Why Chatham Hall?
Chatham Hall girls understand balance. Our students are scholars, artists, athletes, writers, leaders, performers, and riders. For more than 100 years Chatham Hall has provided the foundation for girls to succeed.
Chatham Hall is where you belong. Picture yourself having breakfast with the President of a country. Make friends with students from 24 states and 11 foreign countries. Experience the difference of a class taught by passionate faculty, most of whom have advanced degrees. Live in a community that really gets the meaning of honor and faith.
Attend a school that is close to HOME and fosters the development of the whole girl – a school with you in mind.
Mission
Chatham Hall prepares girls for college and productive, fulfilled lives. We esteem equally the intellect and character of each student. A community of honor and trust, we value our Episcopal heritage and welcome students from diverse backgrounds. Our rigorous educational program encourages intellectual growth, creative development, and personal responsibility.
Academics
Chatham Hall is a center of learning—a world of ideas—that can help take you as far as you want to go. Our challenging curriculum and small class sizes help you launch your own quest for knowledge even as you prepare for your college career.
Interested in veterinary medicine? There’s an elective just for you. Always want to be a novelist? Take creative writing. You can choose from more than 15 Advanced Placement courses and a wide array of electives in addition to your core curriculum. You’ll also have opportunities to do things normally reserved for college students, such as working with a faculty member in research and studying in a different country.
Our faculty is also top-notch. Simply put, our teachers care — and get involved. Most have advanced degrees and live right on campus.
Our alumnae have earned positions of prominence in politics, business, education, medicine, engineering, and the arts, including the renowned painter Georgia O’Keeffe and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Claudia Emerson.
College Counseling
The college application process can be daunting – which is why we seek to guide students and parents every step of the way. Our comprehensive College Counseling program assists with everything from test preparation to visit planning to application processing. We make sure that all deadlines are met, and all questions answered. Ultimately our goal is to match each girl with the college or university that best suits her talents, interests, and abilities.
At Chatham, every student actively participates in the college preparation process. Students meet frequently with a college counselor and attend a college prep class that meets once a week for a full academic year (from December of the junior year through November of the senior year).
Recent graduates have gone on to attend Duke University, Georgetown University, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, Boston College, Rhode Island School of Design, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, Vassar College, University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University.
Chatham Hall’s unique programming includes annual service trips to South Africa and its Leader-in-Residence program, which brings world leaders to campus to meet with students. Recent Leaders in Residence have included Jane Goodall; Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan; Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the current and first female President of Liberia; and Nancy Brinker, founder of The Race for the Cure.
Athletics
Whatever your ability, the Chatham Hall Athletic Program challenges you to learn and perform. Currently we field eight interscholastic sports: field hockey, cross country, volleyball, basketball, swimming, tennis, riding, and soccer. Students not on an interscholastic team take physical education classes, which focus on health and fitness. There is also a series of spirited intramural events, all culminating with a banquet in May that celebrates the victorious team. In every athletic arena, the emphasis is on teamwork, camaraderie, leadership, and fair play.
Chatham Hall is a member of the Blue Ridge Conference and the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association. We’ve won six conference championships in the last five years, most recently in field hockey, swimming, and tennis.
Riding
Whether you’ve been riding your whole life or have always wanted to you can find a place in our program. The Chatham Hall campus is home to more than 50 horses, three teaching arenas, a permanent Hunter Trials course, and plenty of trails. We teach hunt seat the Modern Forward Riding System with an emphasis on horse and rider communication. We also focus on stable management, ensuring that students learn to be true horsewomen, not just riders.
Student Life
Weekends on campus are seriously fun. You might meet up for “Bad Movie Night” or attend a Pinata Throw-Down (hosted at a faculty house), whip up a gourmet meal, or get schooled in the fine art of tire changing. Depending on the season, you’ll also find students carving pumpkins, building gingerbread houses, and hunting for Easter eggs.
Off campus, there’s even more to do. Our centralized location allows for easy travel to Washington D.C. to take in a museum and some shopping. Regular trips to Charlottesville and Roanoke, Virginia and Raleigh and Greensboro, North Carolina offer even more fun options. Dinner, the theater, water parks, concerts – you name it, our girls are always game for a new adventure!
Spiritual Life & the Honor Code
True to our Episcopal tradition, Chatham Hall is a community dedicated to nurturing spiritual life. Three times a week (on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday), the campus gathers to sing, pray, and reflect. Our chapel is a great source of inspiration: Renaissance in style, the interior is reminiscent of a European cathedral, with a barrel vaulted ceiling, slate floor, and striking stained glass windows. (Make sure you see it when you come for your tour!)
Our community worship is based in Christian scripture, but we welcome people of all faiths, backgrounds, and beliefs. Students are required to take a single trimester course in Religious Studies, with the Bible as the primary text.
At the core of everything we do, both in the classroom and beyond, are the Honor Code and Purple and Golden Rule. Together, these principles help maintain our unique, trust-based community, one in which every person is challenged to live each day with integrity.
At Chatham Hall, trust is given before it’s earned; once given, each person has the responsibility to keep it. Students, teachers, administrators, and staff all live by a system of shared values, rather than one of restrictive rules. The special privilege of the seniors is to lead the school by upholding the Honor Code and Purple and Golden Rule and by educating the student body on these principles.
Please visit our website at: www.chathamhall.org
For more information or to schedule a visit to our beautiful 362-acre campus in south-central Virginia, contact the Admission Office at admission@chathamhall.org or 434.432.5613.