St. Catherine's School (Richmond, Virginia)

For other schools of the same name, see St Catherine's School (disambiguation).

"St. Catherine's School for Girls" redirects here. Not to be confused with St. Catharine's School for Girls.

St. Catherine's School is an independent Episcopal diocesan school in Richmond, Virginia, USA. It is the oldest private, all-girls school in Richmond and the only independent all-girls school in Virginia for age 3 to grade 12. St. Catherine's is the sister school to St. Christopher's. The school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2008.

St. Catherine's School
Address
6001 Grove Avenue Richmond , Virginia 23226 United States
Coordinates	37°34′16″N 77°31′17″W
Information
Type	Private, day, college-prep
Motto	Quæ Teneamus Perdimus, Quæ Demus Nobis Sunt (Latin) (What we keep we lose; what we give remains our own.)
Denomination	Episcopal
Established	1890
Oversight	Episcopal Diocese of Virginia
Head of school	Cindy L. Trask
Teaching staff	103.5 (on a FTE basis)
Grades	Early Learners (age 3)–12
Gender	Girls
Enrollment	978, including 30 junior kindergarten (2016-17)
Student to teacher ratio	9.1
Color(s)	Gold and white
Athletics conference	Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association
Nickname	Saints
Rival	The Collegiate School
Yearbook	The Quair
Website	www.st.catherines.org
[1]
St. Catherine's School
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Virginia Landmarks Register
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Location	6001 Grove Ave., Richmond, Virginia
Area	14.9 acres (6.0 ha)
Built	1917
Architect	Hobart Upjohn
Architectural style	Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No.	07000400[2]
VLR No.	127-5886
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	May 04, 2007
Designated VLR	March 7, 2007[3]

History

St. Catherine's was founded in 1890 by Virginia Randolph Ellett during the middle of Richmond's New South movement.

In 1917, the school was incorporated and moved to its present site in the Westhampton area of Richmond. It was sold to the Episcopal Church in 1920 and renamed for St. Catherine, the patron saint of young women, especially those undergoing education.

Since 1957, members of the graduated classes of St. Catherine's are invited to make their debut at the Bal du Bois, held annually at the Country Club of Virginia.^[4]

The school has produced at least three newspapers: The Scrap Basket, Odds 'n' Ends and Arcadian. The longest running being The Arcadian, which was published from 1940 to 2007.^[5]

Notable alumnae

• Adele Goodman Clark (1901), suffragette
• Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor (1898), first female member of Parliament
• Anna Hill Johnstone (1930), costume designer
• Penny Williams (1955), Oklahoma State Senator
• Molly Haskell (1957), film critic, author
• Lee Smith (1963), author
• Charlotte Fox (1975), mountaineer
• Dagen McDowell (1987), news anchor and analyst
• Catharine F. Easterly (1988), judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals
• Tinsley Mortimer (1994), American socialite
• Darley Newman (1997), producer, TV host, writer ^[6]
• Anne H. Charity Hudley, linguist
• Emily Tapscott Clark (1909), writer^[7]

Notable faculty

• Lisa Grabarek, teacher and Baptist preacher

References

1. "Mission and Core Values". St. Catherine's.
   - "St. Catherines School". National Centre for Education Statistics. US Department of Education. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 13 March 2009.
3. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
4. "Debutante Society". WFAE.
   - "Times-Dispatch: Bal du Bois this year features three co-leaders". St. Catherine's School. 31 May 2009.
5. Rogers, Kyle (2019). "St. Catherine's School Newspapers On Virginia Chronicle". The UncommonWealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
6. Durden, Douglas (6 July 2007). "Horses+Travel='Equitrekking'". Richmond.com. Retrieved 10 September 2011.(Class of 1997)
7. Smith, Leanne E. "Emily Tapscott Clark (ca. 1890–1953)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 10 October 2024.

External links

• Official web site