Flint Hill School, founded in 1956, is a private, co-educational,

college preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

, in

Oakton, Virginia Oakton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 36,732 at the 2020 census. Located in Northern Virginia, its center is west of Washington, D.C. Geography Oakton is located in central Fair ...

, serving grades JK– 12. The school has separate upper and lower school campuses about a mile apart in

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

, approximately from

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

History

Flint Hill School was founded in 1956 by Don Niklason as the Flint Hill Preparatory School, a

co-educational 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 ...

day school with 18 students in grades K–8. The school's origins date back to the state of Virginia's resistance to the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

' 1954 ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

'' decision holding that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. In 1956, the year of the school's founding, Virginia Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. declared a policy of

Massive Resistance Massive resistance was a strategy declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. of Virginia and his brother-in-law James M. Thomson, who represented Alexandria in the Virginia General Assembly, to get the state's white politicians to pass laws and p ...

against compliance with

, and the Virginia Assembly enacted the Stanley Plan, a package of thirteen statutes designed to ensure Virginia's public schools remained segregated. In 1959 the

Fairfax County School Board The Fairfax County Public Schools system (FCPS) is a school division in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. It is a branch of the Fairfax County government which administers public schools in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax. FCPS's headqu ...

approved tuition grants for 60 students to attend private schools and thereby avoid desegregated public schools. Of those initial grants, 44 went to students attending the Flint Hill School. Fairfax County Public School Assistant Superintendent George Pope remarked to the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', "We've just about put that school in business." Students attended classes in the Miller House, an estate home belonging to the Francis Pickens Miller family. In 1986 Flint Hill purchased of property several blocks away at the corner of Chain Bridge and Jermantown Road, and the Miller House was transported to the new campus, where it now serves as an administrative building. In 1990, the new academic building was only partially finished and funding for its completion was in doubt. A group of educational and civic leaders from Northern Virginia led by John T. Hazel, Jr., then acquired the school and reorganized it as a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

independent day school. The 1990–91 academic year began on the new campus with 65 faculty members and an enrollment of 425 students, in grades K–12. By the late 1990s, with more than 700 students, there was a need to expand. In 1998 Flint Hill acquired parcels of property totaling within one mile of the existing campus. Groundbreaking took place for the Upper School Campus in summer 2000 and classes began there in September 2001. In 2010, Flint Hill introduced the 1:1 technology program, providing all students with

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

computers and tablets. In 2011, it was named an "Apple Virginia Site School". In 2013 and 2015, it was recognized as an "Apple Distinguished School", an award Apple gives to schools that "demonstrate Apple's vision for learning with technology". In 2019, Flint Hill began fundraising for a middle school facility designed to educate 7th and 8th grade students. The new Peterson Middle School opened for the 2020-2021 school year. In June 2022, Headmaster John Thomas retired after 17 years of service to the school. Patrick McHonett succeeded Thomas as Head of School for the 2022-2023 school year. As of 2022, Flint Hill has three campuses with more than 1,000 students and 237 teachers.

Extracurricular activities

The Upper School has three continually published, on-campus student publications: ''The Flint Hill View'' (news, arts, sports, opinion, and editorial newspaper), ''The Rough Draft'' (literary and arts magazine), and ''The Iditarod'' (yearbook, formerly entitled ''The Talon''). Both middle and upper school students can take part in class government through the Student Council Association.

Athletics

The school participates in the

Independent School League Independent School League or ISL may refer to: * Independent School League (Illinois), a group of nine Chicago-area preparatory schools * Independent School League (New England), a group of 16 New England preparatory schools * Independent School Le ...

(ISL) for girls' sports and the

Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference The Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAC) is an American high school athletic league composed of private schools in the Washington, D.C. area. The conference was founded in 1994. Solely male teams participate in the conference. As every member s ...

(MAC) for boys' sports. There are 22 different sports, with 32 middle school and 35 upper school teams. Between 2007 and 2017 Flint Hill produced 165 college athletes with 83 of them going division 1. Flint Hill's volleyball team has been ranked 1 in the country three times and went on a span of 44 wins before losing a match. The Flint Hill basketball team was ranked No. 1 in the country by ''

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'' in 1987 in former NBA player Dennis Scott's senior season.

Championships

Boys' basketball: *USA Today National Champions 1986 *VISAA Division I State Champions 1995 *VISAA Division I State Semi-finalist 2005 *MAC Champions: 1995, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2019 *MAC Tournament Champions: 2008, 2009, 2010 *FH Tip-Off Tournament Champions: 2004, 2007, 2011, 2013 Football: * VISAA Division I State Champions: 2017, 2018 * VISAA Division I State Finalist: 2008 * VISAA Division I State Semi-finalist: 2006, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 * MAC Champions: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 Boys' lacrosse: * VISAA Division II State Semi-finalist: 2007 * VISAA Division I State Semi-finalist: 2009 * MAC Champions: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2009, 2010 * MAC Tournament Champions: 2008, 2010, 2014 Ice hockey: * Dominion Cup Champions: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 Boys' soccer: * VISAA Division I State Semi-finalist: 2005, 2006, 2007 * VISAA Division I State Finalist: 2014 * MAC Champions: 1994, 2007, 2015, 2016 * MAC Tournament Champions: 2014, 2015, 2016 Boys' tennis: * VISAA Division I State Champions: 2006, 2007, 2008 * MAC Champions: 2006, 2008 * MAC Tournament Champions: 2006, 2008 Golf: * MAC Champions: 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 Baseball: * MAC Champions: 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 * MAC Tournament Champions: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014 * VISAA Division I State Semi-finalist: 2013, 2014, 2016 Volleyball: * VISAA Division I State Champions: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 * VISAA Division I State Finalist: 2016 * VISAA State Semi-finalist: 2005 * ISL "A" Champions: 2005 * ISL "AA" Champions: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 * ISL "AA" Tournament Champions: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 * DC Metro City Champions: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 * FH Invitational Tournament Champions: 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022 * Washington Post No. 1 Ranking: 2009, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 * Garden State Challenge Tournament Champions: 2017 * Garden State Challenge Tournament Runnerups: 2019

Rivalry with The Potomac School

Flint Hill has a sports rivalry with The Potomac School in

McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxim ...

, dating to 1992 when both schools played at

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

for the first time and Flint Hill defeated Potomac in an overtime basketball victory.

Notable alumni

* John R. Allen, Commander, International Security Assistance Force and United States Forces - Afghanistan. *

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, professional poker player. *

Randolph Childress Randolph Childress (born September 21, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. He is formerly an assistant coach for his alma mater, Wake Forest University. College career Childress played collegiately at Wake Forest University ...

, former NBA player. * John Cochran, Survivor Winner (TV SHOW) * Tommy Doyle, MLB Baseball Pitcher *

Jared Leto Jared Joseph Leto ( ; born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in a variety of roles, he has received numerous accolades over a career spanning three decades, including an Academy Award and a Golde ...

, actor and frontman of 30 Seconds to Mars, dropped out * George Lynch, former NBA player. * Dennis Scott, former NBA player. * John Stertzer, Major League Soccer player. * Ronny Thompson, Emmy Award-winning broadcaster * Lorena Castillo de Varela,

First Lady of Panama First Lady and First Gentleman of Panama ( es, Primera Dama o Caballero de Panama) are unofficial titles traditionally held by the wife or husband of the president of Panama. List The following is an incomplete list of first ladies and gentlem ...

2014 – 2019. * Zain Naghmi, professional ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' player *

Qudus Wahab Qudus Abolaji Wahab (born 30 January 2000) is a Nigerian college basketball player for the Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball, Georgetown Hoyas of the Big East Conference. He previously played for the Maryland Terrapins men's basketball, Maryland. ...

,Georgetown Basketball Player.

References

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1956 Independent School League Preparatory schools in Virginia Private K-12 schools in Virginia 1956 establishments in Virginia