Episcopal High School (Alexandria, Virginia)

Episcopal High School
Fortiter, fideliter, feliciter "Strongly, faithfully, joyfully"
Location
Alexandria, Virginia United States
Coordinates	38°49′28.5″N 77°5′39.9″W / 38.824583°N 77.094417°W / 38.824583; -77.094417Coordinates: 38°49′28.5″N 77°5′39.9″W / 38.824583°N 77.094417°W / 38.824583; -77.094417
Information
Type	Private Preparatory Boarding School
Religious affiliation(s)	Episcopal
Established	1839
Headmaster	Charley Stillwell
Enrollment	435 faculty = 80
Average class size	11
Student to teacher ratio	6:1
Campus	City, 130 acres (.55 km²) 26 buildings
Color(s)	Maroon and Black
Athletics	15 Interscholastic Sports
Athletics conference	IAC (Boys) ISL (Girls)
Mascot	Maroon
Average SAT scores (2005)	629 verbal, 647 math
Tuition	$47,850
Website	www.episcopalhighschool.org

435

Episcopal High School (also The High School, or Episcopal), founded in 1839, is a private boarding school located in Alexandria, Virginia. The Holly Hill 130-acre (0.53 km²) campus houses 435 students from 30 states, the District of Columbia and 17 different countries. The school is 100-percent boarding and is one of only four all-boarding schools in the United States and the only one located in a metropolitan area.

Episcopal High School was founded in 1839 as the first high school in Virginia. The Rev. William N. Pendleton and three assistant heads initially taught 35 boys at the boarding facility which occupied 80 acres of land. It was originally known as The Howard School, from its location at the site of an earlier school. It became known affectionately as "The High School". The central administration building, Hoxton House, dates to around 1805, built by Martha Washington's eldest granddaughter, Elizabeth Parke Custis Law.

In 1840, Episcopal's student body tripled in size to accommodate more than 100 boys. It continued to grow until the Civil War, when it closed immediately after Federal forces occupied Alexandria in 1861. Some 500 students served as soldiers in the war, many like Rev. Pendleton (who became a Brigadier General) for the Confederacy. For the next five years, school buildings served as part of a large hospital for Federal troops. Poet Walt Whitman served as a nurse in the hospital.

The school reopened in 1866. Under the direction of Launcelot Minor Blackford (Principal, 1870-1913), the school initiated a modern academic curriculum as well as pioneered interscholastic team sports in the South, including football, baseball, and track. EHS competes against Woodberry Forest in the longest-running consecutive high-school football rivalry in the South and one of the oldest in the United States.

Beginning in 1900, every fall the Maroon and the Woodberry Forest Tigers have competed on the football field. The location of the game alternates each year; it is either in Orange or Alexandria. Recognizing the need to improve its facilities, the School also undertook an aggressive building program that formed the foundation for the present-day campus.