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Flint Hill School
Flint Hill Lower School Campus (left) and the Miller House administration building (right)
Flint Hill Lower School Campus (left) and the Miller House administration building (right)
Address
Map
3320 Jermantown Rd (Upper School campus)
10409 Academic Drive (Lower and Middle School campus)

Oakton
,
Virginia
22124

United States
Coordinates38°52′12″N 77°19′10″W / 38.87000°N 77.31944°W / 38.87000; -77.31944 (Upper School campus) 38°52′44″N 77°18′24″W / 38.87889°N 77.30667°W / 38.87889; -77.30667 (Lower and Middle School campus)
Information
School typePrivate Independent, day, college-preparatory
Established1956
FounderDon Niklason
Head of schoolPatrick McHonett
Faculty250
GradesJK–12
GenderCo-educational
Enrollment1,014 (2022)
Color(s)Green & blue    
Athletics conferenceMAC, ISL
MascotHusky
AccreditationVAIS
NewspaperThe Flint Hill View
YearbookIditarod
Websitehttps://www.flinthill.org

Flint Hill School, founded in 1956, is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school, in Oakton, Virginia, serving grades JK–12. The school has separate upper and lower school campuses about a mile apart in Fairfax County, approximately 20 miles (32 km) from Washington, D.C.

In 2021, Niche ranked Flint Hill School 9 out of 2489 private schools in the United States, making it the best in Virginia.[1]

History

Flint Hill School was founded in 1956[2] by Don Niklason as the Flint Hill Preparatory School, a co-educational day school with 18 students in grades K–8.[3]

The school's origins date back to the state of Virginia's resistance to the Supreme Court of the United States' 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision holding that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. In 1956, the year of the school's founding, Virginia Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. declared a policy of Massive Resistance against compliance with Brown v. Board of Education,[4] and the Virginia Assembly enacted the Stanley Plan, a package of thirteen statutes designed to ensure Virginia's public schools remained segregated.[5] In 1959 the Fairfax County School Board approved tuition grants for 60 students to attend private schools and thereby avoid desegregated public schools.[2] Of those initial grants, 44 went to students attending the Flint Hill School.[2] Fairfax County Public School Assistant Superintendent George Pope remarked to the Washington Post, "We've just about put that school in business."[2]

The school has acknowledged this problematic past and made efforts to distance[clarification needed] itself from that history. For example, one of the school's five core values is "respect and value all equally."[6] Additionally, an annual event formerly called "Founder's Day" has been renamed "Flint Hill Day" in order to make clear that the founding vision of the school does not align with who the school is today.[7]

Originally, students attended classes in the Miller House, an estate home belonging to the Francis Pickens Miller family. In 1986 Flint Hill purchased 13 acres (5.3 ha) of property several blocks away at the corner of Chain Bridge and Jermantown Road, and the Miller House was transported to the new campus,[8] where it now serves as an administrative building.

In 1990, the new academic building was only partially finished and funding for its completion was in doubt. A group of educational and civic leaders from Northern Virginia led by John T. Hazel, Jr., then acquired the school and reorganized it as a nonprofit independent day school. The 1990–91 academic year began on the new campus with 65 faculty members and an enrollment of 425 students, in grades K–12. By the late 1990s, with more than 700 students, there was a need to expand. In 1998 Flint Hill acquired parcels of property totaling 30 acres (12 ha) within one mile of the existing campus. Groundbreaking took place for the Upper School Campus in summer 2000 and classes began there in September 2001.

In 2010, Flint Hill introduced the 1:1 technology program, providing all students with Apple Inc. computers and tablets.[9] In 2011, it was named an "Apple Virginia Site School". In 2013 and 2015, it was recognized as an "Apple Distinguished School",[10] an award Apple gives to schools that "demonstrate Apple's vision for learning with technology".[11]

In 2019, Flint Hill began fundraising for a middle school facility designed to educate 7th and 8th grade students. The new Peterson Middle School opened for the 2020-2021 school year.[12]

In June 2022, Headmaster John Thomas retired after 17 years of service to the school. Patrick McHonett succeeded Thomas as Head of School for the 2022-2023 school year.[13]

As of 2022, Flint Hill has three campuses with more than 1,000 students and 237 teachers.[14]

Extracurricular activities

The Upper School has three continually published, on-campus student publications: The Flint Hill View (news, arts, sports, opinion, and editorial newspaper),[15] The Rough Draft (literary and arts magazine),[16] and The Iditarod (yearbook, formerly entitled The Talon). Both middle and upper school students can take part in class government through the Student Council Association.[17][18]

Athletics

The school participates in the Independent School League (ISL) for girls' sports and the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAC) for boys' sports.[19] There are 22 different sports, with 32 middle school and 35 upper school teams.[20]

Between 2007 and 2017 Flint Hill produced 165 college athletes with 83 of them going division 1.

Flint Hill's volleyball team has been ranked No. 1 in the country three times and went on a span of 44 wins before losing a match.[citation needed]

The Flint Hill basketball team was ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today in 1987 in former NBA player Dennis Scott's senior season.[citation needed]

Championships

Boys' basketball:

1986

Football:

Boys' lacrosse:

Ice hockey:

Boys' soccer:

Boys' tennis:

Golf:

Baseball:

Volleyball:

Rivalry with The Potomac School

Flint Hill has a sports rivalry with The Potomac School in McLean, Virginia, dating to 1992 when both schools played at George Mason University for the first time and Flint Hill defeated Potomac in an overtime basketball victory.[21]

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ Leayman, Emily (20 September 2021). "Vienna Schools Among Top In Virginia On 2022 Niche List". Patch Media. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "Fairfax Approves Tuition Grants For 60 to Attend Private Schools". The Washington Post. 1959-09-20. ProQuest 141032002.
  3. ^ "Our History". Flint Hill School. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  4. ^ "The State Responds: Massive resistance". Brown v. Board of Education: Virginia Responds. The Library of Virginia. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  5. ^ Gates, Robbins L. (1962). "Adoption of the Stanley Plan". The Making of Massive Resistance: Virginia's Politics of Public School Desegregation, 1954-1956. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 167–90. OCLC 245049.
  6. ^ "About Us". Flint Hill School. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  7. ^ Fairchild, Lauren. "Founders Day becomes "Flint Hill Day"". The View. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  8. ^ Lacy, Bridgette A. (1986-08-11). "Flint Hill School Moves Down the Road". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  9. ^ "Technology". Flint Hill School. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  10. ^ "Flint Hill Receives Second Apple Distinguished School Recognition". Flint Hill School. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  11. ^ "Education - Apple Distinguished Schools". Apple. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  12. ^ "A New Beginning: Peterson Middle School Opens for the 2020-21 School Year". Flint Hill School. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  13. ^ Newspapers, BRIAN TROMPETER, Sun Gazette (29 November 2021). "Q&A: Incoming Flint Hill head of school looks to future". INSIDENOVA.COM. Retrieved 2022-08-02.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Explore Flint Hill School". Niche. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  15. ^ "The View". The View. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  16. ^ "Literary Magazine's "Rough Draft" Polished for Publication". Flint Hill School. 2012-05-10. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  17. ^ "Middle School: Student Life". Flint Hill School. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  18. ^ "Upper School: Student Life". Flint Hill School. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  19. ^ "Team Championships". Flint Hill School. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  20. ^ "At a Glance". Flint Hill School. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  21. ^ "Flint Hill and Potomac: A Rivalry Decades in the Making". The Patch. Oakton, Virginia. 2012-12-09. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  22. ^ "General John R. Allen - Retired". United States Marine Corps. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  23. ^ "Justin Bonomo, Class of 2004 - Flint Hill School - Classmates". www.classmates.com. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  24. ^ "Randolph Childress '90". Flint Hill School. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  25. ^ "Cochran Family Readies for 'Survivor' Premiere". Oakton, VA Patch. September 13, 2011.
  26. ^ "Tommy Doyle MLB Page". MLB.com. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  27. ^ @FlintHillView (December 1, 2014). "Hey @JaredLeto, remember us?" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  28. ^ a b c "Notable Alumni". www.flinthill.org. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  29. ^ Denlinger, Ken; Denlinger, Ken (1992-04-09). "Vetter still no member of the 'club'". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  30. ^ "Her Excellency Lorena Castillo de Varela, First Lady of the Republic of Panama & UNAIDS Special Ambassador for AIDS in Latin America – Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation". laureatesandleaders.org. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  31. ^ @ZainNaghmi (August 20, 2020). "Made it into notable alumni of my high school... To Mr. ********, who ridiculed me for playing smash bros during m…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  32. ^ "Flint Hill center chooses Georgetown". February 2019.
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