Stuart Hall School
Encyclopedia
Stuart Hall School in Staunton, Virginia
was founded by the Episcopal church as Virginia Female Institute in 1844. It was renamed in 1907 in honor of its most famous headmistress, Flora Cooke Stuart, the widow of Confederate cavalry leader Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart
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A Consistent History: Appreciating the Past; Anticipating the Future
Incorporated in 1844, Stuart Hall School is one of Virginia’s oldest college preparatory boarding schools. Originally named the Virginia Female Institute (VFI), the School was founded for scholars, with its programs and honor code deriving from the academic model at the University of Virginia. From its inception, the School has focused on enlightened learning and the formation of character within every student. The School was renamed Stuart Hall a century ago in honor of Flora Cooke Stuart (Mrs. General J.E.B. Stuart), who served as principal from 1880 until 1899.
Throughout its rich history, Stuart Hall School has met changing needs with perseverance, innovation, and expansion. During the first 40 years of the twentieth century, the School served students from kindergarten through high school, with a post-graduate experience available. Boys were accepted into the Lower School in 1908. By 1940, the educational focus had shifted to young women in their high school years, and the Lower and Intermediate Schools were discontinued. In 1992, the Cochran Middle School (serving boys and girls in grades 6-8) was added. Boys were first accepted into the Upper School program in 1999.
The most recent milestone in the School’s history occurred in August 2007 when, in recognition of the environmental demand for a K-12 independent educational model and in appreciation of its relevance for families today, Stuart Hall School merged with Hunter McGuire School. Hunter McGuire, a fully accredited K-5 independent school serving more than 100 students in Verona, Va., was founded in 1987. The School was named for Dr. Hunter McGuire, founder of the University College of Medicine, which later became part of the Medical College of Virginia (MCV). He was married to Mary Stuart, who graduated from the Virginia Female Institute in 1857.
Historically, Stuart Hall and Hunter McGuire Schools have both promoted academic excellence, personal attention to students and an atmosphere of innovation, while embracing missions that are highly compatible. The vision of a merged school builds on this shared history of academic excellence to deliver a unified and comprehensive PK-12 program rich in the liberal arts and sciences. Thus, the historic merger between the two Schools establishes a cohesive educational experience for students in grades PK-12 and combines that with an internationally regarded boarding program in the Gray Upper School, bringing Stuart Hall “Full Circle,” and moving the School ever closer to its goal of becoming the premiere independent PK-12 day/boarding school in the Shenandoah Valley.
The Episcopal Tradition: Educating the Whole Person
Stuart Hall School is part of a system of Episcopal Schools in Virginia. Each school enjoys its own distinctive traditions and programs, but all share a deep level of professional and personal collegiality, as well as the benefits of combined assets and excellent governance.
As an Episcopal School, Stuart Hall is the inheritor of an educational tradition dating back to the 16th century. The Episcopal Church and its parent, the Church of England, have always made the business of schools, colleges, and universities a priority. Founded as a state church or a church for all, the Anglican tradition in schools is one of inclusiveness. Episcopal schools welcome students and employees from all faith traditions and from no faith tradition. The schools are unapologetically Episcopal in worship and ethos, but celebrate and honor other traditions in teaching and in worship. Individuals are encouraged and supported in their personal faith traditions, or in their individual explorations of spirituality and faith.
Consistent with the Episcopal tradition, Stuart Hall offers rigorous academic preparation and a rich co-curricular experience for its students, while aspiring to much more. Stuart Hall seeks to form young women and men of personal integrity and good character who understand that they have responsibility beyond themselves, and who are willing to engage the deep mysteries of this life and the next. Stuart Hall understands the “whole person” tradition of educating mind, body, heart, and spirit as an inseparable goal; one core value that informs program, practice, and policy at every level of the school.
Episcopal Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia
Episcopal Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, Inc. was established in 1920 by the Episcopal Church in the Diocese to “conduct a system of schools under the supervision and direction of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese,” offering a sound educational program that strives for academic excellence in an environment informed by Christian faith and experience.
The Church Schools help carry out the mission of the Diocese by providing visible evidence of the Episcopal Church’s long-standing interest in education. They provide opportunities for corporate worship, the study of religion, and participation in communities that seek to reflect the ideas of Judeo-Christian heritage in relationships with others and in community service.
The six Church Schools are: Christchurch School, Christchurch, VA, St. Catherine’s School, Richmond, VA, St. Christopher’s School, Richmond, VA, St. Margaret’s School, Tappahannock, VA, St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School, Alexandria, VA, and Stuart Hall School, Staunton, VA.
Governance
The six schools are owned and operated by the corporation, Episcopal Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, Inc., which is controlled by a board of thirty-three trustees. The executive officer of the corporation Dr. David H. Charlton, President. Each school has two representatives on the Church Schools’ Board, and the school heads are frequently invited to attend Church Schools Trustee meetings. ECSDV approval is required for major decisions including: borrowing of money; buying or selling real estate; incurring debt; appointing governors; appointing or discharging a head of school.
Board of Governors
Stuart Hall School’s Board of Governors is responsible for the financial health, overall policies and mission of the school. The governors work in concert with the Head of School to support faculty and students and to provide the resources needed for success. Historically, the Board has enjoyed a good relationship with the faculty and staff, but the major point of contact for faculty and staff at the school is and should be the Head of the School. The Board has an understanding that faculty go to the Head of School with issues, rather than to the Board. The Head may well recommend that a faculty member then talk with the Board Chair. The Board holds to the policy that any conversation faculty has with them can be shared with the Head of the School.
MISSION, VISION AND ELEMENTS OF DISTINCTION
Our Mission
Stuart Hall School offers a rigorous and supportive coeducational academic program in the liberal arts and sciences for students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. With respect for the development of each individual, the School is a community anchored in a multi-faceted core value:
• Educating the Mind
• Strengthening the Body
• Renewing the Heart
• Nurturing the Spirit
In the context of its Episcopal tradition, Stuart Hall School prepares boys and girls of all faiths for success in colleges and universities worldwide and for engaged, healthy lives of intellectual curiosity, responsible citizenship, creative expression, ethical leadership, and compassionate service.
Our Vision
Stuart Hall School aspires to be the outstanding PK-12 school in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, an area steeped in a rich tradition of academic excellence. Through its innovative approach to teaching the liberal arts and sciences, Stuart Hall will be widely known for instilling motivation and self-confidence in its students and for preparing them to successfully seek and excel at meeting challenges and opportunities worldwide.
The school’s unique learning community, enhanced by a vibrant national and international Upper School girls’ boarding program, will be highly regarded for the diversity it creates and for the enhanced learning opportunities and global awareness it provides for all students. Further, Stuart Hall will be known for the emphasis it places on the unlimited potential for each student and for building connections within its own community and within the increasingly complex world beyond its campus
Elements of Distinction
Stuart Hall School, with its commitment to high expectations and personal attention to each student, embraces a vision embodied in the following “Elements of Distinction.” Some reflect the School’s excellence today; others reflect planning for tomorrow. All are a part of the School’s approach to educating the whole student—mind, body, heart and spirit.
1. Programmatic Excellence, with Emphasis on the Liberal Arts and Sciences and Development of the Whole Person. Stuart Hall School’s program is characterized by small classes; a rigorous academic curriculum; an extensive, integrated athletic and co-curricular program; a wide selection of honors and advanced placement courses in the Upper School; a reputation of excellence in the visual and performing arts; and innovative dual-enrollment programs with partner colleges and universities. To study the liberal arts and sciences is to experience the diversity and connectivity of human knowledge expressed in the arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, and natural sciences. Ideally, a liberal arts education develops qualities of mind—flexibility, curiosity, engagement, commitment to the search for truth—which equip one to thrive in a world which is ever-changing and whose perimeters are global. The ability to think, to learn, and to express oneself, the capacity to understand ideas and issues in context, the commitment to live responsibly in society, and the yearning for truth are fundamental features of our humanity. In centering education upon these qualities, a liberal arts and sciences education is society’s best investment in our shared future.
2. Cohesive educational experience from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, encouraging the wonder of discovery—mind, body, heart, and spirit. Educational research conclusively indicates that independent schools offering a cohesive educational program from kindergarten or pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade experience the strongest enrollments and the soundest financial footing. Embracing this comprehensive model, Stuart Hall School is poised to become the premier co-educational independent PK-12 school in the Shenandoah Valley.
1) The Hunter McGuire Lower School provides a rigorous child-centered curriculum in a stimulating, discovery-oriented environment that is designed to help students become enthusiastic learners, creative problem-solvers, and disciplined thinkers.
2) The Cochran Middle School offers a rigorous core curriculum and diverse co-curricular courses that provide comprehensive preparation for high school. Through a balance of traditional and experiential learning experiences, students participate in learning and apply their knowledge in a variety of settings. A challenging program that focuses on oral and written communication, reading, mathematical reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving, and the development of good study habits is combined with personalized attention, allowing each student the opportunity to reach his or her intellectual potential and gain intellectual confidence and independence.
3) The Gray Upper School, through a rigorous, discussion -based, collaborative learning process, offers a college-preparatory curriculum that emphasizes the importance of critical thinking, problem-solving and global awareness.
3. Professional leadership: faculty, staff and Board. Stuart Hall School must continue to attract and retain faculty members who are eager, well-read, and dedicated and are enthusiastic and highly knowledgeable about their fields, about the students, and about teaching. In addition, the School must continue to attract and retain staff and Board members who are skilled in their fields and committed to the long-term success of the School.
4. Engaged, supportive community. Stuart Hall offers a safe, connected, collaborative environment in which each student is known and loved. This environment embodies the heart and spirit of the school’s mission and provides students with the confidence and personal resources necessary to live engaged healthy lives of intellectual curiosity, responsible citizenship, creative expression, ethical leadership and compassionate service.
5. Institutional permanence is emphasized through long-term financial stability, a growing endowment and proactive facility planning.
6. Lifelong affiliation begins with a discerning admissions process and is cultivated within the school community from the earliest years of the educational process. Stuart Hall graduates become accomplished and committed alumnae/i who contribute to the world, support each other and remain actively engaged in the School’s life. Because of this legacy of lifelong accomplishment and the strength of the alumnae/i network, Stuart Hall graduates know that the world is at their doorstep and that they have been given the tools to engage it.
7. Global perspective, with an emphasis on living and learning in a global community. The School’s internationally regarded boarding program, conversation-based foreign language program (coordinated through the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools) and off-campus international educational opportunities are essential to the development of this perspective.
NON-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT
Stuart Hall School does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, color, national origin, age, religion or physically challenging condition in administration of its hiring procedures.
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....
was founded by the Episcopal church as Virginia Female Institute in 1844. It was renamed in 1907 in honor of its most famous headmistress, Flora Cooke Stuart, the widow of Confederate cavalry leader Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart
J.E.B. Stuart
James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart was a U.S. Army officer from Virginia and a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War. He was known to his friends as "Jeb", from the initials of his given names. Stuart was a cavalry commander known for his mastery of reconnaissance and the use...
.
A Consistent History: Appreciating the Past; Anticipating the Future
Incorporated in 1844, Stuart Hall School is one of Virginia’s oldest college preparatory boarding schools. Originally named the Virginia Female Institute (VFI), the School was founded for scholars, with its programs and honor code deriving from the academic model at the University of Virginia. From its inception, the School has focused on enlightened learning and the formation of character within every student. The School was renamed Stuart Hall a century ago in honor of Flora Cooke Stuart (Mrs. General J.E.B. Stuart), who served as principal from 1880 until 1899.
Throughout its rich history, Stuart Hall School has met changing needs with perseverance, innovation, and expansion. During the first 40 years of the twentieth century, the School served students from kindergarten through high school, with a post-graduate experience available. Boys were accepted into the Lower School in 1908. By 1940, the educational focus had shifted to young women in their high school years, and the Lower and Intermediate Schools were discontinued. In 1992, the Cochran Middle School (serving boys and girls in grades 6-8) was added. Boys were first accepted into the Upper School program in 1999.
The most recent milestone in the School’s history occurred in August 2007 when, in recognition of the environmental demand for a K-12 independent educational model and in appreciation of its relevance for families today, Stuart Hall School merged with Hunter McGuire School. Hunter McGuire, a fully accredited K-5 independent school serving more than 100 students in Verona, Va., was founded in 1987. The School was named for Dr. Hunter McGuire, founder of the University College of Medicine, which later became part of the Medical College of Virginia (MCV). He was married to Mary Stuart, who graduated from the Virginia Female Institute in 1857.
Historically, Stuart Hall and Hunter McGuire Schools have both promoted academic excellence, personal attention to students and an atmosphere of innovation, while embracing missions that are highly compatible. The vision of a merged school builds on this shared history of academic excellence to deliver a unified and comprehensive PK-12 program rich in the liberal arts and sciences. Thus, the historic merger between the two Schools establishes a cohesive educational experience for students in grades PK-12 and combines that with an internationally regarded boarding program in the Gray Upper School, bringing Stuart Hall “Full Circle,” and moving the School ever closer to its goal of becoming the premiere independent PK-12 day/boarding school in the Shenandoah Valley.
The Episcopal Tradition: Educating the Whole Person
Stuart Hall School is part of a system of Episcopal Schools in Virginia. Each school enjoys its own distinctive traditions and programs, but all share a deep level of professional and personal collegiality, as well as the benefits of combined assets and excellent governance.
As an Episcopal School, Stuart Hall is the inheritor of an educational tradition dating back to the 16th century. The Episcopal Church and its parent, the Church of England, have always made the business of schools, colleges, and universities a priority. Founded as a state church or a church for all, the Anglican tradition in schools is one of inclusiveness. Episcopal schools welcome students and employees from all faith traditions and from no faith tradition. The schools are unapologetically Episcopal in worship and ethos, but celebrate and honor other traditions in teaching and in worship. Individuals are encouraged and supported in their personal faith traditions, or in their individual explorations of spirituality and faith.
Consistent with the Episcopal tradition, Stuart Hall offers rigorous academic preparation and a rich co-curricular experience for its students, while aspiring to much more. Stuart Hall seeks to form young women and men of personal integrity and good character who understand that they have responsibility beyond themselves, and who are willing to engage the deep mysteries of this life and the next. Stuart Hall understands the “whole person” tradition of educating mind, body, heart, and spirit as an inseparable goal; one core value that informs program, practice, and policy at every level of the school.
Episcopal Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia
Episcopal Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, Inc. was established in 1920 by the Episcopal Church in the Diocese to “conduct a system of schools under the supervision and direction of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese,” offering a sound educational program that strives for academic excellence in an environment informed by Christian faith and experience.
The Church Schools help carry out the mission of the Diocese by providing visible evidence of the Episcopal Church’s long-standing interest in education. They provide opportunities for corporate worship, the study of religion, and participation in communities that seek to reflect the ideas of Judeo-Christian heritage in relationships with others and in community service.
The six Church Schools are: Christchurch School, Christchurch, VA, St. Catherine’s School, Richmond, VA, St. Christopher’s School, Richmond, VA, St. Margaret’s School, Tappahannock, VA, St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School, Alexandria, VA, and Stuart Hall School, Staunton, VA.
Governance
The six schools are owned and operated by the corporation, Episcopal Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, Inc., which is controlled by a board of thirty-three trustees. The executive officer of the corporation Dr. David H. Charlton, President. Each school has two representatives on the Church Schools’ Board, and the school heads are frequently invited to attend Church Schools Trustee meetings. ECSDV approval is required for major decisions including: borrowing of money; buying or selling real estate; incurring debt; appointing governors; appointing or discharging a head of school.
Board of Governors
Stuart Hall School’s Board of Governors is responsible for the financial health, overall policies and mission of the school. The governors work in concert with the Head of School to support faculty and students and to provide the resources needed for success. Historically, the Board has enjoyed a good relationship with the faculty and staff, but the major point of contact for faculty and staff at the school is and should be the Head of the School. The Board has an understanding that faculty go to the Head of School with issues, rather than to the Board. The Head may well recommend that a faculty member then talk with the Board Chair. The Board holds to the policy that any conversation faculty has with them can be shared with the Head of the School.
MISSION, VISION AND ELEMENTS OF DISTINCTION
Our Mission
Stuart Hall School offers a rigorous and supportive coeducational academic program in the liberal arts and sciences for students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. With respect for the development of each individual, the School is a community anchored in a multi-faceted core value:
• Educating the Mind
• Strengthening the Body
• Renewing the Heart
• Nurturing the Spirit
In the context of its Episcopal tradition, Stuart Hall School prepares boys and girls of all faiths for success in colleges and universities worldwide and for engaged, healthy lives of intellectual curiosity, responsible citizenship, creative expression, ethical leadership, and compassionate service.
Our Vision
Stuart Hall School aspires to be the outstanding PK-12 school in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, an area steeped in a rich tradition of academic excellence. Through its innovative approach to teaching the liberal arts and sciences, Stuart Hall will be widely known for instilling motivation and self-confidence in its students and for preparing them to successfully seek and excel at meeting challenges and opportunities worldwide.
The school’s unique learning community, enhanced by a vibrant national and international Upper School girls’ boarding program, will be highly regarded for the diversity it creates and for the enhanced learning opportunities and global awareness it provides for all students. Further, Stuart Hall will be known for the emphasis it places on the unlimited potential for each student and for building connections within its own community and within the increasingly complex world beyond its campus
Elements of Distinction
Stuart Hall School, with its commitment to high expectations and personal attention to each student, embraces a vision embodied in the following “Elements of Distinction.” Some reflect the School’s excellence today; others reflect planning for tomorrow. All are a part of the School’s approach to educating the whole student—mind, body, heart and spirit.
1. Programmatic Excellence, with Emphasis on the Liberal Arts and Sciences and Development of the Whole Person. Stuart Hall School’s program is characterized by small classes; a rigorous academic curriculum; an extensive, integrated athletic and co-curricular program; a wide selection of honors and advanced placement courses in the Upper School; a reputation of excellence in the visual and performing arts; and innovative dual-enrollment programs with partner colleges and universities. To study the liberal arts and sciences is to experience the diversity and connectivity of human knowledge expressed in the arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, and natural sciences. Ideally, a liberal arts education develops qualities of mind—flexibility, curiosity, engagement, commitment to the search for truth—which equip one to thrive in a world which is ever-changing and whose perimeters are global. The ability to think, to learn, and to express oneself, the capacity to understand ideas and issues in context, the commitment to live responsibly in society, and the yearning for truth are fundamental features of our humanity. In centering education upon these qualities, a liberal arts and sciences education is society’s best investment in our shared future.
2. Cohesive educational experience from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, encouraging the wonder of discovery—mind, body, heart, and spirit. Educational research conclusively indicates that independent schools offering a cohesive educational program from kindergarten or pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade experience the strongest enrollments and the soundest financial footing. Embracing this comprehensive model, Stuart Hall School is poised to become the premier co-educational independent PK-12 school in the Shenandoah Valley.
1) The Hunter McGuire Lower School provides a rigorous child-centered curriculum in a stimulating, discovery-oriented environment that is designed to help students become enthusiastic learners, creative problem-solvers, and disciplined thinkers.
2) The Cochran Middle School offers a rigorous core curriculum and diverse co-curricular courses that provide comprehensive preparation for high school. Through a balance of traditional and experiential learning experiences, students participate in learning and apply their knowledge in a variety of settings. A challenging program that focuses on oral and written communication, reading, mathematical reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving, and the development of good study habits is combined with personalized attention, allowing each student the opportunity to reach his or her intellectual potential and gain intellectual confidence and independence.
3) The Gray Upper School, through a rigorous, discussion -based, collaborative learning process, offers a college-preparatory curriculum that emphasizes the importance of critical thinking, problem-solving and global awareness.
3. Professional leadership: faculty, staff and Board. Stuart Hall School must continue to attract and retain faculty members who are eager, well-read, and dedicated and are enthusiastic and highly knowledgeable about their fields, about the students, and about teaching. In addition, the School must continue to attract and retain staff and Board members who are skilled in their fields and committed to the long-term success of the School.
4. Engaged, supportive community. Stuart Hall offers a safe, connected, collaborative environment in which each student is known and loved. This environment embodies the heart and spirit of the school’s mission and provides students with the confidence and personal resources necessary to live engaged healthy lives of intellectual curiosity, responsible citizenship, creative expression, ethical leadership and compassionate service.
5. Institutional permanence is emphasized through long-term financial stability, a growing endowment and proactive facility planning.
6. Lifelong affiliation begins with a discerning admissions process and is cultivated within the school community from the earliest years of the educational process. Stuart Hall graduates become accomplished and committed alumnae/i who contribute to the world, support each other and remain actively engaged in the School’s life. Because of this legacy of lifelong accomplishment and the strength of the alumnae/i network, Stuart Hall graduates know that the world is at their doorstep and that they have been given the tools to engage it.
7. Global perspective, with an emphasis on living and learning in a global community. The School’s internationally regarded boarding program, conversation-based foreign language program (coordinated through the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools) and off-campus international educational opportunities are essential to the development of this perspective.
NON-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT
Stuart Hall School does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, color, national origin, age, religion or physically challenging condition in administration of its hiring procedures.
Notable alumni
- Marijane Meaker, novelist, best known as an author of YA books under the pseudonym M.E. Kerr
- Anne McCaffreyAnne McCaffreyAnne Inez McCaffrey was an American-born Irish writer, best known for her Dragonriders of Pern series. Over the course of her 46 year career she won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award...
, science fiction author - Juliette Gordon LowJuliette Gordon LowJuliette Gordon Low was an American youth leader and the founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA in 1912.-Early life:...
, founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA - Nancy Massie MeadowsNancy Massie MeadowsNancy Massie Meadows was the wife of former Governor of West Virginia Clarence W. Meadows and served as that state's First Lady, 1945-1949. She was born in 1912 at Clifton Forge, Virginia. She graduated from Stuart Hall School, then married Clarence W. Meadows in 1934. As first lady, she spent...
, First lady of West Virginia, 1949-1953