[2] Woodward Academy's athletics program sponsors 18 varsity sports across fall, winter and spring seasons.

In 1965 its Board of Directors changed the corporate name to Woodward Academy and discontinued Army ROTC as well as all the school’s previous military traditions and customs.

By the 1901 term, enrollment had grown to fifty cadets, the grounds had been cleared, a garden, hog pens and a small dairy had been added.

The first major construction at GMA was Rugby Hall which was completed in 1902 and which contained fourteen resident rooms for teachers and cadets.

A gymnasium was added in 1907 which later became known as the “Old Gym.” In 1908, at the order of President Teddy Roosevelt, a Regular U.S. Army officer was posted to serve as a full-time military instructor.

During the years leading up to and immediately after World War I, GMA continued to expand and took on greater importance in Georgia and National history.

Every year from then forward the Corps of Cadets prepared for its annual Army inspection to decide whether the “Honor” designation could be maintained.

GMA Cadets painted, cleaned, mopped, oiled, policed, polished, mended and drilled for weeks in preparation.

Colonel Woodward cultivated a relationship with Cuban friends and persuaded Major N.J. Castellanos and his wife Maria to join the faculty.

In 1932, in what became known as the “Great Gesture,” Col. Woodward transferred all his ownership to and became a co-founder of the non-profit corporation known as Georgia Military Academy.

The Academy, now a corporation with a governing board, remained in College Park, Georgia and was founded “not for pecuniary gain to stockholders, but for the purpose of conducting a charitable and educational institution.” Other founders included William Roe Brewster, who was to replace Col. Woodward in the 1930s, Robert W. Woodruff, R.S.

In Operation Torch in North Africa his ship, the BERNADOU, was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation and Brewster as its Gunnery Officer the Silver Star Medal.

His wife of 57 years, Kathryn (“Kitty”) Cummings Brewster, was a beloved figure to GMA Cadets for her warmth and charm.

During his tenure as President, he initiated the school’s first fundraising effort in its 65-year history which raised enough capital to renovate many old facilities and build necessary new ones.

The entry to the Woodward Academy campus along East Rugby Street is lined with memorials to GMA alumni who died in each war of the 20th and 21st Centuries.