Foxcroft School - Review #2

Foxcroft is really flexible in how you take courses. For instance, a lot of girls rode horses competitively and spent a few months of the school year in Florida and they were still able to take courses and get the necessary help. One girl was even training to compete internationally in rock climbing and was able to take courses with a tutor. The other unique aspect of Foxcroft is that day students have rooms and can stay on campus during the week, which is a huge plus if you play sports and have to travel from games at night.

I was salutatorian at Foxcroft and captain of multiple teams, which just wouldn't have been possible at another school. I was shy going into my first year and the school definitely gave me confidence in my abilities and confidence to be myself. Since we had so many international students and exchange programs, I also got to meet people from all over the world, which gave me such great perspective as a young adult. The Foxcroft bond is really strong too - I still stay in touch with a few exchange students who live internationally.

At boarding school, I feel like we spent so much time trying to get out and complaining about different required activities, required meals, etc. I wish we had cherished it a little more because we had so much fun and there is no other experience like it. Getting to essentially have a sleepover with all of your best friends at school every night is awesome.

Foxcroft gave us such diverse experiences and really prepared me for college. It shaped me to be ready for the level of independence at college and taught me excellent time management skills and drive to achieve my goals. The alumni network is great too - the Foxcroft group is really tight knit.

Definitely take the full walking tour and see how incredibly beautiful the Virginia countryside is. Even if you don't ride horses, you have to go see the stables.

School was unique at Foxcroft because it really felt tailored to your needs. I was good at French and had taken the AP course as a sophomore or junior. I think so I asked if I could do an independent study where I helped teach the freshman into French class, which was so much fun. The girls in my class were smart but not competitive about grades. Everyone was so different, and I never felt like I was trying to beat a classmate. The teachers really focused on making sure you learned the material and developed as a young adult. I also loved that since it was all-girls, we would just roll out of bed in the morning to get to our first class, or could even sleep in if we had a free period first.

Foxcroft requires mandatory participation in sports. I didn't have an issue with that because I loved sports, but I remember a few friends groaning about it. However, they did allow you to take non-team sports like yoga and PE. I personally think it's awesome that Foxcroft requires you to take a sport because exercise is so great for mental and physical health. We were good at field hockey and lacrosse when I was there, while other sports felt like they were more just for the fun of it. The facilities are all recently upgraded and really nice.

I took art classes at Foxcroft and remember having a lot of fun going into the art studio. Foxcroft was always showcasing students' work, and we had some really talented artists while I was there. I didn't participate in the music or theater programs, but I attended the school musicals/recitals to support my friends. Since Foxcroft is all girls, it was always funny to see how they adapted to deal with the shortage of male characters in the musicals. Our first year we were required to participate in a few activities surrounding the arts which got me out of my comfort zone but I think is important for finding your passion.

If you wanted to participate in a club that didn't exist at Foxcroft, you were encouraged to start one. There were new clubs starting all the time, and the faculty was always supportive. The tradition of Fox Hound is the unique part of Foxcroft and I think falls into an extracurricular activity. Foxcroft is rich in history and tradition, and this was my favorite part about school. The school is divided into two teams, Foxes and Hounds, and we would compete in different activities and have pep rallies, among other crazy traditions that involved sneaking around and dressing up...

The sleeping porches! The sleeping porch, where you were required to sleep until senior year, is just a bunch of bunk beds on what used to be a porch but of course now has AC and heat. It felt like camp and was a lot of fun. Senior year you can have your bed in your room. Freshman and sophomore year you have required lights out times, and older students can be in charge of enforcing this along with housemothers.

As I recall, the dining hall food was pretty good and very accommodating if you had a sports game and missed a meal. There was one lunch a week with assigned seating with faculty where announcements were made and the freshman at the table had to go get the food and clear the table. I never really liked this, but it did force me to talk to a more diverse group of people in other grades.

Middleburg is a quaint town with just a few restaurants and shops. It is such a beautiful town, but there is not much to it. It's about an hour from DC and there would be weekend trips for boarders to DC or the mall or other places, but if you became friends with day students, you could always go stay with them and do weekend activities.

Social life just consisted of the typical boarding school mixers and activities planned with boys' in schools like Woodberry or Blue Ridge. I did a summer trip to Scotland through Woodberry with kids from other boarding schools and that was definitely my favorite social activity. As a day student and athlete, I was friends with people from other local schools, but there was not much opportunity for that through Foxcroft. The best part of Foxcroft was really just the deep, lifelong friendships we made with our class. There is nothing that compares to friendships from boarding school.