Maxwell Adventist Academy

Maxwell Adventist Academy is a co-education boarding school in Nairobi, Kenya, that caters to learners from the ages of 12 to 18. The school, previously known as Maxwell Preparatory School and before that Nairobi Adventist School, was founded in 1947 on Crauford Road, Nairobi (later Milimani Road and now Jakaya Kikwete Road). The school, which offers an American educational curriculum, is named after legendary missionary Spencer George Maxwell (1893-1982), who spent between 1920 and 1962 as a missionary in Africa. The school was inspired by the vision of Maxwell, who, while serving as the superintendent of the East Africa Union (1928-1941) was deeply concerned about the need of a school for missionary children.

In April 1937, the East Africa Union offices moved from Nakuru to Nairobi. At that time, most of the missionaries in far-flung missionary stations, badly needed to give their children an education. Most of the missionaries were young people who were just starting families. There was no school that could take care of the educational needs of these missionary children. Many dependable missionaries were choosing to cut short their missionary work to return to Europe for the sake of their children’s education. Maxwell himself had been affected, unable to find a school for his children and had been forced to send his oldest daughter Myrtle to distant England to attend school. His two younger children were ready for school, and they had nowhere to go. Giving the missionary children an education abroad meant separating them from their families for many months, and sometimes even years, forcing them to miss out on important milestones and life experiences. Mission priorities at this time did not provide for this type of school since most of the funds were going to send missionaries even further into the continent.

Nairobi Adventist Hostel (1937-1947)

As a stopgap measure, Maxwell came up with the idea to establish a hostel in Nairobi where missionary children could attend the Nairobi European School, a secular school at the edge of the Nairobi Hill. Although the school already had boarding facilities, Maxwell was concerned about the secular nature of the school that was founded in 1902 and felt it would be a good idea to keep the Adventist children in a separate hostel.

Maxwell managed to secure a lease on a house on Nairobi’s Crauford Road that was around the corner from the European school and converted it into a hostel. This facility allowed the students to walk to school and back home every day, and they would find their meals ready for them thanks to the care of a watchful matron. Two of Maxwell’s children, Stanley and Enid, were students at the Nairobi European school and remained in the Hostel until 1938 when they left for Helderberg in South Africa. Maxwell left Kenya for Nyasaland (now Malawi) in January 1942,¹ which made it easier to be with his children. Meanwhile, following the departure of Maxwell, the East Africa Union offices moved from Nairobi back to Kisumu, and his successor, Hubert M. Sparrow, took over the EAU while based in Kisumu. At that point, the EAU was split to create the Kenya Mission Field, which remained in Nairobi, moving to the Crauford Road address within the same campus as the Nairobi Hostel. Mrs. Pearson, the wife of the secretary of the Kenya Mission Field Gordon Pearson, was in charge of the Hostel. The hostel was “a home away from home” for many of the missionary children.² E. W. Pedersen moved from Uganda to head the Kenya Mission Field with Gordon Pearson as secretary. In 1944, the EAU acquired adjacent properties on the Crauford Road campus to expand their holdings into one large compound.

Nairobi Adventist School (1949-1955)

In 1947, the EAU made a formal move to create the “Nairobi Adventist School” so that the children of the missionaries could now remain on campus and take classes. The new school began offering classes in 1949, and Mrs. Pearson remained in charge of the hostel. In September 1947, the Nairobi Adventist school was officially founded on the Crauford Road property, which was now sufficient to run a small school. The lack of teachers became quite apparent, so the school could only offer classes to the younger students while the older ones continued to attend public schools. From September 1949, regular classes for all the hostel residents were held there, and none of them attended the public school system. The school educated the children of missionaries, but soon, the children of European Adventists who were not necessarily missionaries began to attend the school.

Maxwell Preparatory School (1955-1986)

In 1955, Jack Henry Tegler was appointed principal. He immediately renamed the school to the Maxwell Preparatory School. Tegler arrived with his wife, who was also a teacher, and their son Francis Edward.³ Prior to coming to Kenya, Tegler had been a teacher at the Plainfield Academy in New Jersey and had graduated from Washington Missionary College in the United States. Tegler took charge of the school at a time of great anxieties about the impending independence in Kenya and also in other parts of Africa. The school, which remained at the Crawford Road campus, also required new facilities as there was now more demand for places. During Tegler’s time, the East Africa Union approved plans to construct a new chapel to be used by the school community. The chapel was constructed in front of the school building on the edge of the property, which now housed the East Africa Union offices. It was eventually completed in 1958 and opened that same year. That building is today the old sanctuary at the Nairobi Central Church. Some of the teachers around this time included Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Tegler, Mrs. R.V. Vinglass, Mrs. Pamela Brandt, Mrs. P.D. Bakker, Mr. Barton, and others. Mrs. Judy Tucker was the matron at the Hostel. Tegler remained in charge of the school until 1959 when he handed over to Mrs. Pamela Brandt. Pastor A and Mrs. Brandt, both graduates from Newbold College in 1943. Mrs. Pamela Brandt (née Cooling) began teaching at Stanborough School in Watford, England.

In 1945, when they were married, the Brandts left for Denmark briefly before leaving for Africa to serve at Malamulo prior to moving to Solusi College. Pastor Brandt was principal at Solusi while Mrs. Brandt taught in the College. They moved again to Kenya when Pastor Brandt was appointed to head the Central Kenya Conference. Mrs. Brandt was then appointed the principal of the Maxwell Preparatory School.⁴ The enrollment stood at around 50 students at the school at any one time during this period. These students were the children of local and up-country missionaries (including other East African countries). There were also local Kenyans (African and Asian) and the occasional expatriate.⁵

There were several teachers on the payroll, and a number of others on short contracts. Mrs. Brandt hired a Polish woman, who came in to teach French, and a piano teacher, Mrs. Talkington. Under the strict discipline of Mrs. Talkington, all but one or two students learned piano and carried away top prizes in the annual Kenya Music Festival held at the National Theatre.⁶ Tegler left for Kamagambo Training School in south-western Kenya.

The students were affectionately called the “Blue Coats” due to their distinctively striped blue blazers. They gained renown for their exceptional musical abilities and frequently graced the stage at the National Theatre, captivating both local audiences and critics alike with their outstanding performances. During the 1963 Music Festivals held at the National Theatre in Nairobi, MPS students dominated the competition, securing numerous prestigious music awards. Their remarkable showing garnered them a special invitation to showcase their talents on television at the newly established Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (later VOK).⁷ At this time, the school carried out what was then referred to as the British education curriculum.

Coming under the General Conference

From 1978, the Afro-Mideast Division set up the University of Eastern Africa Baraton in western Kenya following problems at the Middle East College in Beirut, Lebanon. It became necessary to send American faculty to this new college. There was no secondary school for children, so it became necessary to build up the Maxwell Preparatory School to meet the educational needs of missionary children coming to Kenya following the establishment of Baraton. The enrollment at the Maxwell School went up as a result. In 1978, Roman Hintz from the North Pacific Union Conference took over the school as principal. He was a native of Oregon. The General Conference also sent over Len Atkins as the school chaplain. Atkins, like Hintz, was also from Oregon. Mrs. Atkins served as school matron, girl’s dean, and teacher.

Maxwell Adventist Academy (1986- )

The school remained on the same campus through the final years of Kenya’s colonial rule until independence in 1963. Crawford Road was renamed Milimani Road, so the expanding Nairobi city was coming closer.

From 1985 when Eugene Witzel took over as principal, plans were made to move the campus out of the increasingly cosmopolitan area in Nairobi. In 1986, the school was moved to a new campus 15 miles (23 km) outside Nairobi at a cost of about $820,000.⁸ The school also changed its name from Maxwell Preparatory School (MPS) to Maxwell Adventist Academy (MAA) and now offered an exclusively American curriculum. There were new buildings included a new chapel commemorating missionary Spencer George Maxwell, after whom the school is named. The chapel was opened in 1993 at the centenary of Maxwell’s birth. By this time, the school had 55 students. Witzel remained in charge of the school until August 1987 when he handed over to Wes Peterson. After this, Witzel remained at the school, taking charge of the school building program in the new campus. Peterson was in charge of the school until 1989 when he had to return to the United States for health reasons. He handed over the school to Timothy Graham. In July 1990, the school received its accreditation. The enrollment in the new campus rose from 55 students in 1986 to 155 by 1992, mainly children of missionaries and members of the general public. Some of the school extra-curricular activities include camping, hiking, rock climbing, mountain climbing, and white-water rafting. The school continues to offer a number of sporting activities.

Principals: Jack H. Tegler (1955-1959) Pamela Brandt (1959-1964), Jack H. Tegler (1970-1972) George Dunder (1972-1974), Roman Hintz, (1978-1983), Pat Edsell (1983-1985); Eugene Witzel (1985-1987), Wes Peterson, (1987-1989), Timothy Graham, (1989-1995), Lloyd Dull (1996-1997), Arne Nielsen (1997-2003), Jana Edge (2003-2004), John Thomas (2004-2008), Meds Versteeg (2008-2013), Marc Nelson (2013-2017), Jocelyn Walemba Isabirye (2017-2018), Roger Dunder (2018- ).

Sources

Bradbury, E. W. Southern Africa Division Outlook, December 15, 1963.

The Advent Survey, October 1, 1941.

Southern Africa Division Outlook, January 15, 1956.

Notes