Academics

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Department

More Program Highlights

List of 6 items.

AP Courses

Many girls get a leg-up on college by taking Advanced Placement courses, which have a college-level curriculum taught at the high school level. To take these exceptionally challenging courses, which the College Board oversees, you must get permission from the department, do well in the prerequisite courses, and complete significant summer assignments first. In May, students take the AP Exams that match the courses they took; top scores may help you earn college credit.
Digital Literacy
Required for freshmen, the Digital Literacy class focuses on three crucial aspects of life in the digital age:
- your ability to find, evaluate, utilize, and share information;
- new ways for you to create content using information, technology, and the Internet;
- perhaps most importantly, digital safety so that you better understand the risks associated with putting information online and how to protect what you put there.
Educational Technology

Foxcroft strives to make the most effective use of educational technology in all disciplines. The Director of Educational Technology works with faculty to integrate appropriate and innovative technologies in support of student learning.
One Schoolhouse

Foxcroft is a charter affiliate member of the Online School for Girls, which expanded in 2016 to become One Schoolhouse. It presents courses that might not be offered at individual schools. With the approval of the Assistant Head of School for Academics and appropriate Department Chair, a student may take a course for credit during the school year or the summer. One Schoolhouse offers a variety of courses.
Wellness

Wellness is a four-year, research-based program targeted to the aspects of wellness that most affect our students. Freshmen attend a class that meets regularly during the fall to study topics ranging from nutrition and the female body to the principles of mindfulness, stress, and public speaking, among other things. The program continues with a variety of age-appropriate seminars through the subsequent three years.
Wintermission

Wintermission is a week-long term in February during which you take one or two intensive courses, generally on a topic very different from your usual classes. These courses encourage students and teachers to examine a subject in great depth and provide opportunities for off-campus travel and service. Students must successfully complete Wintermission each year they are at Foxcroft.

Faculty

List of 4 items.

28

advanced degrees
held by faculty
5

teachers have
Ph.D.s
88%

of faculty and administrators
live on campus
100%

offer extra help
outside of class

Wellness

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Wellness Program

Foxcroft's motto is mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body), and we help our girls live that through a robust Wellness program. Tailored to their needs and interests, topics change for each grade level and build upon one another, instilling in girls a strong foundation for all-encompassing well-being.

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Experiential Learning

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Learning is Everywhere

At Foxcroft, everything we do is curriculum — and that means learning occurs in many places and many ways. Foxcroft boasts a variety of unique programs focused on experiences outside the classroom and even beyond the front gate. Explore Experiential Learning at Foxcroft.

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STEM Initiative

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Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

At Foxcroft, these critical fields for the 21st century are compelling, engaging, and fun. Our landmark STEM Initiative emphasizes inquiry-based labs, using technology with confidence and ease, and hands-on problem-solving — and extends well beyond the classroom. Investigate STEM, one of Foxcroft’s signature programs.

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Schoolhouse News

End of Year Biology Projects Designed to Give Back to Community
6/3/2022
From STEM Teacher Dr. Meghen Tuttle

The goal of this class project was to give back to our community in some way, either through service on campus, to our larger community, or beyond. Each class spent time brainstorming ideas in small groups and then discussing and modifying those ideas until arriving at one concept (or, in the case of period 5, the largest class, two concepts).

It took about two weeks to move from brainstorming to a solidified project. Two class projects involved collecting data (period products and food waste), one involved incubating, caring for, and donating chicks, and two involved writing a proposal for work to be completed in the fall (period products and pollinator garden). All four groups presented information to the community as part of their service component. All in all, students were engaged throughout the process and learned a lot!
Read more >>
Academic Concentration Projects Culminate in Final Presentations to the Community
6/3/2022
Last Wednesday, May 25, the Academic Concentration program’s eight graduating seniors made their final presentations to family and community members during the culminating event for the program. Presentations took place between 9am and 2:30pm in 30-minute time slots, with options for friends and family to attend in person or via Zoom. These students also received special recognition at Commencement on Friday, May 27, when their Concentration designations were shared as they received their diplomas.
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Fluids, Cardboard Boats, and Buoyancy
6/3/2022
With a reminder that points would be awarded for “time, style, team spirit, and if the need arises, spectacular sinking,” Dr. Kristine Varney launched the cardboard boat race for her Advanced Physics students.
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The Great Perhaps
6/3/2022
Foxcroft Celebrated the 43 members of the Class of 2022 at the School’s 108th Commencement on Friday, May 27

For the first time in many years, weather conditions forced graduation into the Engelhard Gymnasium of the Athletic/Student Center. Yet the Class of 2022, with all of the perseverance, steadfastness, and determination for which they have come to be known, pushed through their disappointment at not being in Miss Charlotte’s Garden to graduate with all of the cheers, laughter, and tears of a typical Foxcroft Commencement. Not even the National Weather Service’s Tornado Watch could dampen their spirits.
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Engineered to Serve
5/20/2022
By Fine Arts Department Chair Julie Fisher

Engineering students closed out the school year with one final design review to share details about the projects they delivered to their respective community partners. A total of four EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) teams designed solutions to unique problems that were identified both on and off-campus.
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Contact

List of 4 members.

Tanya Hyatt

Assistant Head of School

540.687.4331

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Tanya Hyatt joined the Foxcroft community as Assistant Head of School in July 2022. Prior to coming to Foxcroft, Dr. Hyatt served as Dean of Academics at Indian Springs from 2017-2020 and worked to strengthen course offerings and improve the academic schedule, to integrate study skills into the curriculum, and to increase the use of classroom technology. Her faculty, administrators, and Board of Trustees hold her in such esteem that she was appointed Acting Head of School for four months in 2019, when the Head left unexpectedly before the end of the School year.

Since July of 2020, Dr. Hyatt has served as Dean of Faculty, a role that leads all aspects of hiring, mentoring new faculty, and planning faculty meetings and professional development, among other responsibilities. Under her leadership, Indian Springs revised the hiring process to work to eliminate bias and increase faculty of color. She also worked to implement a new annual faculty evaluation using Folio Collaborative.

Dr. Hyatt earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa and a Ph.D. in Nutrition Science from the University of Alabama, Birmingham. She has published research on nutrition, some of which is specifically related to women, and has also earned her paramedic license and national certification.

Dr. Hyatt, her husband Cris, his daughter Maddy, and their dog Saban are eager to get to know Foxcroft’s students, parents, and faculty, and to engage with the Middleburg community!
Whittney Preston

Dean of Inclusive Excellence

540.687.4333

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Whittney joined the Foxcroft community in July 2021 as the Dean of Inclusive Excellence. Before coming to Foxcroft, Whittney resided in Oklahoma City, OK, where she worked for Heritage Hall School. During her time there, she had the enriching opportunity to work in all three divisions of the school teaching Spanish. She also served there as Associate Director of Diversity and Inclusion, where she works to implement diverse programming throughout the school as well as to serve as a sounding board for students, patrons, alumni, faculty, and staff. She started programs that connected all aspects of the community such as Charger Spotlight and Courageous Conversations, which she defines as open and honest dialogue about diversity challenges the community is facing. She also served as the Lower School Specials Team Lead, where she led the largest group of teachers on campus consistently towards common goals.

She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish from The University of Oklahoma and a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Southern Nazarene University. She is currently working on her Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership, where her dissertation is focused on how the lack of diversity and diverse programming in independent schools can have a negative impact on all students.

Whittney is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the first African American Greek-lettered Sorority. Through that organization, she volunteers supporting initiatives such as Women’s Healthcare and Wellness, as well as assisting high school students in their efforts to enter college. Whittney loves spending time with her family and her sweet little dog, a Maltipoo named Milo. In her spare time, she loves reading, traveling, and learning about cultures that are different from her own. She is a sports fanatic and loves watching and cheering on her Oklahoma Sooners, Boston Celtics, OKC Thunder, and Dallas Cowboys!
Patty Boswell

Registrar and Administrative Assistant to the Assistant Head of School, Lead Dorm Parent

540.687.4332

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Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, Patty Boswell attended an all girls' private high school where she learned the value of single-sex education. She arrived at Foxcroft in May of 1990 with her family and began what was to become an unexpected adventure. After a brief stint on the switchboard, Patty became the Registrar/Administrative Assistant in the Academic Office in 1992. Always the faithful Hound, Patty proudly became the HoundBacker in 1999 and has lived in her Fox/Hound world ever since. In 2000, Patty added Court Housemother to her job description.

In her spare time, Patty enjoys spending time with her family — Patty's daughter Kelli graduated from Foxcroft in the Class of 2003. She also enjoys reading, listening to music and enjoying the company of her many pets.
Elizabeth "Beth" O'Quinn

Experiential Learning & Student Life Coordinator

540.687.4376

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A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts and a Bachelor's of Interior Architecture, Beth O'Quinn made a career of applied arts and sciences, working for several architecture and interior design firms in both New York City and Washington, DC, and then running her own design firm. She has also engaged in volunteer work for various organizations in Loudoun County and serves on the Outreach Committee of Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville, VA.

Beth is passionate about service learning and experiential education, in their many forms and coordinates special opportunities for Foxcroft students that included the Wintermission term, travel and exchange opportunities, the Exceptional Proficiency Program, and community service and volunteer experiences, both occasional and on-going.

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