St. Margaret's School - Review #6

St. Margaret's offers a unique boarding school experience in part thanks to its location right on the Rappahannock River. The school encourages girls to take advantage of the river, both as an educational and extracurricular resource. The surrounding area is rural but rich in history and I believe an ideal setting to spend your high school years.

I believe St. Margaret's allowed me to grow and mature at a healthy pace into a leader and young adult. I was prepared for college by the time I finished, both academically and socially. The amount of interaction with the teachers and other adults was really great and I always found it to be a very supportive environment.

I was a day student but I believe that boarding school is a great option for students. Though I did not feel that I was ready to go to a boarding school when I was in 8th grade I think it can be an extremely benefitial experience and would recommend not letting the typical fears keep you from giving it a try. Along with looking at boarding schools, I think it is important for girls who are about to enter high school to consider both co-ed and all-girl options and figure out what environment is best for them.

Overall, I found the supportive environment at St. Margaret's to be the best part of my high school experience. I always felt looked after by both my friends and teachers. Teachers often came to sporting events to cheer for us as well, and having a close relationship with them both in and out of the classroom was an important part of my time spent there.

Make sure to walk all over campus and around the town. It is small, but as a student it offers a safe environment to learn about an interesting part of Virginia.

Thanks to the small size of the school student's individual needs do not go overlooked. Each student works with the Dean of Academics to design a schedule that is challenging but plays to her personal interests and goals. The classes are small and teachers make themselves easily available to students if they ever need to spend extra time on a subject.

Leadership is stressed at St. Margaret's, especially in the athletic department. Each team has student captains, and though the coaches are an important part of the experience, I always found that the captains had a great deal of responsibility as well. I think that offering this leadership opportunity was an asset of the athletic department and helped many girls to develop as leaders during their time at St. Margaret's.

Girls are required to take a visual arts and music class while at St. Margaret's, and if they choose to can continue to take advanced classes afterwards. These beginner level classes allow for everyone to try out music and art and it is a nice way to take a chance at something new.

Though the school is small there are many organizations for the students to take part in. The groups are often student led and the school is open to adding more organizations if students show interest in starting them. I liked the amount of student involvement and interest in the various organizations and the flexibility of the groups to change over years as new students and interests came in.

N/A (day student)

St. Margaret's has a beautiful cafeteria right on the river. The food is good, but what I liked most about the dining arrangements was the building and the ability to eat outside overlooking the water on nice days. On Mondays and Wednesdays students sat with their advisee group and everyone was required to come to lunch. These were always fun and a good way to spend time with people other than just friends from your year.

Tappahannock, Virginia is a very rural area and there is access to many outdoor activities close by. It is a unique part of the country and an interesting place to spend a few years. Girls come from all over and together learn about the rivers, forests, and farms that are prominent in this region. It is also a historically significant area of Virginia and there are many historic sites nearby that the girls can take advantage of.

St. Margaret's is a very accepting environment and I believe it was a good place to spend my high school years. Girls have the time to develop and mature in a fun and welcoming atmosphere.