All of us can probably think of at least one teacher that helped shape our future. Maybe it was a teacher that magically opened our eyes to the mysteries of geometry, fine tuned our tongue for a foreign language or perhaps gave us the gift of confidence in a hidden talent we possessed. Rhoda Kavanaugh was that type of magical person.

In Lawrenceburg, Kentucky Rhoda Kavanaugh established the Kavanaugh Academy in 1903. Initially the purpose was to tutor her daughters. But, quickly her talents as an educator were discovered and she began to draw students from around the United States. The Kavanaugh Academy became a preparatory school for students seeking to enter the Annapolis naval academy and West Point military academy. The Kavanaugh Academy was so respected that it earned the nickname "the Annapolis of Kentucky."

Young men she called "the house boys" boarded at Kavanaugh's home and attended the Kavanaugh Academy during the day alongside other high school students. These were the days long before the yellow school buses; students walked or rode to school each morning in a horse-drawn carriage. The horses were cared for and "gassed up " in a nearby stable until the end of the school day.

In the evenings, Kavanaugh, who usually walked with a cane, would tutor her boarders for entrance examinations at the military academies. By the time she retired in 1946, 165 of her students had passed the rigorous examinations and entered the military academies. Kavanaugh continued her work for fifty years serving as teacher and principal at the Kavanaugh Academy.

 Source:

 Kleber, John E. The Kentucky Encyclopedia, Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky1992.