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Founded in 1921 by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, Christchurch School opened its doors with 10 boarders—at an annual cost of $400 for board and tuition—and a handful of local students.
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The school’s idyllic 125-acre waterfront setting provides students unique opportunities for class outings, academic field research, leadership training events, and colorful sailing regattas.
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Sailing Pavilion
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The 1970s brought big changes with the first female day students admitted in 1972 and the first female graduates in 1975.
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The Learning Skills Program is geared toward students with learning differences and supports their needs while fully integrating into the school’s curriculum.
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Puller Science Building
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The national championship sailing team launches directly onto the Rappahannock River and sails throughout the fall and spring.
JB Davis `70 grew up in rural North Carolina, in the kind of small town that could be considered a first cousin to Andy Griffith’s Mayberry.
He was a successful student on the pathway to college until 1965, when he joined a rock and roll band and began playing weekend gigs at honky-tonks and beer joints in eastern North Carolina The Beatles-driven British Invasion was in full swing and the Age of Aquarius was dawning, but that wasn’t the lifestyle Davis’ parents had envisioned for their 15-year-old son. When they decided prep school was the wisest option, his parents decided on Christchurch School.
Years later, outsiders may still have a vague sense of Christchurch as a great school for young people who like to sail—and it is that with the addition of the Clyde V. Kelly IV (class of `04) Sailing Pavilion in 2003 and the Christchurch sailing team bringing home the National Championship in 2019—but it’s also an institution that has transformed itself over the decades to address the changing educational needs of new generations. A look back reveals that it’s Christchurch’s history and culture that have kept it moving forward over the past hundred years as faculty and students prepare to celebrate the school’s centennial in 2021 and embark on its next century.
Founded in 1921 by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, Christchurch School opened its doors with 10 boarders—at an annual cost of $400 for board and tuition—and a handful of local students. The centerpiece of the campus, St. Peter’s Chapel, was built in 1927, basketball was the school’s first competitive sport, and the school newspaper, the Stingaree, had its initial printing in 1930.
According to Associate Director of Development Huntley Galleher, when the hardships of the depression hit, the school drafted a strategy for survival with a goal of developing the features and opportunities unique to Christchurch’s remote, waterfront location. Bishop Brown dormitory was built to honor the man considered to be the inspiration for and founder of Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia. In 1938, the student body was tasked with choosing a mascot and the seahorse was chosen. Eventually, the school’s teams became known as the Fighting
Seahorses despite the creatures’ peaceable nature.
When young Davis arrived at Christchurch in the summer of 1967, he brought with him a laid-back approach to school. “The order of the day, the full schedule, the academic challenge and the required sports participation were new to me, so I either had to adapt or fail,” recalls the Christchurch class of 1970 graduate. “Thankfully I adapted and thrived. Discipline and effort were requirements for success at Christchurch School.”
During the 1940s, the school achieved full enrollment for the first time, while during the 1950s, the school gained a library and an administration building. That trend continued in the 1960s as faculty housing, the Wilmer multi-purpose building, Yarbrough Gymnasium, a swimming pool and the Miller classroom building were added to the 125-acre waterfront campus.
For Mark Sullivan, class of 1988, attending Christchurch opened his eyes to the world as he met and became friends with kids from all over the country and even the world. “I learned so much from talking to other students who were attending Christchurch—about cultures, other parts of the country I had never visited, music and more,” he says. “Because I enjoyed my teachers and the relationships I had with them, I learned and I started to feel more self-confidence, beyond just sports, than ever before. I believed in myself.”
The 1970s brought big changes with the first female day students admitted in 1972 and the first female graduates in 1975. Looking back on those years, Davis waxes poetic, beginning with executive chef Joe Cameron’s Rappahannock River fried oysters and Saturday afternoon trips to Urbanna to hang out at the Marshall’s Drug Store lunch counter sipping a chocolate milk shake.
“The many friendships that began at Christchurch School have lasted a lifetime,” he says. “One of my best friends there even introduced me to my wife of 43 years and we’re still going strong!” Turns out it’s not an uncommon occurrence to meet one’s match because of Christchurch School. Travis Beauchamp, class of 1995, met his wife Dimitry `95 during preseason of their freshman year. “Although there are many positive experiences,” he recalls, “That is by far the most impactful.”
Almost as important as adding females to the student body was the development of the game-changing Learning Skills Program in 1983 and subsequent hiring of its founding director, Gracejean Hennigar, who served for 33 years. The school’s enrollment skyrocketed as a result of the new program which was geared to students who learned differently.
Every Christchurch graduate seems to carry cherished memories that range from classmates who became lifelong friends to experiences on the field, but Sullivan’s strongest memories are of staff members who set the standard by being exceptional role models. “One example was our chaplain, Edward Meeks “Pope” Gregory, who everyone called Pope,” Sullivan recalls. “Pope was older than most, if not everybody, who worked at the school and he was smart, witty and very soft-spoken. His quiet examples of caring and humility have been something I’ve tried to remember and carry with me through life.”
Besides being ranked in the top 15 percent of “Best College Prep High Schools in America” by Niche.com, the community at Christchurch creates relationships that the students may not have had otherwise, a natural result of spending so much time together in a tight-knit community where collaboration is inevitable. “Working together is a life skill that I think Christchurch teaches very well,” Beauchamp says. “Those experiences shaped my career in education, first as a teacher and now a soccer coach at the University and club levels.”
Beauchamp was in the unique position of having his father (who was a Christchurch `57 graduate) teach English at Christchurch throughout his time there. Although his dad’s interests leaned more towards performing arts and music, he took the assistant baseball coaching job so that he could spend more time with his son. “When I was a junior, our head coach Mr. Griffin unfortunately had to step away from a game and Dad was the only adult left to coach the team,” he recalls of that long-ago afternoon. “I don’t think he even knew the signs, so he deferred to the players in making our own decisions. Time has a way of enhancing these stories, so I’m going to say we won!”
Walking around the campus today reveals examples of how the school has segued seamlessly into the 21st century. The renovated library houses a student center and a Makerspace where students can create everything from a guitar to robotics. With expansive windows overlooking the river, the Lewis B. Puller Jr. Marine and Environmental Science Center—named after Pulitzer Prize-winning author and class of `63 graduate Lewis Puller, Jr.—houses spacious laboratories and classrooms.
One of the oldest buildings on campus, the Bell Tower, got a replacement bell in 2018 to ensure that the tradition of each graduate ringing it after accepting their diploma would continue. It’s also used when one of the teams wins an away game and returns to campus to ring the bell to announce the victory. The hill behind the tower leading down to the river remains a favorite student sledding spot on snow days.
In 2001, Marston Hall was converted into the David and Wendy Charlton Fine and Performing Arts Center with seating for larger assemblies and 14 flags hanging from the ceiling representing the various countries from which the student body comes. “Diversity, inclusion, and equity are all part of our mission and in line with our Episcopalian identity,” explains Wes Charlton `01, Director of Advancement. Christchurch currently has students from 15 states and 14 countries.
Although education was important to Mark Sullivan’s parents, a psychiatric nurse and a writer for Time Life Books, his family life had always been simple and hyperlocal. “Life at
Christchurch exposed me to other students from all walks of life and allowed me to learn about jobs and careers I never had exposure to previously,” he says.
“I learned that the classmate who may have been from a very wealthy family or middle-class home was not necessarily any different or smarter than the kid who was on scholarship and that we were all able to compete at the highest level. It helped me expand my dreams and understand that anything is possible.”
William Styron, a graduate of the Christchurch class of 1942, author of “The Confessions of Nat Turner” and “Sophie’s Choice” and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1968, acknowledged as much. “But of all the schools I attended… only Christchurch ever commanded something more than mere respect—which is to say, my true and abiding affection.”
Visit christchurchschool.org to learn more about their exceptional curriculum and CCS community. 804-758-2306