Press Releases

< back to main news page

A school for the academies
Web Posted: 04/20/2005

Karen Adler
Express-News Staff Writer

KERRVILLE — William Israel remembers the exact day — June 15, 2004 — he got his rejection letter from the United States Naval Academy.
"I felt left out in the street," the Wheaton, Ill., resident recalled. "Cold."
Still driven by a dream to become a Navy Seal and a desire to follow in his older brother's footsteps, Israel knew he wanted to re-apply to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md.
To bolster his application, he thought about enrolling in a military prep school or going to a college with an ROTC program.
Then he heard about Greystone Preparatory School, a startup program a thousand miles away at Schreiner University in Kerrville, designed specifically for students rejected by the nation's five prestigious military academies. He was the first of six students to enroll.
Now, another day — Feb. 24, 2005 — is branded in his memory. That's the day his mom called him, with his appointment letter in her hand.
"I pretty much fell down and cried," he said. "It was five years of really, really hard work."
As Greystone winds down its first year, it's celebrating two other appointments, one more to the Naval Academy and one to the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. One student was rejected again and two are still waiting to hear.
The school is the brainchild of David Bailey, a retired Navy commander and a graduate and former teacher at the Naval Academy. He's also a former academy reject.
When he arrived in Annapolis in 1977, after a year of prep school, "I felt like I was damaged goods because I had to go to another year of high school," he said. "I felt there was a way we could do things better."
Competition for an appointment is fierce. The Naval Academy, for example, gets about 15,000 applications every year for about 1,200 spots, Bailey said.
The academies, which also include the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colo., and Coast Guard Academy at New London, Conn., generally look for scholar athletes with leadership potential who will serve as officers after graduation.
Before Greystone, rejected students who didn't get a spot on the waiting list essentially had two options: go to a fifth year of high school at a military prep school, or enroll in college but have no guide for the rigorous academic and physical training required by the academies.
Students who go the prep school route may be able to earn some college credit, but if they don't get an appointment after a second try, they've lost a year of their lives, Bailey said
Greystone students who don't end the year with an academy appointment will at least have 36 college credits and sophomore standing.
Greystone students take a full course load and are required to attend all meals, participate in a sport, work out and study from 7 to 10 every night. They don't wear military uniforms but are expected to dress appropriately, which means students wear slacks and button-down shirts to class.
To help in the development of character, which the school considers an important preparation for the military academies, students also volunteer at the after-school program at Carver Academy.
"Free time for me is sleeping," Israel said.
Teachers send Bailey weekly grade reports, and the Greystone office is in the residence hall where the students live. Bailey works individually with the students to form a game plan, not just for getting an appointment but also for long-term career goals.
It's a unique program, said retired Col. Morris Herbert, director of the West Point Association of Graduates' preparatory scholarship program.
"This is a new opportunity, really," he said. "Bailey is doing an excellent job in preparing candidates for ... the service academies."
After a year at Greystone, Daniel Rocha has one of the coveted appointments.
"I know I could have done well in college by myself, but having a team here ... just makes it so much easier than if I were trying to do it on my own," said Rocha, a graduate of Tomball High School near Houston.
He and Israel report to Annapolis on June 29.
For more information about the school, visit www.greystoneprepschool.net or call (888) 561-6924.

^ back to top