Episcopal High School, Virginia: Full Boarding Just Outside Washington, D.C.

Dorms and supervision

What living at Episcopal actually asks of a teenager

Episcopal has ten dormitories, five identified for boys and five for girls. Each dorm has a dorm head, and the school says a resident faculty member lives on every floor.

Its separate boarding page reports 72 dorm parents and 28 faculty living on dorm.

Those figures show a substantial adult presence. They do not reveal the number of adults actively on duty at 11 p.m., overnight, or on weekends.

Ask for one dorm's actual duty roster and the response plan when the faculty member on duty is already handling another student.

Ninth graders live in Henderson Hall's Freshmen Village. Hummel and McGuire have separate sleeping, laundry, and common areas.

A shared central room opens only during specified adult-supervised hours.

New students complete a roommate questionnaire by May 15. The school usually assigns a same-grade roommate the student does not already know.

Most rooms are doubles, though singles and triples exist. Specific roommate requests are not considered.

The current handbook says dormitories and locker rooms are assigned by biological sex. The school separately describes support for transgender and questioning students in names, pronouns, and dress.

A family affected by this policy should ask for the exact housing, privacy, bathroom, travel, and safety plan before applying.

Every family must name a local contact who can reach Episcopal and take the student off campus within 24 hours if the school requires an urgent medical, disciplinary, or other departure. After that window, the school may arrange a paid temporary guardianship service.

This is a major planning obligation for families who live far away.

Classes, chapel, afternoons, and study hall

The day stays structured well after class ends

Classes begin at 8:15 a.m. Each course meets three times weekly. The schedule mixes shorter Monday periods with longer blocks on other days, plus chapel, advisory, office hours, seated meals, community gatherings, and midday flex time.

Every student joins a sport or another school-sponsored afternoon option from 4 to 6 p.m. across the year. Most ninth graders are expected to complete three athletic seasons, though approved non-athletic options can replace a season.

Evening study generally runs from 8 to 10 Sunday through Thursday, with Monday ending at 9:30 for the residential-life meeting. Ninth graders begin the year studying in Townsend Hall from 8 to 9:30.

Later, they move to dorm study and leave their phones outside the open room door.

On ordinary class nights, ninth graders are in their rooms by 10:30 and power down at 10:45. Tenth graders power down at 11, and eleventh graders at 11:15.

The handbook gives seniors more evening freedom but still requires night sign-in.

During the academic day, phones may not be seen, heard, or used. The rule also covers chapel, seated meals, grade meetings, community meetings, speakers, and presentations.

Exceptions include a crisis alert, specific adult permission, approved flex or away-game use, dorm rooms, and active exercise in the athletic center.

This is a daytime phone boundary, not a campuswide ban. Students may use phones outside the restricted settings.

Families should ask whether dorm adults set additional grade-level expectations and what happens after repeated misuse.

Weekends, leave, and city access

D.C. is close, but leaving campus is still a supervised privilege

Episcopal has no regular Saturday classes. Weekends can still include teams, arts, service, school traditions, and required community dates.

The school also organizes trips to museums, theater, professional sports, shopping, restaurants, and outdoor activities around Washington and Northern Virginia.

A weekend overnight request goes through Orah by 10 a.m. Thursday. It needs parent permission and host permission when applicable.

Friday overnights end at Saturday's 5 to 5:45 p.m. sign-in. Saturday overnights end at Sunday's 7:30 to 8 p.m. sign-in.

Freshmen may request two open-weekend overnights per semester and cannot take a regular weekend leave before Thanksgiving. Juniors and seniors may request four per semester.

The sophomore table is not cleanly written: it says '2 Weekends first 3/second semester.' Ask whether that means two in the first semester and three in the second.

Community weekends close both day and overnight leave. The 2026–27 calendar names repeated closed weekends across fall, winter, and spring.

Families should check those dates before buying tickets or promising a student a recurring outside commitment.

Day leaves generally begin after 6 p.m. Friday once obligations are complete. Ninth and tenth graders may not be in Washington, Georgetown, National Harbor, or across the Potomac after 5:45 p.m. unless accompanied by an approved adult.

Their later evening day leaves stay in or near Alexandria.

Students and parents assume the risks of approved day-leave transportation. The handbook allows public transit, taxis, and rideshare unless the family sets stricter limits.

It also says the school cannot guarantee enforcement of a family's private prohibition. Decide your rule before move-in.

Academics and workload

A broad program with a visible workload ceiling only in some courses

Episcopal reports more than 150 courses, 75 honors or advanced options, and an average class size of 11. Those are schoolwide counts.

They do not guarantee that every elective runs, that every student can enroll, or that every section has 11 students.

Ninth graders usually take English, mathematics, language, physics, civics and global studies, plus art for one or both semesters. The science sequence moves from physics to chemistry and biology before advanced or elective study.

Every student carries at least five core academic courses. Seven courses require permission.

Juniors and seniors also need permission for four or more honors or advanced courses, which gives the school a formal checkpoint before a schedule becomes overloaded.

The catalog estimates about three hours of work outside class each week for an honors or advanced course. It does not publish a comparable norm for regular courses or a total nightly range.

Ask students to show you a recent assignment calendar without major assessments across a typical schedule.

Teachers hold office hours three times weekly. Students can also use peer mathematics, science, language, and writing centers during evening study.

These are useful access points, but the school does not publish participation, wait times, or whether an assigned tutor is always available.

Washington as a classroom

The D.C. promise is strongest when it appears in the timetable

The school says the campus is seven miles from Washington. Its schedule creates 75-minute midday flex periods, and some longer blocks can be used for class expeditions.

The homepage reports more than 650 Washington experiences each year.

Examples include museums, government, science, business, arts, nonprofits, and the senior externship program. This is stronger evidence than simply pointing to the Capitol on a map.

Still, a schoolwide count is not a student guarantee. Ask how many off-campus academic trips a ninth grader completed last year, which courses used the city repeatedly, and what happened when transport or a schedule conflict prevented a trip.

For a family in the Washington region, full boarding also changes the meaning of 'local.' A nearby parent does not gain an ordinary evening pickup.

The student remains inside the same dorm, weekend, and leave system as a classmate flying from another state.

Learning support, health, and counseling

There are several layers of help, with important limits to verify

The Crosland Academic Support Center works with teachers and students on learning strategies, content difficulty, and executive skills. The current handbook and support page name three learning specialists.

The new-student page names two. Ask for the Fall 2027 staffing roster and current caseloads.

A long-term academic accommodation plan requires a full neuropsychological or psychoeducational evaluation from the last three years. It must include a coded diagnosis and show how learning is affected.

A pediatrician or therapist letter alone is not enough, and the school does not promise every clinician recommendation.

Episcopal may place a student in daytime or nighttime academic study hall when performance slips. The support model is designed to build independent success.

It is not presented as intensive daily remediation or a replacement for long-term outside therapy.

The medical side is substantial. The school describes a physician, eight full-time registered nurses, 24/7 primary care for routine illness, and an eight-bed infirmary.

Routine nurse or doctor evaluation is included, while labs and outside care may create charges.

Three full-time counselors provide assessment and brief supportive counseling on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For an after-hours mental-health emergency, a student goes to or calls the Health Center and asks for the counselor on call. Ongoing and specialized care is referred locally.

Family travel and school breaks

DCA and Union Station help, but the school is not a personal car service

For Thanksgiving, winter, and spring breaks, Episcopal offers free group shuttles to Reagan National Airport, Dulles Airport, and Washington Union Station. Students must reserve a place, and a shuttle may not run when no one signs up.

The school does not offer individual airport or train rides for ordinary weekends or outside the scheduled break shuttles. Families use a cab, rideshare, private service, or another approved plan.

A student who must travel as an unaccompanied minor may need a school chaperone. The current page lists separate pickup and drop-off charges of $125 at Reagan and $150 at Dulles or Union Station.

Service depends on notice, demand, and adult availability.

Campus closes for Thanksgiving, winter, and spring breaks. The 2026–27 calendar also includes fall, midwinter, and Easter long weekends.

Varsity teams may return early, so families should not book every flight from the general calendar alone.

Build the travel budget around the real home address. Include family visits, closed-campus breaks, early team returns, unaccompanied-minor service, baggage, weather changes, and the local contact who can arrive within 24 hours.

Faith, culture, and belonging

Episcopal identity is required community practice, not a religious admissions test

Students do not have to be Christian. Everyone attends chapel three times weekly.

The school also offers optional Sunday communion and Compline, and says chaplains help students reach synagogues, mosques, churches, and other local worship communities.

Entering ninth and tenth graders complete Biblical Theology, and seniors complete a theology elective. Current offerings include Christian scripture alongside world religions and comparative worship.

The current Honor Code requires students not to lie, cheat, or steal and to report an honor violation. That final duty asks a great deal of adolescents living together.

Ask students how reporting works when friendship, fear, and uncertainty collide.

Niche's small self-selected polls describe high involvement, competition, and teacher care. Reviews range from strong praise for community and adult access to sharp criticism of administration and social life.

Treat those comments as prompts for transfer integration, discipline transparency, belonging, and help-seeking questions.

Tuition, aid, and full cost

The comprehensive fee is broad, but it is not the whole family budget

The 2026–27 comprehensive fee is $77,700. It includes tuition, room, board, basic health-center expenses, all dining-hall meals, technology and course supplies, outdoor education, local special events, and most school-sponsored academic, athletic, recreational, and weekend activities.

Fall 2027 families will pay the still-unpublished 2027–28 fee. The current page estimates a laptop at about $1,500, books and academic materials at $400 annually, private music at $1,200 to $1,600, and varsity trips or camps at $500 to $2,000.

The school also suggests budgeting at least $200 monthly for laundry, local transportation, clothing, outings, entertainment, and other incidentals. Dorm washers and dryers are free, so families should ask how much of that estimate assumes optional wash-and-fold service.

The enrollment deposit is $7,800 and is credited to the first installment. It is prorated for aid recipients.

Families may use a two-installment or six-installment plan, and an optional tuition-refund plan is available.

The school reports about $9.6 million in annual aid, with 35% of students receiving assistance and an average need-based grant near $59,000. It also publishes average family contributions across income bands.

Those examples are not promises for a particular asset profile.

New-family Clarity materials and the 2026 pay stub are due January 15, 2027. Both parents generally file when divorced or separated.

Awards are annual, though the school says a similar level can normally continue when income and assets do not change significantly.

Episcopal states plainly that aid demand from admissible students exceeds available funds. Applying for aid may therefore affect the admission decision.

Families should ask whether the grant also covers books, laptop, travel, health costs, required team expenses, and the enrollment deposit.

Fall 2027 admission

Grade 9 is the natural doorway, but Grades 10 and 11 are real applications

Episcopal accepts Fall 2027 applications for Grades 9, 10, and 11. It does not list Grade 12 as an entry grade.

The school publishes no target openings, applications, offers, yield, or waitlist movement for any grade.

The complete application is due January 15. Interviews must be completed by January 31.

Decisions are scheduled for March 10, and enrollment contracts are due April 10.

Families may use the Standard Application Online or Gateway to Prep Schools. The file includes a $60 domestic or $120 international fee, student questionnaire and essay, parent questionnaire, current and two prior years of grades, and recommendations from English, mathematics, and the principal or counselor.

Testing is required. Grade 9 and 10 applicants may submit the SSAT, ISEE, or PSAT.

Grade 11 applicants may use the PSAT, SAT, or ACT. A February test can arrive late only when the rest of the file was complete by January 15.

International applicants whose first language is not English also submit TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo results unless the school grants its stated waiver. Applicants living and studying in mainland China begin with Vericant and may be invited to a second Episcopal interview.

The usual visit takes about two hours. It combines a student-led tour, a student interview, and time for parents or guardians with the admissions officer.

The school says the conversation covers school, interests, activities, and the student's reason for wanting boarding school. Virtual interviews are available when travel is not possible.

There is no published scoring rubric, test range, interview weight, or admissions preference for alumni children, siblings, geography, athletics, or full-pay applicants. Ask rather than building an odds estimate from Niche, a school list, or family lore.

Entering after freshman year

A later transfer needs a social plan and a credit plan

Episcopal expressly welcomes new sophomores and juniors. The new-student page says these students meet their grade deans during orientation and are introduced to the Washington program, college counseling, technology, and library resources.

The academic rules also recognize later entry. Entering tenth and eleventh graders have adjusted arts, theology, and physical-education requirements.

That helps, but it is not a personalized credit audit.

The social transition deserves equal attention. A tenth or eleventh grader joins after classmates have completed freshman dorm life, the Burch trip, and a year or two of shared traditions.

Ask how many students entered that grade in each of the last two years and where they lived.

Niche includes one recent parent account describing a positive Grade 10 transfer and a meaningful transfer cohort. That is one self-selected family report, not a schoolwide retention measure.

Use it to request conversations with current transfer families.