It lies within each NCS student and is ignited by her teachers, her peers, her community, and herself. In our carefully curated and highly relational environment, she develops skills both inside and outside of the classroom in interdisciplinary ways — preparing her at a high level not just for college, but for her life’s work.
As an independent girls’ school for grades 4 –12, we live our mission to believe in the power of young women and have deep respect for what young women can and will do.
Our students have a hunger to learn new things, coupled with an intense desire to make an impact and fully immerse themselves in new opportunities. At NCS, they are taught to believe in their individual power and learn to use it to actively engage in any pursuit with excellence, service, courage, and conscience.
NCS is a vibrant place full of purposeful activity and engagement of the body, mind, and soul. Walk into any space at NCS and you’ll see it, feel it.
Our faculty and staff have the same spark as their students and work together to provide an unparalleled educational experience that not only delivers learning moments but also helps students discover how they want to show up in the world.
NCS students graduate as curious, critical, and independent thinkers who communicate effectively while using their newfound power in responsible and collective ways. They have a strong sense of their identity that serves as a grounding anchor in an ever-evolving and complex world.
This ability to remain true to themselves—combined with their inner spark—is a powerful force, uniquely developed at NCS.
Get to Know NCS
Students traverse the Close frequently, on their way between NCS’s well-equipped classroom buildings or en route to a service in Washington National Cathedral, a class at St. Albans School, lunch with friends in the dining hall, or our state-of-the-art 90,000-square-foot Athletic Center.
The East Terrace of the Cathedral fills with chatter as Lower School students jump rope at recess, and on sunny days, English or language classes meet under the trees.
As a Cathedral school, NCS has the privilege of gathering as a community in Washington National Cathedral throughout the school year for singing and dance performances, as well as lectures. Every seven school days, we convene for an all-school Cathedral service—a time for contemplation, fellowship, and celebration.
An Episcopal school, NCS welcomes students of all faiths and traditions, aligned with the Cathedral’s mission to be “a house of prayer for all people.”
Our campus—59 acres known as the Cathedral Close— is a dynamic place.
Students derive strength from being in a community with one another, and they see their success multiplied by the collective.
Why a Girls’ School
Since its founding in 1900, NCS has been dedicated to the pursuit of educating girls— a pursuit validated by years of research. Our curriculum and teaching, our sports, arts, and activities are tailored to girls’ developmental and social-emotional needs.
We enable each student to learn about herself, including how she relates to others, what she needs, and how she creates balance in her life. Because she does so away from society’s predetermined expectations of what a young woman should be, she is able to see the broader range of ways she can be in this world. Ultimately, each NCS student charts her own path and crafts her own identity, making choices and pulling from both herself and what she learns at NCS. Our graduates are distinct individuals who are united in their NCS experience.
At the same time, NCS offers a rare advantage—a coordinate program with St. Albans School, the boys’ school also on the Cathedral Close. Through this unique partnership, NCS students from grade 7 onward can take part in a variety of co-educational opportunities including community service, arts, and sports programs, and, in Upper School, a number of shared classes. Students determine their own level of involvement with St. Albans, but all gain access to the extensive facilities and broad resources of both institutions.
The NCS Spirit
The NCS community roots hard — for the school and for each other.
Classmates cheer for their peers at poetry slams, music and drama performances, and sporting events. On entering NCS, each student is assigned to the purple or gold team. We kick off a friendly year-long competition with a fall Spirit Day, decked out in face paint and fun outfits. Spirit is part of NCS’s DNA!
The NCS Experience
At NCS, whether a student is in Lower School (grades 4 through 6), Middle School (grades 7 and 8), or Upper School (grades 9 through 12), she both learns a skill and also questions, tries, and internalizes it for herself.
This approach is supported by highly skilled educators who are motivated to understand their students and create learning partnerships with them. These partnerships lead to students who both have the skills they need and the understanding to apply those skills in the world as the people they choose to be.
Beginning in grade 4, this relational approach evolves over a student’s time at NCS, creating a trajectory that begins with educators modeling behavior and moves to collaboration, culminating in student independence.
This approach is ingrained in our academics, athletics, arts, and campus life each amplifying the other to create an environment where students benefit from consistent reinforcement and practice.
The relational environment is not limited to educators and students. NCS students quickly learn that their power is related to the power of their peers around them. Students derive strength from being in a community with one another, and they see their success multiplied by the collective.
To help each student unlock her power, we’ve intentionally designed an experience grounded in a profoundly relational way of teaching.
Academics
At NCS, we provide an exceptional education for our students. We developed our research-backed curriculum with a clear understanding of the skills young women will need to be successful. Our teachers build strong relationships with students to guide and mentor their personal growth.
They get to know students extremely well and meet them where they are with instruction and support. Students develop trust and admiration for their teachers and are willing to work collaboratively with them.
Special things happen in an NCS classroom, as our teachers create spaces where they work together with their students to create moments of shared understanding and self-realization that often come from the students themselves.
Our skills-based curriculum is designed for students who lean into this environment— those who are eager to learn new things, possess the energy and mindset to immerse themselves fully in a topic, and hold a deep-seated desire to make an impact.
Office Hours
Office hours at NCS are empowering and frequently utilized. Students learn to speak up for what they need and discover that learning is a collaborative venture. Office hours are a critical component of the deep relationships between students and teachers, full of inspiration, connection, and laughter.
Beta Day Project
Every year, grade 5 students gather to tackle a real-world problem that does not have a known solution, like invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay. These students do their research, talk to experts, understand the problem, and propose solutions (“beta models”).
Beyond Academics:
Co-Curriculars and Extracurriculars
At NCS, we understand the importance of both academics and co-curricular programming to develop our students’ minds, bodies, and spirits. Athletics, music, and visual and performing arts are integrated into the curriculum, alongside student-led extracurricular groups, allowing students to discover and develop their passions and try new things.
From the classes in our spacious art studios, to our musical events in Washington National Cathedral, to our 26 physical education options,
students have a broad range of high-quality choices. This programming is broadened by our robust coordinate program with neighboring boys’ school, St. Albans School.
Our students take risks, and even sometimes don’t achieve everything they expect, learning important lessons about perseverance, vulnerability, and how to define success. They learn to work together, trusting themselves and one another as they give each other energy and support regardless of the outcome.
Voyageur
Students in the Voyageur program gain technical expertise in both indoor and outdoor rock climbing and whitewater kayaking. Voyageur makes use of facilities on the Close, including NCS’s 50-foot freestanding climbing wall, as well as on the nearby Potomac River.
Choristers
For NCS students with a passion for singing, Choristers provides a unique opportunity to participate in the life of Washington National Cathedral. Choristers raise their voices in song several times a week at Evensong services, selected Sunday services, and special events. During school breaks, Choristers have sung at churches and cathedrals throughout the U.S. and England.
Layers of Support
NCS teachers understand that learning requires a student to try new things and realize she can achieve far beyond what she could have imagined. Our teachers deeply believe in each student’s individual potential.
Accordingly, NCS students are appropriately challenged and stretched so they may reach their full potential. Our students are also deeply known, understood, and supported by faculty and staff along this journey.
While there is an extensive list of adults who support students from counselors to chaplains to coaches what sets us apart is the dedicated time our teachers, advisors, and deans take, multiple times a month, to discuss each student.
There is a constant flow of student information, coupled with evaluations and actions delivered in an iterative way. We are intentional in the ways we develop relationships with students, enabling us to be acutely aware of each student’s needs.
The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC)
The TLC helps students in all grades strengthen their study skills, optimize test-taking approaches, learn time-management methods, and more. Learning specialists offer one-on-one sessions and group workshops, and Upper Schoolers provide student-to-student peer mentoring. Most students will make use of the TLC at some point during their years at NCS.
The Center for Ethical Leadership and Service
In a world that is smaller than ever, with near-instant access to information and people around the globe, while also more divided than ever, the need for prepared, ethical citizens who critically analyze and work across differences has never been more important.
That is why the Center for Ethical Leadership and Service (CELS)— founded in 2013— houses the offices of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Community Service; and Global Programs.
Through CELS (pronounced “sells”) interdisciplinary programming, grounded in
our Episcopal values, students understand themselves, their relationships to others in their community, and their relationships globally. Like nesting dolls, these concepts develop and reinforce what identity, service, and leadership mean to each student.
Students integrate what happens in the classroom, on the field, and on the stage, with time set aside for reflection and exploration with educators they know and trust. Ultimately, CELS helps our students choose how they want to show up in the world and make a positive impact in their own unique ways.
Global Programs
Through experiential learning and hosting international visitors, Global Programs is more than a summer trip to the U.K. or Spain. Students develop their intercultural understanding by making connections internationally, engaging in service learning, and understanding the broader world they live in.
Diversity Forum
Students select a yearly theme, such as identity or mental health. The theme is incorporated into affinity groups, seminars, and classroom activities across the year and culminates each spring when the entire NCS community participates in a day-long Diversity Forum.
See Yourself At NCS
NCS is a vibrant space full of curious and spirited individuals who come together as a collective to learn and live intensely, with purpose and passion. Situated in a calm space of green within our bustling and busy nation’s capital, NCS cultivates each student’s spark, helping her understand and unlock her power.
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I stay very thankful and connected to NCS because I know that’s where I learned who I could be… That’s where I solidified my values around what it means to stand up for oneself and for women in particular.” – NCS Alumna, Class of 1992
