Campus life
Six acres, a creek, and an orchard, two miles from the Downtown Mall.
The grounds
A small campus, used hard.
Our six acres include the 1888 main schoolhouse, a 2014 STEM and arts wing, a 240-seat performance hall, two regulation playing fields, a wooded cross-country course, and the creek, orchard, meadow, and outdoor classrooms that students use every day.
Facilities
Built for K through 8.
Six wooded acres
A creek, a meadow, an orchard, and a stand of old oaks. Two outdoor classrooms with built-in seating.
Wet and maker labs
A dedicated wet lab for Grades 5-8 and a maker lab with 3D printers, laser cutter, and woodworking tools for K-8.
Library of 18,000 volumes
Curated by a full-time librarian. Open before, during, and after school for reading, research, and student book clubs.
Ceramics studio
Two electric kilns and twelve potter's wheels in a daylit studio. Open after school for student and faculty use.
Performance hall
A 240-seat performance hall with a sprung wood floor, hosts concerts, plays, all-school assemblies, and community events.
Two regulation fields
A regulation soccer field and a smaller multipurpose field, plus a wooded cross-country course used by area schools.
Traditions, year by year
The same six things, since 1972.
First-day book buddies
Every kindergartner is paired with an 8th grade book buddy. The pair eats lunch together every Friday and reads aloud on Wednesdays.
Blue Ridge camping trips
Every grade from 3 through 8 takes a fall camping trip in the Blue Ridge. Eighth graders plan the menu and lead campfires.
Chesapeake Bay field study
Eighth graders spend a week each spring at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's residential program at Smith Island.
All-school Field Day
An end-of-year, mixed-age field day with kindergartners and 8th graders on the same teams. Faculty serve barbecue afterward.
Eighth grade capstone
Every 8th grader presents a year-long independent project to the school community before graduation in May.
Lessons & Carols
An evening of student-led readings and choral music in mid-December at First Presbyterian, open to the whole community.