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History Overview
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From the beginning, Miss Charlotte’s highest aim and Foxcroft’s greatest responsibility has been to educate the whole student. Her efforts to instill high purpose, integrity, leadership, understanding, and empathy in students, along with — as the School's motto states, "mens sana in corpore sano” (A healthy mind in a healthy body) — guides Foxcroft to this day.
At Foxcroft's heart is still the belief that a school for girls is better than a school with girls. Miss Charlotte knew this to be true even before she founded Foxcroft more than a century ago, and Mary Louise Leipheimer reaffirmed this notion when she became the ninth Head of School in 1989. During her tenure, Leipheimer served on the first board of the National Coalition of Girls Schools and supported research that demonstrated the “Girls’ School Advantage." The School's enrollment and endowment both grew and an excellent faculty refined its forward-thinking curriculum. Believing firmly that “Everything we do is curriculum,” co-curricular programs from sports and activities to community service, leadership, and residential life were treated as opportunities to fulfill the School’s mission.
Foxcroft celebrated its first century of girls' education with a centennial celebration April 25-27, 2014. Following the close of the 2013-14 school year, Catherine Smylie McGehee, a girls’ school veteran and passionate advocate for pursuing 21st Century opportunities, was installed as the 10th Head of School. Then came the stunning news of a $40 million bequest, left by the grateful and generous alumna, Ruth Bedford '32. Bedford's gift is the largest ever bestowed on an all-girls secondary school. The future is bright indeed.
Timeline
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Noland decides on the name Foxcroft during a summer at England's Oxford University in England.
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In October, Foxcroft opens its doors to 24 students. Noland becomes known as Miss Charlotte.
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Miss Charlotte holds the first Fox/Hound basketball game in November, beginning the School’s oldest and most beloved tradition.
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Covert is purchased as Miss Charlotte’s home. It burned in 1933 and was rebuilt the next year.
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The first Foxcroft scholarship fund is established.
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Court, the first of the modern dormitories, is completed.
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Miss Charlotte institutes military drill.
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Applegate and Dillon Dormitories are completed.
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General George Marshall and General Cummings review the Foxcroft Corps at Commencement.
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Foxcroft holds a science conference.
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Miss Charlotte receives an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Columbia University, recognizing her as one of the foremost educators in the world.
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The “new” Orchard Dormitory is completed, replacing “Old Orchard.”
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Bertha Adkins becomes the third Head of School, bringing a renewed commitment to the academic life.
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The Engelhard Activities Building is completed.
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Alexander Uhle succeeds Adkins as the fourth Head of School.
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The Jean du Pont McConnell Stables and Riding Arena is completed.
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Coit Johnson becomes the fifth Head of School.
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Foxcroft is the first girls’ school to receive a Kenan Grant for faculty professional development.
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Richard Wheeler becomes the sixth Head of School.
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McClain Jeffrey Moredock becomes the seventh Head. He is followed, briefly, by Dr. Geraldine Pearson in 1988.
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Foxcroft celebrates its 75th anniversary.
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Mary Louise Leipheimer becomes Foxcroft’s ninth Head of School.
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Poet Maya Angelou electrifies her audience as Goodyear Speaker.
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Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, Doris Kearns Goodwin, gives her Goodyear address to a standing-room-only crowd in the Engelhard Gymnasium.
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Interim Term trip goes to Antarctica.
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The first building of the 2003 Campus Master Plan is completed: A maintenance building called “Sally’s Service Center.”
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Goodyear Fellow James Baker, III, speak to a capacity crowd in Engelhard.
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The $14 million Athletic/Student Center, a significant renovation and expansion of the Engelhard Activities Center, is dedicated.
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The first Think Pink basketball tournament to benefit the Cherry Blossom Breast Cancer Foundation is held.
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Foxcroft becomes the first school in Virginia to partner with Purdue University’ EPICS engineering program.
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Actress Lisa Kudrow speaks at Commencement.
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Foxcroft’s first LEED-certified building, Stuart Hall, opens its doors to 50+ students and three faculty families.
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Foxcroft kicks off its Centennial Celebration with a worldwide Day of Service and hosts the Cherry Blossom Breast Cancer Walk, Run & Pooch Prance for the first time.
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Catherine Smylie McGehee is installed as the 10th Head of Foxcroft School in a September garden ceremony.
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Ruth Bedford ’32 leaves Foxcroft more than $40 million, the largest gift ever bestowed to a girls’ school.
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Ellen Stofan, Chief Scientist of NASA, speaks with students.
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Dorm Renovation Project is completed with upgrades to Applegate, Dillon, Orchard, and Reynolds.
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An all-girls boarding and day school in Northern Virginia, Foxcroft prepares young women in grades 9-12 for success in college and in life. Our outstanding academic program offers challenging courses, including Advanced Placement classes and an innovative STEM program. Our premiere equestrian program is nationally recognized, and our athletic teams have won conference and state championships. Experience the best in girls' boarding schools: visit Foxcroft.
