Eagle School was an

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, preparatory boarding school for boys aged 7 to 14 years situated in the Vumba Mountains near Umtali,

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(now

Mutare Mutare, formerly known as Umtali until 1982, is the capital and largest city in the province of Manicaland. It is the third most populated in Zimbabwe. Having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban area, urban population of 224,802 ...

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). The school was founded in 1948 and closed in 1976. The remaining pupils were then integrated into Springvale School. In his 2006 memoir, journalist and human rights activist Geoffrey Nyarota described the school as a "prestigious institution for wealthy white boys". Eagle was one of the nine founding members of the Conference of Heads of Independent Schools in Zimbabwe (CHISZ) as it was formed in the 1950s.

Motto

The school's motto was ''Arduus Ad Solem'', a

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phrase which means "Striving towards the Sun". The school shared the motto with the former

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(now the

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, but has a different motto) and the

Dragon School The Dragon School is a private school across two sites in Oxford, England. The Dragon Pre-Prep (children aged 4–7) and Prep School (children aged 8–13) are both co-educational schools. The Dragon Prep School was founded in 1877 as the Oxfo ...

, a co-educational, preparatory school in

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Sports and houses

The school had sports facilities and participation in rugby, cricket, soccer, athletics and swimming was compulsory with tennis being the exception. Rival schools were Chancellor Junior School, UBHS, Carmel, Baring, Vumba Heights and John Cowie. The school was divided into three sports houses – Swifts, Swallows and Martins.

Cultural activities

Activities included an

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club,

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and the Young Farmers Club. Plays, film screenings and concerts were regular term events.

Closure and integration into Springvale

Eagle was precariously placed in its mountainous home because of the security situation and its proximity to

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. The school had approached the Springvale School board "in general terms" on a previous occasion about the possibility of a move and, in March 1976, met specifically to ask if Springvale would consider taking on the pupils and staff who remained after Eagle had officially closed in the Vumba Mountains. Eagle Headmaster Michael Hammond, who had taught at Springvale for many years before moving to Eagle, was faced with an agonising decision: to close completely or to move the school somewhere where "we could continue to preserve our identity for the rest of the year". Thus, Eagle joined the ranks of Springvale at the opening of the second term 1976. Springvale temporarily benefitted from the influx of seventy Eagle boys but circumstances beyond the school's control forced it to close in 1979.

Post closure

The school site was subsequently taken over by the Elim Mission Society. On the night of the 23 June 1978, twelve members of the mission were murdered by members of the

ZANU–PF The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) is a political organisation which has been the ruling party of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The party was led for many years by Robert Mugabe, first as prime minister wi ...

(Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front) in the

Vumba massacre The Vumba massacre (also known as the Elim Mission massacre) was a massacre of eight British missionaries and four children committed by ZANLA guerrillas during the Rhodesian Bush War on 23 June 1978. The missionaries belonged to the Elim Pente ...

. The site was taken over by the ZANU PF and access to it is restricted. It was later turned into a private college named Eagle Private College for Secretarial Studies for girls.

List of heads

Between 1948 and 1976, the school had only four headmasters: * Frank Cary (1948–1953) * Claude Mellor (1953–1968) * Richard Moore (1968–1973) * Michael Hammond (1973–1976)

References

{{coord, -19.09253, 32.71769, display=title, format=dms 1948 establishments in the British Empire 1970s disestablishments in Rhodesia 1976 disestablishments in Africa 20th-century establishments in Rhodesia Boys' schools in Zimbabwe Boarding schools in Zimbabwe Buildings and structures in Manicaland Province Defunct private schools Defunct schools in Zimbabwe Defunct secondary schools Educational institutions disestablished in 1976 Educational institutions established in 1948 Education in Manicaland Province Private schools in Zimbabwe