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— Kolenich, Eric (2025, July 11). News. Local Education. https://richmond.com/news/local/education/article_781c5883-ef1f-4541-8c06-03d14bdf402c.html
Tappahannock girls boarding school to close due to financial hardship
St. Margaret’s School, a century-old, all-girls school in Tappahannock, will close for the 2025-26 school year, the school’s owner said Thursday.
The school has dealt with growing financial problems and a shrinking enrollment in recent years. Just 49 students have paid enrollment deposits, which is not nearly enough to cover the school’s operating budget, said Henry Broaddus, president of Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia (CSDV), the Henrico County-based nonprofit that owns St. Margaret’s.
Students who paid deposits will receive refunds, and staff will work with students to find them a new school this fall. As a boarding school, St. Margaret’s houses some students on campus, while others commute back and forth.
The 27 faculty and staff under contract will receive their salary and benefits through July, and CSDV will offer them severance. Donors who contributed to St. Margaret’s in an effort to save it can ask for a refund.
“In the meantime, we know that all will receive this decision with the same sadness we feel,” Broaddus said in a letter to the school community. “We understand that some will feel anger in response to this loss. We hope that all will support one another.”
St. Margaret’s opened in 1921 on the banks of the Rappahannock River, an hour northeast of Richmond. It took in students displaced from Afghanistan and won conference championships in softball. But the school for high school girls experienced a drop in enrollment during the past decade, from 130 students in 2009 to 70 last year.
To attract more students, St. Margaret’s discounted tuition, leading to lower revenue and an operating deficit that grew to a projected $2.6 million this year. The school charges about $22,000 annually for day students and $62,000 for those who live on campus seven days a week. Over the years, CSDV drew down the endowment and sold real estate to cover the deficit.
At the end of 2024, CSDV notified St. Margaret’s that it needed to raise the $2.6 million for the school to open this fall. CSDV owns five other Episcopal schools in the state, including St. Catherine’s and St. Christopher’s in Richmond.
It took St. Margaret’s just two months to collect donations and pledges for $2.6 million. Supporters thought they had saved the school. But in May, the owner notified St. Margaret’s that it was still not on track to becoming financially solvent. Only 53 students had enrolled, short of the 70 projected, and most of the donors had not yet signed their checks.
In early June, CSDV notified the school community that St. Margaret’s ability to open was at risk. A St. Margaret’s parent, Brett Christina Glymph, filed a lawsuit requesting an injunction that would prevent CSDV from taking any action that would interfere with the school’s ability to collect donations and increase enrollment. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Essex County Circuit Court, and it is unclear if the lawsuit could impact CSDV’s intention to close the school.
“Obviously we’re very disappointed with the decision,” said Chap Petersen, a Fairfax-based lawyer for the plaintiff. “We feel like the rug was pulled out from under us.”
The school community raised $2.7 million and attracted a minimum number of students who could keep the school open, Petersen said. Generations of families have donated to the school over the years, the lawyer added, essentially creating a trust St. Margaret’s has to honor.
“All things are possible in Christ,” he said.
The board of trustees for CSDV met Thursday and determined St. Margaret’s would not open for the 2025-26 school year. No decision has been made beyond the upcoming year, Broaddus said in an email.
“Unfortunately, following more than a decade of declines in both student enrollment and tuition revenue, as well as the likelihood of continued decline in the upcoming year, the trustees see no viable path forward,” Broaddus wrote to the school community.
Though the school community raised more money than what was originally pledged, the lack of tuition revenue means St. Margaret’s still lacks the financial reserves to cover potential budget shortfalls, Broaddus said. CSDV did not pinpoint a certain number of students or a certain level of fundraising necessary to stay open. Instead, the trustees took stock of the school’s financial situation, its enrollment and the prospect of returning to financial sustainability.
The decision was met with sadness from alumnae who raised funds and encouraged enrollment.
“Instead of recognizing this momentum, CSDV actively undermined it,” said Sandra Mitchell, president of a group called Save Our St. Margaret’s. “Their statements and actions discouraged enrollment, delayed essential planning and deprived the school of the support it needed to succeed.”
— Newman, Lesley (2025, June 28). Opinion. Letters. https://richmond.com/opinion/letters/article_74232447-fb14-48f4-a6fd-fdf4855e4df7.html
Letter: St. Margaret's School's urgency mirrors Virginia's
Thomas Jefferson’s great thought experiment was at the University of Virginia in 1819, but I contend a greater experiment is taking place 200 years later, about a hundred miles east of Charlottesville.
As an alumna of the school and former faculty member, I write about St. Margaret’s School’s imminent closure ("A girls boarding school in Tappahannock is in danger of closing. A parent is suing to keep it open," June 19).
My parents were professionals in the Northern Neck, just across the Rappahannock. They considered St. Margaret's at the invitation of a colleague.
I was supported in a safe place to grow up and learn to think and live in community. At St. Margaret’s, I met students from the D.C. metropolis who challenged my rural beliefs. There was a thriving international student body in 1999, with my graduating class representing six different countries in addition to the U.S. Those women later became entrepreneurs, business leaders, lawyers, teachers, nurses, writers — even a congresswoman.
I accepted a job there in 2017 because of a vibrant, diverse community of students, educators and staff who believed in the mission. It was messy, though. The campus was reeling from the divisiveness of the 2016 election; administrators remained divided on a path forward in the new school year. I was among 10 alums employed that year.
The robust international program I inherited experienced a sharp decline in enrollment from 2017-2020. When I spoke with parents — especially those from China and Mexico — they worried that though St. Margaret's was a safe place for their adolescent daughters, the country was not. The year after I left campus, the school not only hired their inaugural director of DEI but also appeared on the Tucker Carlson Show.
The urgency of this school’s closure mirrors the urgency of our moment in Virginia. What do we value? Who are we, Virginia?
Lesley Newman, Waynesboro
— Brayford Swajkoski, Missy (2025, June 26). Opinion. Letters.https://richmond.com/opinion/letters/article_b93cd57f-cdea-4bbf-bc4b-eb381ba65205.html
Letter: St. Margaret’s School is worth saving
Members of the St. Margaret’s School Board of Governors, administration and alumni community were caught by surprise when the Church Schools of the Diocese of Virginia (CSDV) sent a letter to families of current students explaining the very real possibility of the school closing in July (“A girls boarding school in Tappahannock is in danger of closing. A parent is suing to keep it open,” June 19).
The timing of this communication had not been shared with leaders of St. Margaret’s and was sent during the time when contracts with incoming students for the upcoming fall semester are being finalized. This action taken by the board of CSDV contradicted past agreements regarding deadlines for the school to demonstrate proof of financial viability for the 2025-2026 academic year.
The CSDV website mentions that part of their original mission was “to provide scholarships for the growing number of orphaned children.” The wording would be changed today if referring to St. Margaret’s as it has provided numerous scholarships for girls to attend school while being removed from dangerous war-torn countries around the world.
Students have come from over 40 countries, and numerous states in the U.S., for more than 100 years. They have been protected, educated and nurtured in a family-friendly environment.
By utilizing easy access to the Rappahannock River, a S.T.R.E.A.M. program thrives for the students. Program Director Richard Moncure has been recognized as “Innovative Teacher of the Year” by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools.
The school has expanded the athletic complex off campus to provide more options for the students. There are annual productions for aspiring actors and art classes for budding artists. The Woolfolk Library provides state-of-the art materials and innovative programs. Virginia Living rated St. Margaret’s School among their “Top Schools and Universities” in 2025.
We are asking the members of the board of CSDV to prayerfully reconsider their decision to hasten the demise of St. Margaret’s School.
Missy Brayford Swajkoski (St. Margaret’s School, Class of 1973)
— Kolenich, Eric (2025, June 19). News. Local Education. https://richmond.com/news/local/education/article_aa765474-441a-4ce3-810b-835e66a9bb1f.html.
A girls boarding school in Tappahannock is in danger of closing. A parent is suing to keep it open.
A Tappahannock boarding school for girls is at risk of shutting its doors after years of shrinking enrollment and a widening operating deficit. A parent of a student at St. Margaret’s School has filed a lawsuit against the school’s owner in an effort to prevent the school from closing.
The owner, a Henrico County-based nonprofit called Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, or CSDV, told the school community this month that St. Margaret’s future is at risk. Unless more students enroll and donors follow through with their pledges, the school won’t open in the fall.
Brett Christina Glymph, a St. Margaret’s parent, filed the suit, saying the owner acted too quickly by announcing the school’s struggles, which threatens St. Margaret’s ability to raise funds. The owner, the suit states, is trying to shut down the school while parents and alumnae are still collecting donations.
“The CSDV is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by prematurely announcing the school’s closure,” the suit states.
But the owner says it has an obligation to be transparent to the school’s students, parents and staff. It intends to make a final decision about the school’s future by July 15.
“In the meantime, we continue to support the school’s efforts to recruit students and to raise money,” said Henry Broaddus, president of Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia.
Founded in 1921, St. Margaret’s teaches girls from eighth grade through a postgraduate program. It was built on the banks of the Rappahannock River, an hour northeast of Richmond.
Enrollment has dropped from 130 in 2009 to 70 this year, according to the owner. To attract new students, the school discounted tuition, resulting in lower revenue and an operating deficit that steadily grew to more than $3 million this year. The school charges about $22,000 for day students and $62,000 for those who live there seven days a week.
At the end of 2024, Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia projected a deficit of $2.6 million for the 2025-26 school year. It notified St. Margaret’s that it would need to raise the money before it could issue employment contracts to teachers and enrollment contracts to families for the fall. The owner, whose office is on River Road, controls five other Episcopal schools in the state, including St. Catherine’s and St. Christopher’s in Richmond.
The St. Margaret’s community mobilized, and by February, it had collected donations and pledges for $2.6 million. Supporters thought they had saved the school.
But by May, the owner determined St. Margaret’s was still not on track to open in the fall. Only 53 students had enrolled — far short of the projected 79 — and most of the donors who promised gifts had not yet delivered.
Complicating the matter, the school’s reserves and endowment did not have enough money left to cover the shortfall. Over the years, the owner had drawn down the endowment and sold real estate to cover costs.
Earlier this month, Broaddus, the president of the school’s owner, sent a letter to the school community, saying the organization's trustees “see St. Margaret’s ability to open next fall as being at risk.” The school delayed a deadline for families to financially commit.
A day later, Glymph filed the lawsuit in Essex County Circuit Court against the school’s owner. The decision to announce the school’s shaky financial situation sabotages efforts to save it, the suit claimed. Donors were given a deadline to pay by June 30, and school enrollment typically increases during the summer, the suit claims.
If St. Margaret’s is given enough time, the plaintiff claims, the school can rectify the situation. The suit asks for an injunction to prevent the owner from taking any action that would interfere with the school’s ability to collect donations and increase enrollment.
“If defendant announces the school’s potential closure and continues to make that statement, the school will inevitably close,” the suit states. Existing donors won’t pay, new donors won’t materialize, students and faculty will leave, and new students will not sign up. “In other words, the school will be doomed.”
Harold E. Johnson, a lawyer for Williams Mullen who represents Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, said in a letter that the owner has an obligation to be transparent with the school community about St. Margaret’s ability to remain open next year. It does not want to invite students to enroll when it lacks confidence it will have a place for them.
The owner “acted in the best interest of the students, teachers and staff at St. Margaret’s, based upon updated information,” Johnson said.
Johnson also cast doubt on the plaintiff’s lawsuit. He said filing litigation publicizes the school’s financial situation, which could scare away students.
Added Broaddus, “We see no way in which adversarial legal action helps St. Margaret’s efforts to increase the enrollment and fundraising on which it relies.”