![Building at Ravenscroft School](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Building_at_Ravenscroft_School.jpg)
Ravenscroft School is a coed independent school located in
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...
. The school enrolls students between PreKindergarten and 12th grade, and serves 1,239 students. The school has three divisions: Lower School, Middle School and Upper School.
History
Ravenscroft is named for
John Stark Ravenscroft
John Stark Ravenscroft (May 17, 1772 – March 5, 1830) was the first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina and helped organize the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee.
Early life
Ravenscroft was born in 1772 on his family plantation near ...
, the first Episcopal bishop of North Carolina and first rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. The idea of a parish school for
Christ Episcopal Church was born when
Josiah Ogden Watson
Josiah Ogden Watson (24 September 1784 – 12 June 1852) was an American Plantation owner, physician, and statesman from North Carolina. He was the son of John Watson, a Revolutionary War veteran, and Elizabeth (née Ogden) and born at Pinevill ...
bequeathed $5,000 to the church to employ a teacher for a new parish school in 1852. His silent bequest became known in 1862, and the church began the process of opening a new school – Ravenscroft School. Founded in 1862, Ravenscroft continued under the auspices of Christ Episcopal Church until 1966 when it became non-sectarian. Housed in locations such as Raleigh's Christ Church, St. Saviour's Chapel and on Tucker Street, Ravenscroft moved to its current location in 1969 with plans to expand to include a high school. At the same time, in 1969, Ravenscroft graduated the last 8th grade class from the Tucker Street. In 1971, the dedication of the Middle School and Upper School took place and, in 1973, Ravenscroft School graduated its first class of seniors.
Academics
Ravenscroft is an independent, co-educational college preparatory day school enrolling 1,239 students, pre-K through grade 12.
Ravenscroft employs more than 250 faculty and staff.
The elementary school (referred to as the Lower School) has approximately 450 students ranging in grades from prekindergarten to 5th grade.
The Middle School at Ravenscroft serves approximately 300 students in grades 6th through 8th. The Middle School operates on an 8 day cycle, during which each course meets 6 times with a long session.
The high school (referred to as the Upper School) has over 470 students.
In the 2019-20 school year, 273 students took 558 advanced placement exams.
The Upper School operates on an 8 day cycle, during which each course meets 6 times. Each student has a study hall built into their schedule.
Fine arts
Arts education includes Band, Choir, Drama, Strings, Visual Arts, Photography, Lower School Ensembles and Group Violin, as well as private lessons made available to students of all ages. Facilities include the 454-seat Jones Theatre and a 180-seat "black-box" Young People's Theatre, as well as numerous studios and practice rooms.
Athletics
![Ravenscroft School track and football field](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Ravenscroft_School_track_and_football_field.jpg)
Ravenscroft's Athletic department offers 25 sports (boys and girls), and fields 53 teams in those sports at the Middle School, junior varsity and varsity levels. More than 80 percent of Ravenscroft students in grades 7–12 participate in school-sponsored athletics. The school mascot is a Raven named Edgar, after
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
's poem
The Raven
"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a myste ...
.
Facilities include: Aquatic Center with 6 lanes and upper deck viewing, 4 gyms, fitness and weight training facility, 3 lighted stadiums, 6 lighted tennis courts, 8-lane rubberized track, 2 wrestling rooms.
Ravenscroft is a member of the
North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
(NCISAA) and competes in the 4A division.
''NCISAA Championships''
2016 NCISAA Girls' Swimming State Champions (4th time in a row)
2016 NCISAA Boys Lacrosse State Champions
2015 NCISAA Football State Champions
2012 NCISAA Boys Basketball State Champions
2013 NCISAA Girls Lacrosse State Champions
Notable alumni
*
Andy Andrews, former professional
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player
*
Nathan Baskerville, member of the
North Carolina House of Representatives
The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...
*
Anderson Boyd, filmmaker
*
Cameron Castleberry, professional women's
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
player
*
Isaac Copeland, professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player
*
Anton Gill
Anton Gill (born in 1948) is a British writer of historical fiction and nonfiction. He won the H. H. Wingate Award for non-fiction for ''The Journey Back From Hell'', an account of the lives of survivors after their liberation from Nazi concentr ...
, professional basketball player
*
Nora Grossman,
film producer
A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...
*
Michael C. Hall
Michael Carlyle Hall (born February 1, 1971) is an American actor and singer best known for his roles as Dexter Morgan, the titular character in the Showtime series ''Dexter,'' and David Fisher in the HBO drama series '' Six Feet Under.'' Thes ...
, actor best known for his roles in
''Six Feet Under'' and
''Dexter''
*
Antwan Harris
Melvin Antwan Harris (born May 29, 1977) is a former professional American football player who was a safety for six seasons for the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He won three Super Bowls wit ...
,
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
safety who won three
Super Bowls
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
with the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
*
Neal Hunt
Neal K. Hunt (born September 17, 1942) is an American real estate businessman and politician who served as a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing constituents in Wake County in the fifteenth district of the Nor ...
,
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
member of the
North Carolina General Assembly
The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...
from the 15th district
*
Ryan Kelly,
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
player
*
Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. ( ) (born May 13, 1944) is an American writer notable for ''Tales of the City'', a series of novels set in San Francisco.
Early life
Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Maup ...
, author
*
Emily Procter
Emily Mallory Procter (born October 8, 1968) is an American actress and activist. She played Ainsley Hayes in the NBC political drama ''The West Wing'' (2000–2002; 2006) and Det. Calleigh Duquesne in the CBS police procedural drama ''CSI: Mia ...
, actress best known for her roles in ''
CSI: Miami
''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...
'' and ''
The West Wing
''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...
''
*
Hughes Winborne
Hughes Winborne is a Hollywood film editor. He has edited 20 films, including ''Crash'', for which he won an Oscar for film editing in the 78th Academy Awards. He also edited ''Sling Blade'' (1996) and ''The Pursuit of Happyness'' (2006), thou ...
, Oscar-winning editor of
''Crash''
*
Smedes York, former mayor of the city of
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...
*Kofie Yeboah, popular internet personality and video producer for
SB Nation
''SB Nation'' (an abbreviation for their full name ''SportsBlogs Nation'') is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Bleszinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2005. The blog from which the network ...
, known for his work on the popular series "Fumble Dimension" with
Jon Bois
Jon Bois (; born September 24, 1982) is an American sports writer, video producer, and YouTuber. He is the creative director at ''SB Nation'', a sports blogging network. Bois is known for his speculative fiction works on sports, such as ''17776 ...
.
*English Bernhardt, actress best known for playing
Cady Heron
Cady Heron is a fictional character and the protagonist in the 2004 film ''Mean Girls'' and its musical counterpart. She is portrayed by Lindsay Lohan in the original 2004 film, Erika Henningson in its Broadway musical version and will be pl ...
in the
Mean Girls
''Mean Girls'' is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried (in her film debut), Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler and Fe ...
U.S National Tour
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Private elementary schools in North Carolina
Episcopal schools in the United States
Private high schools in North Carolina
Private middle schools in North Carolina
Preparatory schools in North Carolina
Private schools in Raleigh, North Carolina
Educational institutions established in 1862
1862 establishments in North Carolina