National Cathedral School: An All-Girls Core, a Shared Close, and Questions to Ask Early

Faith and daily life

The Close, Cathedral worship, and Episcopal life

NCS begins in Grade 4 and educates about 600 girls through Grade 12. The school sits on the grounds of Washington National Cathedral, sharing the Cathedral Close with three other institutions: St.

Albans, Beauvoir, and the Cathedral itself. All four share the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, but each school has its own admission process, leadership, purpose, and governing board.

For families mapping the early years, Beauvoir is an independent coed school for younger children, not an NCS elementary division.

Girls gather for an all-school Cathedral service and a divisional chapel once during each seven-day cycle, totaling about 25 whole-school Cathedral services over the school year. Prayer, singing, reflection, homilies, and student leadership are part of the routine, every cycle.

Washington National Cathedral is not NCS's private chapel. It is a separate religious institution that hosts important school services.

NCS says it welcomes Episcopal and non-Episcopal Christians, students from other religions, and students with no faith affiliation. Religion and ethical traditions are studied with an academic lens.

Chaplains also serve as teachers, advisors, and sources of care. In Grade 4, religion introduces Episcopal hospitality and spiritual practice while exploring sacred spaces and varied religious identities.

The coordinate program

Coed life with St. Albans, across the Close

NCS pairs an all-girls core experience with shared coed life alongside St. Albans.

The coordinate connection expands as students grow. In Lower School, girls and boys perform together in wind and string ensembles.

Middle School adds joint theater and music. Most of a younger student's academic day remains at NCS.

Upper School offers much more. NCS lists nearly all arts and music courses, Chinese, Grade 11 and 12 English, selected computer science and social-science electives, debate, government, and several sports as coordinate opportunities, and advertises more than 100 coed academic, arts, and athletics opportunities in all.

That is a school-defined count, not a promise that every girl can schedule every item.

Coordinate courses can be enrollment-limited, and many advanced courses run in one section only. When a single-section course conflicts with a required class, choices still have to be made on the schedule.

Academics

The seven-day week, 85-minute blocks, and Advanced Studies

NCS organizes its week on a rotating seven-day schedule. Each class meets four times per cycle: in two 60-minute blocks and two 85-minute blocks.

Upper School students usually take five homework-bearing core courses each semester. Classes average 12 students.

The student-teacher ratio is 8:1, and 84% of the faculty hold advanced degrees. Grades are reported on an unweighted scale.

The school does not rank students. Upper School requires 60 service hours and multiple seasons of physical education or athletics.

Beginning in 2026–27, NCS stopped teaching AP courses. The highest-level classes are now called Advanced Studies.

Students may carry no more than three homework-bearing Advanced Studies courses in a semester, and most juniors and seniors take two. Very few students take them before junior year.

Many Advanced Studies courses have a single section, so course requests depend on master-schedule fit.

Lower School runs on specialist teachers and projects. Fourth graders move from a homeroom base into classes run by subject specialists, with report-card grades delayed until the third trimester.

Projects pace Lower School, anchored by the Grade 4 play, Grade 5 Beta Day, and the Grade 6 Chesapeake research trip.

Middle School covers only Grades 7 and 8. Students keep the same advisor across both years to build study skills and executive function.

Grade 7's signature work is Reading the Cathedral. Grade 8 is independent research in Earth Science and American Government.

In Upper School, Grade 9 advisors focus on transition, academics, friendships, and learning skills. Grade 10 moves into student-led discussion, and Grades 11 and 12 open to broader elective choice.

Support and wellness

Learning support, counseling, and health

NCS sets a clear boundary around accommodations. The school offers a limited number of school-based accommodations for diagnosed learning differences and health conditions, and it requires updated testing every five years.

It does not provide special-education services or specialized instruction. This can work well for a student who needs coaching, testing accommodations, and organized check-ins, but not for a child who needs regular remediation or embedded special education.

The Teaching & Learning Center is open to all students. A girl can drop in or arrange a standing appointment for writing, test strategy, study habits, time management, and executive function.

The Center also advises teachers and families about learning approaches and psychoeducational testing.

Three licensed counselors provide emotional support, each covering three grades. Academic deans monitor progress.

Advisors, chaplains, peer tutors, and trained peer leaders add another layer of support. The school has one school nurse as the primary medical caregiver on campus, overseeing urgent care, chronic-condition plans, immunization monitoring, long-illness planning, and participation on the Crisis Team.

Families with diabetes, severe allergies, or complex medication needs should ask who covers when the nurse is unavailable and how care follows a student across the Close.

One health rule needs checking. The NCS page says COVID-19 vaccination is required by both NCS and DC Health for students 12 and older, but DC Health’s current school guide does not list COVID-19 among required entry vaccines.

NCS may have its own rule, or its page may be stale; ask for the 2027–28 health checklist and exemption process in writing.

In 2019, an independent investigation across the four Close institutions corroborated historical sexual-misconduct allegations involving 16 former adults. The allegations date mostly from the 1950s through the 1980s, and they include one former NCS employee.

The institutions apologized, reported credibly accused adults to law enforcement and employers, and accepted recommendations. Officials stated that the investigation had not surfaced allegations against then-current employees.

Activities and transit

After school, athletics, and the 5:45 ride home

NCS sits at 3612 Woodley Road NW. Metrobus stops are adjacent to campus.

Woodley Park–Zoo/Adams Morgan on the Red Line is less than a mile away, and Tenleytown is a little more than a mile from campus. The school operates morning and afternoon shuttles to Woodley Park Metro.

DC students may use the Kids Ride Free program. Prince George's County families can access a third-party Connect DMV shuttle.

Enrolled parents can connect through a ZIP-code carpool finder.

After classes end, the campus gets busy. A 90,000-square-foot athletic center supports 12 Middle School and 15 Upper School team sports, plus dance, fitness, and coed outdoor programs.

Arts run from ceramics, photography, and 3D printing to theater, music, and dance; Lower School music and chorus meet four times per seven-day rotation, Middle School chorus is open without audition, and Chorale uses a placement audition.

The school lists more than 50 Upper School clubs on one page and more than 60 clubs and affinity groups on another.

Middle School sports practices run about 2:30–3:30 p.m., while Upper School sports practices run about 3:45–5:45 p.m. Test the trip home at that hour, not at midday on a tour. An Extended Day Program exists, but current grades, hours, fees, wait-list rules, and closure dates were not found.

Lower School enrichment should not be assumed to equal daily custodial care.

Cost and aid

Tuition, the first-year commitment, and financial aid

Tuition for the 2026–27 school year is $59,760. Each new student pays a one-time new-student fee of $1,850, so tuition and fees come to $61,610.

The school also holds a $1,000 refundable deposit on account until departure. Counted before incidentals, the first-year cash commitment is $62,610.

Lunch is included. Uniforms, textbooks, school-store purchases, music lessons, club sports, camps, trips, and Parents Association and class dues may add to the bill.

NCS requires a $5,000 enrollment deposit. For a new student, the schedule says $1,000 is held until departure and account settlement, and it appears to treat the remaining $4,000 as a tuition credit.

The same schedule calls the deposit nonrefundable and describes that $1,000 as refundable, so ask what happens to each portion if a family withdraws before school starts.

Semiannual and monthly payment plans add $150, tuition-refund insurance is billed automatically for those plans and for accounts not paid in full by July 1, and optional student-accident insurance is $24.

All financial assistance at NCS is need-based. The school offers no academic, artistic, or athletic scholarships.

For 2026–27, NCS reports more than $6.2 million in need-based aid for 25% of students, with awards ranging from 5% to 98%. Aid may extend to textbooks and extracurriculars.

A linked aid FAQ describes possible support for materials, activities, and selected trips. It is labeled for an earlier cycle.

Use it to ask about Fall 2027 policy, not as a promise of current coverage. Applications are processed through Clarity, with a $65 fee and limited waivers.

Families reapply annually. There is no sibling discount.

All parents with legal custody are generally expected to provide financial information.

Admissions

Applying for Fall 2027: entry grades and deadlines

NCS begins in Grade 4, not Kindergarten, and has no Grades 1 through 3 at all. The school calls Grade 4 the entry point to Lower School, welcoming a full cohort with a month-long orientation.

The event form accepts interest for every grade from 4 through 12, and Grade 7 (the start of the two-year Middle School) and Grade 9 (the start of Upper School) are natural transition points, but NCS publishes no expected openings for any grade beyond 4.

Outside Grade 4, the only safe planning assumption is vacancy-dependent entry until NCS supplies current continuation and class-size data.

Applications for Fall 2027 entry opened on September 1, 2026, through Ravenna. The public application checklist asks for parent and student questionnaires, teacher recommendations, transcripts, standardized testing, a campus visit, and an interview for Grades 5 and above.

In the prior admissions cycle, application files and financial aid submissions were due on January 9, 2026.

An interview is listed for Grades 5 and above. No interview is listed for Grade 4.

Fall events include an introductory 30-minute webinar on October 21 and division programs in November: Upper School on November 7, Lower School on November 11, and Middle School on November 19. Registration is through Ravenna.

NCS on openings, scheduling conflicts and the shared Close

NCS shares its campus and some classes with St. Albans, so ask how many places open in your grade and how scheduling and reporting work across both schools.