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Harris Academy is a secondary school located in the West End of Dundee, Scotland. It is a state school which originally opened its on August 31, 1885. The original building was in Park Place and the school moved to its present building in Perth Road in 1931. The current Rector of the school is Mr James Thewliss.
In the late 70's the school experienced something of a boom in numbers, as a result of the onset of comprehensive education, and Harris Academy took over the premises of Logie Secondary School on Blackness Road Dundee. The school was split with 1st and 2nd years attending Harris Academy in the Blackness annexe, 3rd to 6th Years continued at the Perth Road building. The Logie building burnt down in 2001.
House system
Harris Academy has a house system which allocates each pupil to one of four houses, named Birnam, Cawdor, Forres and Kinloch. The former three come from houses in William Shakespeare's "Macbeth". The latter comes from the name of a former MP of Dundee.
Uniform
The uniform of Harris Academy is a three button, boxed blazer in maroon with the school badge embroidered on the left breast pocket. It is compulsory to wear an all black uniform or the maroon blazer. The Harris tie is a maroon tie striped with yellow and black. All pupils also wear ties. Each of the houses has an associated colour, Birnam - Maroon, Cawdor - Yellow, Forres - Green, Kinloch - Blue.
Buildings and grounds
The main building was built in 1931 after the previous Park Place building was deemed too small to hold the school population. The current building houses the Modern Languages department, the Social Subject departments, the Science departments, The Religious Education department, the Technology department, the Mathematics department, and the Classics department along with the Assembly hall, the Guidance base, Year-Heads' offices, and the Rector's office.
A newer section was added in the late 1960s. This houses the Computing and Business Studies departments, the Home Economics department, the English department, the Art department, the school library, the careers base, the Dining hall, the school's two gymnasia, and the school's swimming pool.
In addition to these there is also a Music Block housing the Music department as well as rooms for music tuition; and a substantial Games Hall building with a fitness room. The school has access to a wrought-iron footbridge over the Dundee-Perth railway line and to the playing fields at Riverside.
Not far from the school are the school sports grounds at Elliot Road. These include a recently-improved pavilion, a rugby pitch and several football or hockey fields. In summer time, it is converted to Athletics tracks.
Famous pupils
Famous former pupils include;
James Crabb