The Beauvoir School is a
coeducational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
on the grounds of the
Washington National Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the cap ...
in
Washington D.C., serving students from pre-kindergarten through 3rd grade. In 1933, it was founded to prepare boys for
St. Albans School and girls for
National Cathedral School
National Cathedral School (NCS) is an independent Episcopal private day school for girls in grades 4–12 located on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by philanthropist and suffragist Phoe ...
, which serve grades 4-12.
Like the Cathedral itself and the affiliated schools, Beauvoir is overseen by the
Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation The Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation was chartered by Congress on January 6, 1893, and oversees Washington National Cathedral and its sister institutions. The Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington serves as its Chief Executive Offic ...
.
History
In 1933, Beauvoir was established as a "separate and independent school in the Cathedral system" by the Cathedral Chapter. The principal Elizabeth Glascock Taylor, and the faculty were motivated to "make children's education more exciting so that their students would be inspired to learn."
Beauvoir was initially a segregated, all-white school, but accepted its first black student in 1952.
In 2008, school employees discovered that a teacher had been producing
child pornography
Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...
featuring students. After five years on the
FBI's Most Wanted List
The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives is a most wanted list maintained by the United States's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, and William Kin ...
, the former teacher was apprehended and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
In 2012, a new playground was completed. It was designed to appeal to children under 10 of varying ages and abilities, and featured in ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''.
Student body
During the 2017–18 school year, Beauvor's K-3 student body was 60.2%
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 21.3%
multiracial
Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
, 11.8%
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
, 4.3%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, and 2.1% Hispanic.
Beauvoir graduates have priority access to St. Albans and National Cathedral School. In 2018, Beauvoir reported that their students had a 90% acceptance rate at those two highly rated, selective schools.
Curriculum
Beauvoir has always been focused on helping develop all aspects of the student. While K-3 curriculum still centers on the core elementary subjects, it also branches into social, emotional, and international subject areas.
All core subjects are taught by homeroom teachers except for foreign language (Spanish). Subjects taught by homeroom teachers include reading and writing, math, and social studies. Foreign language (Spanish), art, music, science, and physical education are each administered by at least one teacher who teaches across K-3.
All home rooms have at least two full-time teachers. This allows each homeroom teacher to specialize their areas of focus. Due to Beauvoir’s close teacher-student ratio, teachers are oftentimes able to work in small groups of 3-4 students to encourage critical-thinking and work towards a more 1-on-1 approach. Social and emotional learning is also taught in homerooms. These classes are meant to help students deal with social issues during and beyond their Beauvoir education.
Kindergarten
The kindergarten grade is divided into two classes of roughly 15 students each. Kindergarten curriculum is focused on building foundational skills for learning the core subjects, such as developing reading and basic addition and subtraction skills. Kindergarten students also learn basic Spanish and how to tell time on an analog clock.
First Grade
Beauvoir’s first grade curriculum is focused on expanding on the core-subject matter learned in Kindergarten. Students transition into slightly more advanced maths and learn how to follow the daily schedule and complete homework. One of the largest emphasis in first grade is one community engagement and participation in-class. First graders are all required to undergo ''WISC'' standardized testing mid-year. This is the first of two standardized tests offered at Beauvoir from K-3.
Second Grade
Second grade’s strongest emphasis is on reading, as developing a broader vocabulary base as well as reading more elementary-level texts. Second graders continue to engage in community activities within Beauvoir and outside the school on various field-trips. Second graders also begin to develop their music education with various singing and tone-stick activities.
Third Grade
At this point, the third grade is divided into 4 classes of 15 due to increases in enrollment as grades progress. Third grade is most notably designed to prepare students to continue their studies at St. Albans or The National Cathedral School. Both schools are noticeably more academically rigorous. Because of this, third graders develop more complex skills in arithmetic, reading and writing, and study more in-depth international social studies topics. In music, third graders are expected to perform a rendition of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" on the recorder, and spend a long time in music class learning to play the recorder. In science, students dissect small squid to discuss biology in a visual-oriented manner. Finally, one of the vital parts of Beauvoir's third grade curriculum is its preparation of students for their future studies. Third grade notably assigns increased homework from a multitude of subjects to reinforce the cumulative learning from the student's K-3 education. Third graders also take the second WISC test of their education at Beauvoir.
Notable alumni
*
Michael Bennet
Michael Farrand Bennet (born November 28, 1964) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Colorado, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed t ...
*
André Heinz
André Thierstein Heinz (born December 9, 1969) is an American environmentalist.
Heinz is a son of Senator Henry John Heinz III and businesswoman/philanthropist Maria Teresa Thierstein Simões-Ferreira. He has a younger brother named Christophe ...
*
Edward Moore Kennedy, Jr.
*
Kara Kennedy
Kara Anne Kennedy (February 27, 1960 – September 16, 2011) was a member of the American political family, the Kennedy family. She was the oldest of the three children and only daughter of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts and Joan Be ...
*
Patrick J. Kennedy
Patrick Joseph Kennedy II (born July 14, 1967) is an American politician and mental health advocate. From 1995 to 2011, he served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island's 1st congressional distr ...
*
Susan Rice
Susan Elizabeth Rice (born November 17, 1964) is an American diplomat, policy advisor, and public official serving as Director of the United States Domestic Policy Council since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Rice served as the 27th ...
Notes
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Private schools in Washington, D.C.
Christian schools in Washington, D.C.
Elementary schools in Washington, D.C.
Washington National Cathedral