Stuart Hall educates the WHOLE PERSON, because excellent education isn't just about engaging your MIND. While we challenge you academically, we also devote considerable time and energy to other aspects of your development. On the playing fields and in the classrooms, you'll explore ways to strengthen your BODY. Through the beauty and richness of the arts, you'll expand your horizons by participating in a multitude of activities that will cultivate and touch your HEART and change who you are. On campus and out in the community, you'll find opportunities for caring, friendship, service, and love to shape your character and nurture your SPIRIT. This all-encompassing approach, devoted to enriching all four areas of your being, gives you something unique and infinitely valuable: an education that teaches the art of LIVING as well as the art of LEARNING.

Stuart Hall School seeks to educate the whole child-mind, body, heart, and spirit- in a special context: a supportive, family-like, Christian environment that nurtures self-esteem and honor, leadership and industry, compassion and commitment to service, and the recognition and acceptance of individual differences.

A member of Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, Stuart Hall is accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools, and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools and the National Association of Episcopal Schools.

As part of our continuous effort to be the premiere K-12 independent school in the Shenandoah Valley, we are pleased to share our five year Strategic Plan available in PDF format via the following link.

 Stuart Hall School Strategic Plan 2008-2013

The Hunter McGuire Lower School ten-acre campus features a 24 station interactive computer lab and library/media center, art room, playground with bicycle paths, athletic field, greenhouse, and large classrooms with reading areas.

The Woodrow Wilson Birthplace and Museum, Shenandoah Shakespeare's Blackfriars Playhouse, Mary Baldwin College, and a variety of churches, restaurants and coffee shops, and boutiques are a short walk away. The Frontier Culture Museum is nearby, as is the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. Within a two-hour drive, Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, Richmond, and Washington, D.C., offer still more historical, cultural, and entertainment opportunities.

Our Mission:

Stuart Hall School offers a rigorous and supportive coeducational academic program in the liberal arts and sciences for students from 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 History:

Tracing its origins to Mrs. Daniel (Maria) Sheffey's School in 1831 and chartered on January 13, 1844  as the Virginia Female Institute (V.F.I.), Stuart Hall is the oldest preparatory school for girls in the state and one of the oldest Episcopal schools in the country.  The School's initial commitment to a sound academic program together with the nurture of self-discipline, creativity, leadership, and Christian character, has continued throughout its 154 years of service.  The School's central building, "Old Main", was designed and built by Edwin Taylor and completed in 1846.  The Greek revival structure, dominated by a strong portico of Doric piers, is one of the earliest instances of a building erected specifically for the education of women.

Following the end of the Civil War, Dr. Phillips reopened the Virginia Female Institute and helped it regain academic leadership during the challenging postwar years. His 1868-69 catalog stated :  "Regarding the University of Virginia as a model for Institutions of the South, it will be perceived that our course of study and plan of instruction are arranged in pursuance of this idea as far as is suitable for an Institution for young ladies."

From 1865 until 1870, General Robert Edward Lee served as president of V.F.I.'s Board of Visitors.  Along with Generals Francis H. Smith and William P. Pendleton, he bore witness to Rev. Phillips's leadership and to the standing of the School in this testimony:

" The undersigned have had daughters educated at the Virginia Female Institute in Staunton, Virginia, under the care of Reverend R. H. Phillips.  They therefore know it to be an admirably conducted and superior Institution for Young Ladies, and they cordially recommend it to favor even beyond its  past extensive patronage."       

V.F.I.'s connection with Confederate generals continued when, in 1880, Flora Cooke Stuart, (Mrs. General J.E.B. Stuart, as she preferred to be called), widow of the general, was named principal of the School.  Mrs. Gen. Stuart served with distinction and the School gained in stature during her 19 year tenure.  Enrollment, which had dropped dramatically after the War, rose from 25 to 99 students.  In 1907, eight years after her retirement, V.F.I. was renamed in her honor.   

The Stuart family's service to the School has been notable.  General and Mrs. Stuart's daughter, Virginia, helped found the E.L.A., Stuart Hall's honor and library service society, the oldest such society in a preparatory school in the country.  Gen. and Mrs. Stuart's granddaughter, Virginia Stuart Waller Davis ‘17, served well for a number of years as a Trustee of the School.

Mrs. Gen. Stuart was succeeded as principal by her cousin, Miss Maria Pendleton Duval.  Under Miss Duval's leadership, the School's academic program was so strengthened that in 1915, at the close of her tenure, Stuart Hall graduates were accepted, without condition, to Randolph-Macon Women's College, Smith, Wellesley, Vassar, and Barnard. 

A lower school was added in the early years of the twentieth century and included boys. It lasted until  the 1940s. In 1915, Miss Jane Colston Howard became Stuart Hall's first salaried principal.  Prior to that time, the Trustees had leased the School to the various principals.   The principal received all tuition payments, paid bills and salaries, granted scholarships, and tried to make a living from running the School.  This was fairly standard practice in those days.

Mrs. H.N. Hills came to Stuart Hall as principal in 1918 from Sweet Briar College, where she had served as head of the Academic Department.  A Wellesley graduate, she attracted teachers from well-known eastern women's colleges and encouraged Stuart Hall graduates to attend those colleges.  The School's physical plant was greatly improved during her administration by the building of the Academic Building in 1931 and the acquisition of Cochran and Robertson Houses.

Miss Ophelia S.T. Carr succeeded Mrs. Hills in 1933 and served until 1943.  To lighten the financial burden on parents during the Great Depression, Miss Carr discontinued the requirement that students wear uniforms.  During these difficult times, the School's alumnae support became increasingly important.  Alumnae chapters were organized in New York, Boston, central Kentucky, and Roanoke, as well as Staunton and other locations in Virginia.

The administration of Mrs. William T. Hodges lasted from 1943 until 1955.  Her term as principal was marked by improvements in the physical plant, especially the relocation and enlargement of the library.  In addition, Stuart Hall's reputation grew with leading colleges and alumnae became more involved in the School.

Accelerating changes in national life during the administrations that followed brought increasing freedoms and responsibilities for students.  The administration of Miss Martha Dabney Jones (1955-72) saw the expansion of the student government, an increasingly demanding curriculum, which included advanced placement courses.  The Stuart Hall Foundation was launched and the School became open to students of all races.  The campus was enlarged by the acquisition of Gibbs House and Worthington House.

Miss Jones's administration also saw, in 1958, the retirement of the Reverend J. Lewis Gibbs after 39 years as Stuart Hall's chaplain and Bible teacher.  Dr. Gibbs had succeeded the Reverend Robert Carter Jett when Mr. Jett was elected the first bishop of the newly formed Diocese of Southwestern Virginia.  Mr. Jett and "Papa Gibbs", as he was affectionately known, deeply influenced generations of Stuart Hall girls.  Today, the teaching, counseling, and Christian leadership of Stuart Hall continue as a major part of school life.

In 1972, Nathaniel Goddard became the first male head of Stuart Hall since 1880.  As headmaster, Mr. Goddard instituted the student jobs program and expanded both the responsibilities and freedoms of the students.  He and Mrs. Goddard fostered a strong family feeling in the School.  That feeling was continued when Colonel James W. Love served as interim headmaster for a year (1979-80) following Mr. Goddard's administration.

Headmaster Patrick F. Bassett (1980 - 1989) initiated the Mastery Program of instruction, the accelerated program for the gifted in cooperation with Mary Baldwin College, and the Stuart Hall Abroad program.  In addition, he was instrumental in increased alumnae participation in the work of the Board of Trustees, thereby making Stuart Hall's past an integral part of its present and its future.  Susan H. Barr continued to provide leadership when she served as interim head from 1989-90.  Plans for the Gray-Lester Library began in 1986, with ground-breaking in April of 1989 and the dedication of this significant addition in October, 1990.

The Rev. J. Kevin Fox, the first Episcopal priest to head the School since Dr. Phillips retired in 1880, became headmaster in 1990.  A Middle School, grades 6 - 8, opened in the fall of 1992, and with its opening, a return of boys to Stuart Hall.  Boys were admitted into the Upper School in 1999. A Sesquicentennial Campaign led to the completion of the largest building project in the School's history: a Middle School, Science Center, and Athletic Facility in 1997. The first boys graduated from the School in 2002.  Stuart Hall became a member of the Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia (Episcopal) in 2003. Rev. Fox retired in 2004.

Mark Hampton Eastham became the School's 15^th Head of School in 2004, bringing with him twenty years of independent school experience. He has been instrumental in expanding the educational relationship with Mary Baldwin College as well as with Washington and Lee University, and refocusing the School's mission of becoming the top liberal arts and sciences college preparatory program in the Valley.  In 2007, the School merged with Hunter McGuire School, a K-5 independent school in Verona, and once again, after a hiatus of 67 years, Stuart Hall encompassed a Lower School.   In the Fall of 2008, the School opened with a record enrollment of 333 students. A Pre-Kindergarten will open on the Lower School campus in the Fall of 2009.