Cape Henry Collegiate School

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Cape Henry Collegiate School is an independent co-educational day school in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It offers college-preparatory education on a 30-acre campus and has an enrollment of 1,000 students (pre-Kindergarten through the 12th grade). Its mascot is the Dolphin and the school colors are red and grey. The student-to-faculty ratio is 8 to 1, fostering much student-teacher collaboration and an environment of commitment to student learning. [1] Cape Henry Collegiate School is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and is also commonly referred to as CHCS.

[edit] History

In 1924, Mrs. R. C. Everett founded The Everett School in her summer home at the Oceanfront. Mrs. Everett's objective: to provide an alternative to existing public education. The student body at the new school comprised eight students, four of whom were her daughters. Within five years, however, she relocated to a larger facility in order to accommodate 170 pupils. Her curriculum was innovative; in early years it even had British handwriting workbooks by Marion Richardson. By 1971, her growing school was given a new name and moved to another new location at the old Virginia Beach General Hospital building.

The school's new name -- Cape Henry -- derives from the history of the area. Europeans first landed at Cape Henry in 1607 before establishing a British colony at Jamestown (this area was of course later renamed Virginia Beach). Eventually, the school moved into its first building at its present 30-acre campus; the building included a new gym that also performed double duty as classrooms. The curriculum expanded for Grades K-9. By 1975, Cape Henry offered Grades K-12, and the first senior class of four students graduated in the same year.

Mrs. Grace Olin Jordan was the Headmistress when Cape Henry moved to Mill Dam Road in 1971. Mrs. Dickie Jordan took over as the Headmistress when Grace retired in 1972. Following Grace and Dickie, the School went through three headmasters (Calvin Schutzman, Tom Smith, and N.W. Morris) in a four-year period. In 1975 -- the same year Cape Henry graduated its first senior class -- Dr. W. Hugh Moomaw came aboard as Headmaster. During Dr. Moomaw’s tenure (1975-1986) the School grew from 157 students to an enrollment of over 400 students, a period of rapid growth and development for Cape Henry Collegiate School.

Dr. Moomaw retired in 1987, and, following a one-year interim Headship held by Hans Wachtmeister, Daniel P. Richardson was hired as the new Head of School. When Dan Richardson became Head of School, Cape Henry's campus facilities included two buildings and thirteen portable trailers. During the next 15 years, however, strong Board and administrative leadership fueled the development and completion of several long-range plans, including a main building of over 150,000 square feet, more than doubling the size of the student body. Ultimately, this expansion tracked a strengthening of the depth, breadth, and diversity of the programs, faculty, and student body.

Upon Mr. Richardson’s retirement on July 1, 2002, Dr. John P. Lewis became the tenth Head of Cape Henry Collegiate School. Currently, with Dr. Lewis at the helm, future plans for a state-of-the-art, 24,000 square foot Upper School Science and Technology Building, coupled with offerings of an exemplary independent school education, Cape Henry Collegiate School continues its course of academic excellence in a small, personal and nurturing environment.