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The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a fairly typical all-girls school — that is, if every school teaches advanced martial arts in PE, chemistry always consists of the latest in chemical warfare, and everyone breaks CIA codes for extra credit in computer class. So in truth, while the Gallagher Academy might say it’s a school for geniuses, what they really mean... is spies.


The Gallagher Academy
Official Name
The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women
Status
In rebuilding process (as of UWS)
Founder
Gillian Gallagher
Founded
1872
Location
Outskirts of Roseville, Virginia
Faculty
Alumna
Current Students
Amy
(a.k.a. Crown Princess Amirah)


History[]

The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women was founded by Gillian Gallagher in the late 19th century, after she was barred admittance to the Secret Service for being a woman (despite saving President Lincoln's life from attempted assassin Ioseph Cavan - founder of the Circle of Cavan). In response, Gillian founded a school where "proper young ladies could learn all the things they were never supposed to need, a place where young women were free to become exceptional without the pressure or influence of boys."[2]

The Gallagher Academy is located at the former Gallagher Estate on the outskirts of the town of Roseville, Virginia. The people of Roseville believe that Gallagher Academy is an elite boarding/finishing school for heiresses — for which they often look upon the girls with disdain (the so-called 'Gallagher Glare').

During the Civil War, the mansion was a stop on the Underground Railroad. After Gillian inherited the grounds and decided to turn it into a school, she began to expand on the servants' hallways to include secret passages.

Description[]

The Gallagher Academy is built with limestone brick and stained glass windows, surrounded by electrified stone walls and a wrought-iron gate, outfitted with state-of-the-art security (including 2,546 cameras) and hidden entrances[3]. The road leading to the Academy is a half-mile long (0.8km), equipped with laser beams and sensors, and a section 'that can open up and swallow a truck whole'. At least two guard shacks are stationed along the road, the second containing an impressively large bank of security monitors. The grounds are well-maintained as well as booby-trapped - such as the pond - and riddled with secret passages.

The Academy has at least five floors and a basement, as well as three high-clearance sublevels. There are three ways to access the sub-levels; one of which is a small corridor branching from the Grand Hall that leads to a secret elevator, hidden by a mirror and secured with optical scanners[4]. The mansion has several towers that house small rooms, and occasional dormers protruding from the roof.

The Sublevels[]

Unlike the rest of the mansion, with its original structure of stone and wood, Sublevel One was made of frosted glass and stainless steel. It consisted of research books, classrooms and training stations. Students are first provided access to Sublevel One in their Sophomore year (Grade 10), as part of their Covert Operations (CoveOps) class. Any students who attempt to access the sublevels without proper clearance are locked in the elevator and given a pre-recorded lecture[4]. Sublevel Two was comprised of long, maze-like corridors carved from limestone that contained artefacts and top-secret files. Students who pass the Sophomore CoveOps course and wish to remain on the field-agent path gain access to Sublevel Two at the commencement of their Junior year (Grade 11). As well as the aforementioned optical scans, identities are confirmed by DNA tests via finger prick. Sublevel Three, however, was more like catacombs; crude tunnels carved from the stone beneath the mansion, similar to the 'Tombs' of the Blackthorne Institute. This level is only accessible to staff and Senior-year (Grade 12) CoveOps students.

Basement[]

  • Research and Development department
  • Dr. Fibs' lab
  • Science labs (?)

First Floor[]

  • Foyer
  • Grand staircase
  • Grand Hall (Dining, ball)
  • Sublevel entrance
  • Library (east corridor) - lower level
  • Spiral staircase (near basement entrance) leads to former chapel

Second Floor[]

  • Hall of History
  • Headmistress's Office
  • Student lounge
  • Professor Smith's Countries of the World (COW) class
  • Library (East corridor) - upper level
  • Former chapel
  • Most classrooms
  • Science labs (?)

Third Floor[]

  • Cameron Morgan's class' suites
  • Cammie's class' common room (?)
  • Teachers' suites (?)
  • Teacher's lounge (?)
  • Sitting room

Fourth Floor[]

Fifth Floor[]

  • Madame Dabney's tearoom (plot hole - fourth floor in book 1, fifth floor in book 5)
  • Terrace

Grounds[]

  • At least two guard shacks
  • Protection & Enforcement Barn
  • Stables (does not actually contain horses)
  • Lacrosse field (doubles as underground helicopter storage facility)
  • The Gallagher lake - glass dome rising from centre of the water
  • The Gallagher Woods
  • Pond

Secret Passages[]

The mansion has dozens of hidden compartments and secret passageways dating back hundreds of years. Cameron Morgan spends many hours exploring these passageways, most often in the weeks between her arrival and the other students' return from vacation. After the events of I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You, and further, of Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover, Cammie finds that many of the passageways have been sealed off, in an effort to contain any security threats. Fortunately, many were also missed, an oversight that proves valuable in the students' evacuation during the Code Black (with the added danger of an explosion-induced fire) at the end of Cammie's senior year. A list of known passageways is below:

A Guide to the Gallagher Academy's Secret Passageways (Disclaimer: large table)
Location Trigger Leads to Initial Ref.
Gallagher Family Tree tapestry in basement corridor off of Grand Hall Reaching behind the tapestry and turning the sword of the Gallagher family crest embedded in stone (Cammie's favourite passageway) Out of school grounds LYKY, Ch. 13
Janitor's closet in western stairwell Jiggle the door to the closet and slide down a pipe Butler's pantry LYKY, Ch. 13
Old family chapel Press a specific wooden panel on the stone staircase's landing three times Ceiling access to every room in the North Hall LYKY, Ch. 13
Student library Pushing against the D-F shelf and pulling on a copy of Downing's Modern Uses for Ancient Weapons simultaneously (Cammie's second-favourite passageway) Out of school grounds LYKY, Ch. 18
Fireplace in second-floor Student Lounge Pull on lever (rear side)

Secondary passage - pull on torch holder

Hidden passage behind Hall of History and further, behind Headmistress's office and ends to abandoned classroom LYKY, Ch. 21
Bookshelf in Hall of History Undisclosed Undisclosed CMH, Ch. 10
Third-floor corridor Undisclosed Undisclosed - but once held a million dollars' worth of confederate coins DJGC, Ch. 9
Hallway by student library Push on stone to make stone wall slide away Undisclosed DJGC, Ch. 21
Undisclosed Undisclosed Behind Dr. Fibs' filing cabinets OGSY, Ch. 9
Undisclosed Twist a piece of molding (Passage terminated) Protection & Enforcement barn OGSY, Ch. 9
Grandfather clock in first-floor corridor Move clock to find trapdoor (Passage terminated) Undisclosed OGSY, Ch. 9
Bookcase in student library Undisclosed (Passage terminated) Rope ladder leading from basement to roof OGSY, Ch. 9
Undisclosed Press on carving of pigeon, releases a hidden door Rooms formerly used for the covert carrier pigeon program OGSY, Ch. 20
Bookshelf Pulling (?) on light fixture Hidden room - used as Mr. Solomon's recovery ward in OSOT OSOT, Ch. 5
Fireplace in third-floor sitting room Press against Gallagher Academy crest on the mantel Hidden passage with direct view and earshot of the Headmistress's office - strictly for emergency situations only OSOT, Ch 16
Corridor along back of school, near chapel staircase Pull on candelabra Rooms assumed to be former servant's quarters - Cammie brings Zach here in UWS UWS, Ch. 11
Maintenance closet by teacher's dorms on third floor Pull on hidden lever Shaft that leads down two floors (precise exit undisclosed - assumed main floor) UWS, Ch. 21
Behind rosebush in gardens Undisclosed Underground Railroad UWS, Ch. 21
Bookshelf on first floor Pulling out a copy of Spymasters of the Ming Dynasty and pressing down on the shelf's left-hand-side simultaneously West of the tower guard on the north side of the grounds UWS, Ch. 38
Undisclosed branched passage Undisclosed hidden door within passage Unidentified (assumed) cellar - Catherine Goode chooses this place to set her bomb due to the many structural supports UWS, Ch. 38
This list does not include an estimated 30 passageways that were terminated after the events of Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover, as well as many others not covered in the series.

Emergency Protocols[]

Code Red[]

A Code Red occurs when civilian guests arrive (most times unexpectedly) and the Academy and its residents must hide their true nature. In a Code Red, buzzers sound alongside a mechanical voice announcing "CODE RED", and red lights appear overhead. Anything remotely spy-related is replaced with private-school memorabilia in order to keep their cover. Senior and Junior students are on standby in case the guests request a tour, but at times Sophomores must step up (as is the case when the McHenry family first arrive). A Code Red occurs several times throughout the series, mostly when Macey McHenry's family is visiting.

Code Black[]

A Code Black is the last line of defence against a security threat, where the entire Academy goes into full lockdown. As with a Code Red, a mechanical voice announces "CODE BLACK", alongside a continuous siren, as the main lights go out and are replaced with emergency lighting. All doors and windows are sealed off behind thick steel shutters, preventing anyone from getting in or out (with the exception of secret passages). The Gallagher family tapestry descends into the floor, as does Gillian's sword. Furniture is either absorbed into the walls or floors, or reinforced with steel shutters, and sensitive materials are incinerated in burn boxes. According to protocol, students are to report to their common rooms in the event of a Code Black.

A Code Black occurs four times over the course of the series, twice during Cammie's sophomore year and twice during her senior year. While the initiation of the first Code Black remains unknown, the second was part of the girls' final exam. The third case was initiated by Professor Buckingham during Cammie's escape from the Academy after Max Edwards tried to have her arrested. The fourth and final case was very much real, initiated when high-risk assassin Catherine Goode escapes custody within the walls of the mansion. Prior to these three incidents, the Gallagher Academy had not experienced a Code Black since the end of the Cold War.


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