Now that Jacob has been accepted as one of the 50 male students in the Gatton Academy Class of 2025, I (David) thought it would be good to create a short post with more specifics on the specific location and building he will be living in, location of the Academy and some information about the city it is located in, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Bowling Green is a city of approximately 72,000 founded by pioneers in 1798. It is 1.5 hours from our home in Campbellsville and about an hour north of Nashville, Tennessee. Western Kentucky University (the campus on which Gatton is located) is the oldest university in Kentucky and has about 20,000 students. It has been designated a ‘Safe Community’ by the National Safety Council. It is much bigger than Campbellsville, however we think it still has a smaller town feel. There are first-rate hospitals and medical facilities, plenty of shops, community activities and a wide range of restaurants including Vietnamese (Jacob’s favorite) and Thai.

The building Jacob will live in on the campus is near:

• WKU Police Department – across the street
• Health Services Clinic – 7 minute walk
• Classrooms and labratories – 15 minute walk (at most)
• Downing Student Union (main dining hall) – 7 minute walk
• WKU Library – 6 minute walk
• Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and Center – 6 minute walk
• CVS Pharmacy – 8 minute walk

Here is an interactive map of the location of Gatton Academy on the campus of WKU in Bowling Green:

Below are two pictures of the front and rear of the building and a video giving a tour of the inside. The building is home to 200 high-school students (100 Juniors and 100 Seniors – 50 females and 50 males in each class).

Here is a video of the interior of the building highlighting the activity areas, learning areas, common area on each floor and a typical student bedroom. Dr. Lynette Breedlove (Director of Gatton Academy), is the tour guide in this video. About a minute into the video she shows the Academy logo inlaid in the main entry hall and explains its significance.

While living at Gatton Academy, there will be many rules and policies in place to ensure the academic and emotional support, safety and security of Jacob and all the students. Being teenagers, there are also rules and policies in place to prevent alcohol and drug abuse as well as full-time Counsellors to talk with students about any issues with their mental health.

Here are some of the rules and policies:

• Students ‘swipe’ in and out of all Gatton Academy and WKU buildings with their ID card
• Boys live on one wing of the building, the girls on the other. Boys and girls are not allowed to enter the other wing of the building
• Students are only allowed guests or to go off campus with parental permission
• There is a curfew – 10:30pm Sunday through Thursday, midnight Friday and Saturday
• There is a face-to-face check in each night by the adult residential counselor who lives on the same floor as the students
• Students are only allowed to have a car on campus to travel to/from home. The Director of Student Life keeps their keys in her office while they are on campus
• Gatton Academy staff keep in regular contact with parents regarding their student’s academic progress as well as any issues that have come up regarding residential issues, social development or mental health
• There is one ‘closed weekend’ a month when students are required to go home for the weekend. Parents are, of course, allowed to visit at other times as well

To see all of the residential rules and polices, you can view that information on page 29 (page number as listed at the bottom of each page) of the student handbook here:

And finally, here are the staff who will be helping Jacob along the way. The Assistant Director of Student Life and all Residential Counselors live in the building. All other staff, including the Counselling Services staff, have offices in the building as well. Click below to open this page and if interested, click on each name to read about each staff member.