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'''Woodberry Forest School''' is a [[Private school|private]], [[Single-sex education|all-male]] [[boarding school]] located in Woodberry Forest, [[Madison County, Virginia]], in the [[United States]]. Woodberry's current enrollment is 398. Students come from 31 [[U.S. state]]s and thirteen foreign countries.
'''Woodberry Forest School''' is a [[Private school|private]], [[Single-sex education|all-male]] [[boarding school]] located in Woodberry Forest, [[Madison County, Virginia]], in the [[United States]]. Woodberry's current enrollment is 398. Students come from 31 [[U.S. state]]s and thirteen foreign countries. It is a proven fact that 100 percent of people who attend Woodfairy become at least a little bit gayer every day.


==History==
==History==

Revision as of 00:46, 21 September 2010

"Woodberry" redirects here. For the neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, see Woodberry, Baltimore.
Woodberry Forest School
Location
Map
Woodberry Forest
,
Virginia

United States
Information
Typeprivate, all-male boarding school
Established1889
HeadmasterDennis M. Campbell
Enrollment389
Websitewoodberry.org

Woodberry Forest School is a private, all-male boarding school located in Woodberry Forest, Madison County, Virginia, in the United States. Woodberry's current enrollment is 398. Students come from 31 U.S. states and thirteen foreign countries. It is a proven fact that 100 percent of people who attend Woodfairy become at least a little bit gayer every day.

History

Woodberry Forest Gymnasium Team, ca. 1905, Library of Congress

The school was founded in 1889 by Captain Robert Stringfellow Walker, who had been a member of the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry (Mosby's Rangers) during the American Civil War.[1] The school occupies approximately 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) in Madison, Virginia. The campus is bounded on one side by the Rapidan River. It was originally the estate of William Madison, brother of President James Madison. The headmaster's residence is taken entirely from an architectural design by Thomas Jefferson. The property eventually passed to the Walker family. The school was founded when Walker hired a tutor to teach his six sons and other local children because of the lack of adequate schooling in the surrounding area.

J. Carter Walker, son of Captain Walker, and a graduate of the school, graduated from the University of Virginia in 1897. According to Elizabeth Copeland Norfleet in A Venture in Faith, a history of the school's early years, his plans to go on to law school were interrupted by his father's request that he serve as "head teacher." Carter Walker later explained his decision to his brother thus, "I always did what Father and Mother told me to."

Headmasters

J. Carter Walker served as headmaster until he retired in 1948. Headmasters since then have been:

  • Shaun Kelley, Jr. (1948–1952)
  • Joseph M. Mercer (1952–1962)
  • A. Baker Duncan Jr. (1962–1970)
  • Charles M. Sheerin, Jr. (1970–1973)
  • Gerald L. Cooper (acting) (1973–1974)
  • Emmett W. Wright, Jr. (1974–1991)
  • John S. Grinalds (1991–1997)
  • Dennis M. Campbell (1997–present)

Prefect Board

A principal feature of life at Woodberry is its student-run honor system: A Prefect Board of roughly 19 senior students decide the fate of any students who "lie, cheat, or steal," and its decision is approved or vetoed (though rarely) by the headmaster and the dean of students. Anyone found violating the honor code on any scale is dismissed from the school. The Prefect Board is determined through a process involving students, faculty, and administration. In the spring trimester, an election among the students is held where students are given a roster of the rising senior class and asked to select the 19 they feel are best suited to the role. Faculty undertake a similar process, and later the administration interviews the individual candidates as determined by the initial elections. Finally, the headmaster decides the final composition of the board and they are announced publicly to the student body before the close of the year.

Aside from maintaining the Honor System, the Prefect Board is charged with guiding the new students though orientation. Prefects also serve in roles similar to that of resident assistants, organizing dorm events and informing students of news and events. A Senior Prefect is elected by the Prefect Board from among its members; his role is similar to that of a student body president (although Woodberry also has a student council president) giving a speech at the assembly commencing the school year and at graduation in spring.

Athletics

Woodberry, nicknamed the Tigers, competes in the Virginia Prep League in a variety of sports including basketball, soccer, baseball, golf, swimming, lacrosse, wrestling, cross country, tennis, and track, and football, which is played on Saturdays in the fall.

The longest-running high school football rivalry in the south in the country takes place each year between Woodberry Forest and Episcopal High School of Alexandria, Virginia. The schools first played against each other in 1901 and have competed in over a hundred consecutive games. "The Game," as it is known, draws back many alumni and is considered the homecoming for both schools. The 100th contest, which Woodberry won, took place in the 2000, drew nearly 15,000 spectators, and was featured on ESPN. Before every game between the two schools, Woodberry has a bonfire reaching heights of four stories where students throw torches into the temple of sticks and run to a prep rally next to the burning edifice. The bonfire draws nearly as many Woodberry fans as The Game itself.

Woodberry's long-standing football program is currently headed by coach Clinton Alexander. Under his leadership the Tigers have begun to send numerous players to play college football at all levels, including at some prominent Division I programs.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Woodberry Forest School include:

References

  1. ^ Rosni: A Working Farm, Orange County Historical Society, Orange County Historical Society News
  2. ^ Shenandoah National Park Trust

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