Stuart Hall School is a

Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...

, co-educational school for students from Grade 4 to Grade 12, and it offers a boarding program from Grades 8 to 12. Stuart Hall School was established in 1827. The head of the school is Jason Coady. In the school review website

Niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

, Stuart Hall School was the 34th best private high school in Virginia in 2022.

History

In 1827, Stuart Hall started as Mrs. Maria Sheffey's school which held classes in her Staunton home - Kalorama. It was called Kalorama Seminary. In 1844, they renamed the school to "Virginia Female Institute." The School was the oldest preparatory school for women in Virginia. Old Main is a three-story, five-bay, brick

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style building completed in 1844, which was designed and built by Edwin Taylor. It has a two-story, three-bay,

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

with a simple heavy

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

supported by four-paneled piers. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1974. It is located in the Newtown Historic District. The school first only had 50 students in 1844. By the year of 1856, the school had grown to over 100 girls attending, including

Eleanor Agnes Lee Eleanor Agnes Lee (February 27, 1841 – October 15, 1873) was an American diarist and poet. The fifth child of General Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee, she was a member of the prominent Lee family of Virginia and was affectionately calle ...

and Anne Custis Lee, daughters of

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, the school's building was used to house the

Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind The Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind, located in Staunton, Virginia, United States, is an institution for educating deaf and blind children, first established in 1839 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly. The school accepts child ...

while the latter's building was being used as a hospital. Students then attended classes in a nearby home in Staunton. The school reopened in 1865 after the war. Robert E. Lee served as the president of the board of governors at the school. Mrs. Flora Stuart became to the head of school in 1880. The curriculum expanded from not only English and Religion, to offering a variety of foreign languages, sciences, and mathematics. Later the school changed the name to Stuart Hall taken from the headmaster at the time, Mrs. Flora Cooke Stuart, from 1880-1899 who claimed, "the school’s high character in every department gives it an enviable name among schools." In 1992, the Middle School was opened, serving male and female day students in Grades 6 to 8. In 1999, boys were accepted as day students into the Upper School. In 2007, Stuart Hall School merged with

Hunter McGuire Hunter Holmes McGuire (October 11, 1835 – September 19, 1900) was a soldier, physician, teacher, and orator. McGuire was a surgeon in the Confederate Army attached to Stonewall Jackson's command, and he continued serving with the Army of Nor ...

School in Verona, VA, and again became a K-12 independent school. A prekindergarten class was added in 2008. In 2020 the school decided to "phase out" the lower grades and by 2023 will serve students in grades 6-12. The

Lower School was sold in 2021.

Traditions

Traditions at Stuart Hall School can be traced to the school's founding. The traditions include a variety of events, such as athletic competitions, school celebrations, class activities, etc.

Red and White Competition

The Stuart Hall School community has been divided into two teams since the 19th century - Red and White. Throughout the school year, competitions take place during Red and White Field Day. The team with a higher score will gain a trophy and special rights. Incoming students will randomly pick their colors from a box in the Red and White ceremony at the beginning of the school year. Students who have parents or siblings who are "legacy" have the privilege to choose their "legacy" color. Each team's leaders are seniors who have the power to lead the team as a whole in the competitions and activities.

Honor Code Signing

In a chapel ceremony at the beginning of each school year, students in grades 6-12 sign the Honor Code.

Ring Ceremony

Ring Ceremony occurs in the fall of each school year when seniors are given their school ring, a black onyx engraved with "SH." The ring was designed in the 1920s.

Loving Cup Ceremony/Ushers

Each senior picks an usher and a sub-usher to participate and accompany in these special ceremonies throughout the year. An usher is a Stuart Hall School student, and a sub-usher is an alumnus in good standing. Ushers use garlanded shepherd's crooks to form an arch for seniors to process during the Graduation ceremony. Sub-ushers toast their seniors in the Loving Cup ceremony, the night before Graduation.

Notable alumni

, diarist and poet *

Juliette Gordon Low Juliette Gordon Low (October 31, 1860 – January 17, 1927) was the American founder of Girl Scouts of the USA. Inspired by the work of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of Boy Scouts, she joined the Girl Guide movement in England, forming her own gro ...

- founder of the

Girl Scouts of the USA Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as simply Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. Founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, it was organized a ...

Anne McCaffrey Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American-Irish writer known for the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 19 ...

, science fiction author *

Shelby Shackelford Shelby Shackelford (1899–1987) was an American artist who worked mainly within the art communities of Baltimore, Maryland, and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Her paintings, drawings, and prints were abstract, but not nonobjective. Each of the ...

, artist *

Nell Zink Helen "Nell" Louise Zink (born 1964) is an American writer living in Germany. After being a long term penpal of Avner Shats, she came to prominence in her fifties with the help of Jonathan Franzen and her novel, ''Mislaid'', was longlisted for th ...

, novelist, author of "The Wallcreeper", and "Mislaid" *

Abby Kasonik Abby Kasonik is an American painter born in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1975. Kasonik attended Stuart Hall School in Staunton, Virginia and completed her studies at VCU School of the Arts with a degree in Sculpture. “Charlottesville artist Ab ...

, artist

References

External links

School Website
{{authority control University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Staunton, Virginia Greek Revival architecture in Virginia Hall School Anne McCaffrey Private middle schools in Virginia Private high schools in Virginia Boarding schools in Virginia Educational institutions established in 1843 Female seminaries in the United States Schools in Staunton, Virginia Private elementary schools in Virginia Preparatory schools in Virginia Episcopal schools in the United States Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Virginia 1843 establishments in Virginia Historic district contributing properties in West Virginia