Athletic Philosophy

We recognize the important balance between academics and athletics and believe strongly that regular exercise, the development of skills, and interscholastic athletic competition play critical roles in a student’s growth. We stress the values of teamwork and cooperation, and students learn to cope respectfully and courteously in times of failure and disappointment as well as in times of success and mastery.

Athletic participation contributes to the development of a child’s self-esteem, confidence and overall character, and provides opportunities for leadership and success outside the classroom. We believe in and practice a 'no-cut' policy. Students do not try out for teams - if a desire to play exists, a student joins a team, earning playing time through dedication to practices and skills development. 

Physical education is a daily class for Middle School students, designed to develop individual skills, increase cardiovascular strength and provide students with exposure to sport and play. Middle School students enjoy a wide variety of athletic team options including volleyball, cross country, soccer, basketball, Ultimate Frisbee and track & field. 

Our Upper School teams compete as a member of the Virginia Independent School Athletic Association (VISAA). We play a variety of schools in the Charlottesville area including Saint Anne's-Belfield, Monticello, Covenant, Miller and Regents, in addition to a variety of private schools in Central Virginia. Middle School teams play a local schedule that minimizes long-distance travel to games. Tandem fields up to 18 sports teams per year, depending on student signup and interest, and club team options are sometimes available. Our student-athletes (and coaches) are selected regularly for all-tournament and all-state honors. Our Varsity Boys Cross Country team is currently the fastest private school team in the state, having won state championship titles in 2023, 2024 and 2025. In 2025 they not only won the Division III title, but also beat both the Division I and Division II teams by 34 points! Our Varsity Boys Soccer, Varsity Boys Basketball and Varsity Girls Volleyball teams have all made recent state tournament appearances. Additionally, our Varsity Boys' Basketball team won their 2025-2026 conference tournament championship.