Foxcroft School, founded in 1914 by Charlotte Haxall Noland, is a college-preparatory boarding and day school for girls in grades 9-12 & PG, located near Middleburg, Virginia, United States.[1] Foxcroft’s mission is to help every girl explore her unique voice and to develop the skills, confidence, and courage to share it with the world. In its century of existence, Foxcroft has educated the daughters of corporate titans and congressmen, including women from the Rockefeller, Carnegie, Roosevelt, Mellon, du Pont, Auchincloss and Astor families.[2] It is accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools[3] and the National Association of Independent Schools,[4] and is a founding member of the International Coalition of Girls' Schools.[5]
| Foxcroft School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
 | |
22407 Foxhound Lane , 20117 United States | |
| Information | |
| School type | Private female boarding school |
| Motto | Latin: "Mens Sana in Corpore Sano" (A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body) |
| Founded | 1914 |
| Founder | Charlotte Haxall Noland |
| Head of School | Cathy S. McGehee |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 168 (2024-25) |
| Campus | 500 acres (2.0 km2) |
| Color(s) | Green and White |
| Accreditation | Virginia Association of Independent Schools National Association of Independent Schools |
| Publication | Chimera |
| Yearbook | Tally-Ho! |
| Endowment | approx. ~$95 million |
| Website | Official Site |
Campus
editAcademic facilities
editSchoolhouse is the main academic building on campus which houses a majority of the classes. The two wings on either side of the building house the visual arts department and the theatre. The science wing has labs for biology, chemistry, physics, and animal science classes, and an engineering workshop. Additionally, there is a photographic studio, complete with a dark room. A recent addition is the state-of-the-art Innovation Lab, which is home to laser cutters and 3-D printers.
Library
editThe Audrey Bruce Currier Library, named after a Foxcroft School alumna, sits in the center of the campus and is home to additional classrooms, meeting spaces, and the Learning Center. The library is also the gathering space for the bi-weekly assemblies known as "Morning Meeting."
Athletics facilities
editA new Activities Center was built in 2013, housing a multi-purpose double-box gym (Leipheimer Gym). While commonly used for basketball and volleyball, it is frequently converted to indoor practice spaces for field hockey, tennis, and lacrosse. Encircling the top of the double-box is a two-lane track, around which various exercise machines sit. The competition gymnasium, or the Engelhard, is housed in the same Activities Center. In addition to the gyms, the student lounge (Roomies), complete with a full kitchen, is in the same building. A weight-room with treadmills and ellipticals, plus an athletic nurse and physical therapy office complete the Activities Center. The outdoor athletic facilities include a recreational-sized pool, eight tennis courts, two softball diamonds (one turf, one dirt), two full-sized turf fields, and an outdoor two-lane track.
The Stables
editFoxcroft School has stables on campus. The Jean du Pont McConnell Stables house around sixty horses, both school-owned and privately owned. An indoor ring (dimensions: 100x200) is connected to the stables as well. Outdoors, the grassy expanse of Big Track is well-suited for cross-country riding and practice. Students can also use miles of trails to ride or run on. The horses are housed in the stables during the day and turned out onto the large field spaces situated right on campus.
Dormitories
editThe campus has five student dorms, including one freshman dorm. The remaining dorms have a mix of sophomores, juniors, and senior dorm leaders (prefects). Every year, all the dorms compete in Battle of the Dorms, where groups put on skits and the like.
Ruth T. Bedford Scholarships
editIn the fall of 2014, Standard Oil heiress Ruth T. Bedford, a member of the class of 1932, unexpectedly donated $40 million to the school in her will.[6]
A year later, the school announced the establishment of the Ruth T. Bedford ’32 Merit Scholarship for the Arts, which is open only to external applicants wishing to join the school. Up to eight students receive $25,000 a year each, and beneficiaries need to share Ruth T. Bedford’s sense of adventure and enterprise as well as her passion for the arts.[7]
Fox/Hound Tradition
editDuring World War I, students at Foxcroft were not allowed to return home. To cope, the founder of the school, Miss Charlotte, started a now long-standing tradition called "Fox/Hound," as a way for the girls to spend their time. The entirety of the school, including the teachers, are split up into two teams, the Foxes and the Hounds. The teams rival each other in three sports competitions; Field Hockey (fall), Basketball (winter), and Horseback Riding (spring). Each year, the Battle for the Cup is renewed, and the teams compete for the cup which is earned from a victory in the Big Team Basketball game.
Team tryouts and practices begin in the two weeks leading up to the competitions. Team captains are chosen and they spend time making gifts for their team members. The week leading up to each competition is filled with pep-rallies, known as "Sing Sings" as a way to encourage each team for a victory. On the Thursday before the competitions, the officers and mascots from each team decorate Schoolhouse, the academic building. One side of Schoolhouse is designated for the Foxes, and the other for the Hounds.
The spirit central to the Fox/Hound tradition is "friends 'till the end."
Notable alumnae
edit- Anne Armstrong, diplomat and politician
- Jane Forbes Clark, president and trustee of the United States Equestrian Team Foundation; chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame[8]
- Frances FitzGerald, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer
- Nina Fout, Olympic equestrian[9]
- Olivia Stokes Hatch, socialite and American Red Cross volunteer[10]
- Dorothy Douglas Robinson Kidder, socialite, philanthropist, political hostess
- Gertrude Sanford Legendre, socialite & World War II spy[11]
- Ruth du Pont Lord, psychotherapist, writer, and arts patron
- Pamela Mars, chairwoman, Mars, Incorporated
- Cordelia Scaife May, philanthropist
- Mary McFadden, art collector, editor, fashion designer, and writer.[12][13][14]
- Rachel Lambert Mellon ("Bunny"), heiress, horticulturalist, creator of the White House Rose Garden
- Elizabeth Meyer, equestrian
- Sister Parish, interior decorator and socialite
- Ursula Plassnik, Austrian diplomat and politician (exchange student 1971-1972)
- Patsy Pulitzer (1928–2011), model, socialite and philanthropist[15]
- Keshia Knight Pulliam, actress, The Cosby Show
- Mary Todhunter Clark Rockefeller, first wife of Nelson Rockefeller
- Kay Sage, Surrealist artist and poet
- Christine Todd Whitman, former head of the EPA, former Governor of New Jersey
- Mollie Wilmot, philanthropist and socialite
- Flora Payne Whitney, artist, art collector, socialite, member of the Whitney family and Vanderbilt family
- Stephanie Zimbalist, actress, Remington Steele
- Millicent Fenwick, former congresswoman
References
edit- ^ "Foxcroft's Accolade". Time Inc. December 9, 1929. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
- ^ Shapiro, T. Rees (2014-10-28). "An heiress's surprise $40 million gift pumps life into Virginia all-girls school". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
- ^ Virginia Association of Independent Schools
- ^ National Association of Independent Schools
- ^ International Coalition of Girls' Schools
- ^ "An heiress's surprise $40 million gift pumps life into Virginia's all-girls Foxcroft School". Washington Post. October 28, 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
- ^ Ruth T. Bedford ’32 Merit Scholarship for the Arts, foxcroft.org, accessed 4 December 2020
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (July 24, 2015). "Cooperstown's Steadiest Hand Isn't a Hall of Famer's" – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ "Nina Fout Olympic medals and stats". databaseOlympics.com. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
- ^ "Lenox Church Scene of Bridal For Miss Stokes: Bryn Mawr Alumna Wed to John Hatch Jr." New York Times (October 15, 1939): 53.
- ^ Nemy, Enid (March 13, 2000). "Gertrude Sanforod Legendre, 97, Socialite Turned Hunter and Prisoner of War". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ^ "Mary McFadden Is Married - The New York Times". Nytimes.com. 1989-06-25. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
- ^ José Blanco F.; Patricia Kay Hunt-Hurst; Heather Vaughan Lee; Mary Doering (23 November 2015). Clothing and Fashion: American Fashion from Head to Toe [4 volumes]: American Fashion from Head to Toe. ABC-CLIO. pp. 3–. ISBN 978-1-61069-310-3.
- ^ Mary McFadden; Murray Gell-Mann (2012). Mary McFadden: A Lifetime of Design, Collecting, and Adventure. Random House Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-8478-3656-7.
- ^ "Gladys Pulitzer Preston, granddaughter of the founder of the Pulitzer Prize, dies". Palm Beach Daily News. Retrieved 24 July 2022.