport, San Francisco, San Diego and Norfolk. In early 1943 NAPS moved to Bainbridge Naval Training Center, a facility of several hundred acres located above the Susquehanna River, 40 miles northeast of Baltimore, Maryland. From August 1946 to June 1947 the training activities of the center decreased due to post-war conditions and the eventual reduction in strength of the Navy. On June 30, 1947, Bainbridge was deactivated, although the Naval Preparatory School continued to operate until it was transferred to Newport in October of 1949. Bainbridge was reduced to care taker status with a minimal administrative and security unit.

In 1951, NAPS returned once again to Bainbridge due to the Korean War, where it remained until August of 1974, when Newport, Rhode Island became it's home for the third and final time. During this time NAPS prepared both Navy and Air Force enlisted personnel for entry into their respective service academies before the Air Force established its own preparatory school in the early 1960's.

Following the congressional authorization of women to attend all service academies in 1976, Janice Buxbaum became the first woman to graduate as a member of the United States Naval Academy Class of 1980 after completing NAPS. Buxbaum summed up her perspective of NAPS and USNA while doing hometown recruiting on active duty. "At any other college you go to, you can achieve mediocrity without anybody getting in your way. At the Naval Academy they force you academically, physically, emotionally to endure more than you ever thought you could. As a result, nothing intimidates me. It is a different way of looking at life and challenges."

In the 1970's other service academies began to see the value of preparing prospective candidates and in 1979 the U.S. Coast Guard Academy began sending students to NAPS. In 1991, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy also began sending cadets. On average the Coast Guard will recommend 35-40 students, while the Merchant Marine Academy sends between 20-25 students annually.

NAPS continues to welcome over 350 students annually to attend our country's outstanding sea service academies. Currently in the final stages of implementing the "Academic Excellence Program" developed by former United States Naval Academy Superintendent, Vice Admiral John R. Ryan (USNA '67), the prospects for the future look bright. The two-year improvement program focused on developing all aspects of training with an emphasis on instruction and learning methods. The plan provided for an increase in highly qualified teachers and supplemental instructors, some of whom possess doctorates, while also reducing class size from 24 to 16 students. Preparations have also begun on new academic, administrative, athletic and berthing facilities. Captain Bruce Bole entering his second year as Commanding Officer understands that NAPS faces all the challenges of a normal academic program coupled with the rigors of a military environment. His goal is to see them succeed no matter what it takes. The academic, military and civilian staff echo this sentiment and work overtime each day to help lay a positive foundation in character and commitment to academics, leadership and athletics. These efforts have been rewarded time and time again as NAPS alumni in all walks of life continue to solidify a reputation as one of the premier military preparatory schools in the world.

As the 57th Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, Vice Admiral Richard J. Naughton (USNA '68) will oversee many of the sweeping changes already begun to keep NAPS at the forefront of the initial training and development of the service academies future Midshipmen and Cadets. The future of NAPS and USNA is best described by Colonel David A. Vetter, USMC (Ret.), Dean of Admissions at the United States Naval Academy, "We are seeking highly motivated, well-rounded applicants who excel not only academically, but also in athletics, leadership and service. If you have a strong will to achieve, desire a real challenge and want to be a leader serving your country, the opportunity of a lifetime could begin for you at the United States Naval Academy. It is one of the greatest adventures you could possibly imagine."

Appointment to the Naval Academy Preparatory School can only be offered by respective sea service academies through the application process. Full tuition, salary, medical, dental, room and board is provided to all Naval, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine Academy candidates. Upon successful completion NAPS graduates attend their respective service academy. USNA Midshipmen are paid $600 monthly, from which laundry, barber, activities fees, yearbook and other service charges are deducted. Graduates earn a commission either as an Ensign in the Navy or as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps.

Preparation at NAPS includes mathematics courses, including a strong foundation in algebra, trigonometry and Calculus; one-year chemistry, with lab; one-year physics, with lab; one year of English composition and information technology. All candidates are required to use personal computers in most courses. Leadership potential is also a factor, as well as the ability to manage time, non-athletic activities. Ones record of military service is important in developing versatility and the ability to accept responsibility.

School clubs, community service, student government, varsity sports, JROTC, public speaking and debate, and the National Honor Society are just a few of the activities in which candidates who received appointments typically participated. Naval Academy basic eligibility requirements are: be a United States citizen; of good moral character; at least 17 and not past your 23rd birthday of entry year; be unmarried; not pregnant; and have no dependents. All candidates are appointed to the Naval Academy without regard to race, creed or national origin.

The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) may appoint up to 170 active and reserve enlisted personnel each year to the USNA. On average, 10 percent of every class entering the Naval Academy are prior enlisted from regular and reserve components of the Navy and Marine Corps. The academy seeks enlisted personnel who, in addition to basic eligibility requirements listed earlier, fit the following profile: a high school grade point average of 2.8 or better and ranked in the top 40 percent of the class; attainment of one of the following: SAT of 550 math and 500 verbal or better, based on the 1995 re-centered SAT scoring system or ACT of 24 math and 22 verbal or better; completed four years of math and English, a year of chemistry and two years of a foreign language. These courses are mandatory. Additionally, physics and history are recommended but not mandatory. Past and present command junior sailors of the quarters and top 20 performers in "A" and "C" schools are strongly encouraged to apply. Top military performers who need to strengthen their academics may receive appointments to the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) at Newport, Rhode Island and compete for appointment to the Naval Academy the following year. Deadline for all enlisted applications and recommendations is Jan. 31. For more information visit us online at: www.naps.edu

Applicants: 10,145
Official nominations: 4,775
Nominees qualified scholastically, medically and in physical aptitude: 1,814
Offers of admission: 1,511
Admitted: 1,232

Combined Scholastic Assessment Test I (SAT-I) & American College Testing(ACT)
Program Scores

The Class of 2003 includes 32 percent (392) from college and post-high school preparatory programs, which include:
- 204 attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) in Newport R.I.
- (10 with previous college experience)
- 3 from Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection (BOOST) in Newport R.I.
(1 with previous prep school experience)
- 22 from the Nuclear Power School Program in Goose Creek, SC (8 with previous college)
- 73 from private preparatory schools (including 9 with previous college experience and 64 from preparatory schools under the sponsorship of the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, Inc.)
- 15 attended other preparatory schools
- 75 completed at least six months of study at a college or university.

Eighty-three members have previously served as enlisted members of the Navy (64) and Marine Corps (19). This figure includes 13 who entered directly from Fleet Service, 3 from BOOST, 22 from the Nuclear Power School, and 45 from NAPS.

Midshipmen were admitted from every state in the nation. The Class of 2003 also includes ten international students from the following countries: Bulgaria, Cameroon, Estonia, Guatemala, Republic of Korea (2), Republic of Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand (2).

Student body/council/government
president or vice president: 10%
Class president or vice president: 12%
School club president or vice president: 27%
School publication staff: 21%
National Honor Society: 52%
Varsity athletics: 88%
Varsity letter winner: 84%
Dramatics, public speaking, debating: 87%
Leader of musical group: 10%
Eagle Scout/Gold Award: 9%
Boys/Girls State or Nation: 17%
Reserve Officer Training Programs: 9%
Sea Cadets: 2%

The Class of 2003 includes 19% (235) minority midshipmen with ethnic backgrounds as follows: African Americans (81), Hispanics (91), Asian Americans (50) and Native Americans (13). The Class of 2003 includes 16% (201) women.

The Class of 2003 includes 36 sons and 12 daughters of Naval Academy Alumni
(4 percent of the class).

NAPS Graduates

Top

As you might expect after nearly a century of providing quality leaders to our military and nation it would be difficult to mention them all here. To that end we have included just a few proud examples of Naval Academy Preparatory School alumni and their stories.

Medal of Honor

On November 6, 1950, Second Lieutenant Robert D. Reem, (NAPS '48) U.S. Marine Corps, Company H, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.) in the vicinity of Chinhung-ni, Korea, Second Lieutenant Reem displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a platoon commander in Company H, in action against enemy aggressor forces. Grimly determined to dislodge a group of heavy enemy infantry units occupying well-concealed and strongly fortified positions on commanding ground overlooking unprotected terrain. 2d Lt. Reem moved slowly forward up the side of the ridge with his platoon in the face of a veritable hail of shattering hostile machine gun, grenade, and rifle fire. Three times repulsed by a resolute enemy force in achieving his objective, and pinned down by the continuing fury of hostile fire, he rallied and regrouped the heroic men in his depleted and disorganized platoon in preparation for a fourth attack. Issuing last-minute orders to his noncommissioned officers when an enemy grenade landed in a depression of the rocky ground in which the group was standing, Lt. Reem unhesitatingly chose to sacrifice himself and, springing upon the deadly missile, absorbed the full impact of the explosion in his body, thus protecting others from serious injury and possible death. Stouthearted and indomitable, he readily yielded his own chance of survival that his subordinate leaders might live to carry on the fight against a fanatic enemy. His superb courage, cool decisiveness, and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death reflect the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
Mercury Astronaut

On April 9, 1959, NASA announced their selections for the Project Mercury astronauts. Along with former NAPS graduate Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. at the press conference in Washington, D.C. sat the rest of the original "NASA Seven" Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, John H. Glenn, Jr., M. Scott Carpenter, Walter M. Schirra, Jr. and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton.

Like everyone else on the team, Cooper was assigned several development tasks in addition to his astronaut training. One of these was to create a personal survival knife. His efforts are still in use today as personnel are provided with a knife as standard issue. Cooper's first flight began on May 15, 1963, when he was launched as the pilot of MA-9, the last Mercury mission. Cooper, in his Faith 7 capsule, orbited the Earth 22 times and logged more time in space than all five previous Mercury astronauts combined. His primary objectives were to evaluate the effects of a lengthier stay in space on man and to verify man as the primary spacecraft system. During the mission, he became the first American astronaut to sleep in orbit. During his mission he completed 22 orbits and traveled 546,167 miles at 17,547 miles per hour and pulled a maximum of 7.6G's.

Two years later, Cooper was launched as the commander of Gemini GT-5 with Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr., as the pilot, making Cooper the first person to make a second orbital flight. The eight-day mission, which began on August 21, 1965, proved that astronauts could survive in space for the time it took spacecraft to go from the Earth to the moon and back.

During his two space flights, Cooper logged 225 hours, 15 minutes and 3 seconds. He served as the backup commander for Gemini GT-12, the last Gemini mission, and as the backup commander for Apollo 10. In July 1969, he was in line to be named commander of Apollo 13, a lunar landing mission scheduled for April 1970. In a reshuffling of assignments, Cooper was replaced on Apollo 13 by Alan Shepard, who had recently been returned to flight status after a four-year hiatus due to an inner ear condition. Shepard was later moved to the command position of Apollo 14 and the Apollo 13 command position was given to James A. Lovell. He was also the first to accomplish the following:

1963 - Flew 22 orbits (solo) in Mercury 9 (Faith 7)
1963 - Gave one of the opening addresses to the first meeting the League
of African Nations (from space)
1963 - Used the first television camera in space
1963 - First pilot-controlled re-entry from space
1963-1965 - First Military man to address the Joint Sessions of Congress twice
1965 - Flew 122 orbits as command pilot of Gemini 5
1965 - First man to fly two orbital flights
1965 - First man to fly a fuel cell in space
1965 - First man to fly a radar set in space
1965 - First man to track a typhoon from space
1965 - Established the World record of most hours in space for the U.S.
1965 - National Aeronautic Association Record Distance in Earth
1965 - National Aeronautic Association Record Duration in earth Orbit

With an average of over 10,000 applications to the U.S. Naval Academy each year and only about 1,200 direct appointments available, the Naval Academy Preparatory School remains a great opportunity and experience for those interested in a military career. The proven value of NAPS as an asset to our military academies and our nation over the long-term is obvious. As we look to the future to make improvements that will strengthen our military and our country, NAPS will remain as the "first step" to that success.