The Miller School of Albemarle

Miller School of Albemarle
Mind, Hands and Heart
Address
1000 Samuel Miller Loop Charlottesville, Virginia, 22903 USA
Information
School type	co-ed day & boarding
Founded	1878
Founder	Samuel Miller
Head of school	Board of Trustees
Headmaster	Rick France
Grades	8-PG
Enrolment	150
Average class size	10
Color(s)	Teal and Green
Athletics	Baseball, Basketball, Conditioning, Cross Country, Equestrian, Golf, Lacrosse, Tennis, Soccer, Volleyball, Wrestling, Endurance Team
Mascot	Mavericks
Affiliation	VAIS
Boarding	60% of Student Body
Day Students	40% of student body
Co-Ed. Ratio	Boys: 65% Girls: 35%
Curriculum	College Preparatory
Website	http://www.millerschool.org

The Miller School of Albemarle is a coeducational day and boarding college preparatory school outside Charlottesville, Virginia for students in grades 8 - PG. It first opened its doors in 1878 with 33 students. One of the nation's oldest coeducational boarding schools, girls first enrolled in Miller in 1884. In 2006-2007, Miller School entered its 129th year with 145 boys and girls from around Virginia, around the nation, and around the world. The School is situated 12 miles (19 km) west of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, on a gently rolling campus of 1,600 acres (6 km²).

Proud of being a small school with small classes, Miller boasts a vigorous academic college preparatory program and a unique “mind, hands, and heart” curriculum. There is an emphasis on character, honor, and individual responsibility; arts education; community service; and athletics for both boys and girls.

History

Miller School was founded in 1878 with a bequest of $1.1 million from Samuel Miller, who, as a boy, romped with his brother on the very area on which the school bearing his name is now situated. Near the village of Batesville, Virginia Samuel Miller was raised in abject poverty by a mother who realized the value of education and who used as much of her resources as possible to ensure that Samuel was tutored by a teacher who lived nearby. Samuel Miller learned well and, as an adult, used his education and his keen intelligence to earn a very handsome living as a merchant and market-oriented business person. Along the way, his charity became legendary in his adopted hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia.

The Last Will and Testament of Samuel Miller provided for the majority of his estate to be used for the establishment of a boarding school for orphaned children, a school to be located very near his birthplace in Albemarle County. By 1874, following Mr. Miller’s 1869 death and the resolution of several legal disputes that arose as children of Mr. Miller’s sought to challenge his bequest, architects and builders were ready to begin work in designing and constructing The Miller Manual Labor School, as it was then known. This work culminated in August, 1878, with a grand opening and dedication of the central portion of “Old Main”, an august and impressive structure of [Victorian architecture], around which much of Miller School life still revolves. "Old Main" is now on the Virginia Historic Landmarks Registry

• 1878: the first curriculum is designed; students are to receive instruction in the classics as well as instruction in agriculture and such trades as carpentry and metal work

• 1882: Miller’s first baseball team wins its initial game, a 55-0 victory over Fishburne Military School

• 1883: Thomas Edison’s company personally designs and supervises the installation of Miller School’s first electric power plant, two Edison Style “K” dynamos and 250 incandescent light bulbs

• 1884: Girls begin to board at the School, making Miller School one of the first co-educational private boarding schools in the South perhaps the very first in Virginia

• 1891: Miller becomes the model for other boarding schools in America that are committed to providing a “mind, hands, and heart” education for children in need

KidsMillerS

• 1915: The School begins to feel the economic pinch of having no tuition revenues to supplement its growing operational and maintenance expenses

• 1927: With mounting operational expenses and little fund-raising, Miller School begins to cut its programs; the girls program is the first to go; young ladies will not return to Miller School until the early 1990s

• 1939: Miller School begins to phase out its own farming operations and, instead, leases its land in an effort to generate income

• 1941: Direct American involvement in World War II begins; many, many Miller School graduates serve bravely and honorably; some lost their lives in defense of the United States; others survive the war and return home with decorations for their bravery

• 1948: Miller School wins the annual interscholastic boxing championship

• 1950: Miller School begins to charge tuition to supplement its trust funds, which no longer generate sufficient yearly revenues to support the School

• 1951: As military schools reach new heights of popularity in post-World War II America, Miller School goes military with its program; for several years, this program is wildly successful

• 1964: 224 boarding boys are enrolled at Miller School, many of them 5th and 6th graders supervised and guided by the legendary Thomas F. Hart

• 1967: Miller School is integrated; Caucasian students live and study freely with students of color

• 1970: The School again faces another financial crisis, this one related to the exorbitant costs associated with fire prevention remodeling; somehow, the School makes its financial ends meet and remains open

• 1984: Miller proudly becomes a founding member of the Virginia Association of Independent Schools and begins to chart a course toward a college preparatory curriculum

• 1992: The School accepts a limited number of boy and girl day students

• 1994: The total student population grows; a girls boarding program begins; the military program is de-emphasized (and eventually eliminated); the curriculum is modified so that preparation for college is fused with the School’s historic commitment to developing the “mind, hands, and heart” of each student

• 1999: New state legislation is passed to give Miller School more flexibility and authority in the appointment of members of its own Board of Trustees; sports teams begin to win championships again; Miller’s community service program sets the standard for volunteerism in the central Virginia area

• 2001: Senior Heidi Swan is awarded the first-ever Emily Couric Award for Leadership, given annually to a young woman in central Virginia who demonstrates by her good deeds the high ideals, work ethic, and leadership qualities of the late State Sen. Emily Couric
• 2003: Point Guard Linas Lekavicius from Silale, Lithuania was named VIS Division II Player of the Year.
• 2004: With its student population at 150, college acceptances at very encouraging levels, more boarding girls than at any time since the early 20th century, and an accomplished faculty (over 50% of whom have advanced degrees), Miller School positions itself for the future by adopting a new Strategic Plan, expanding its Board of Trustees, recommitting to its college preparatory curriculum, and funding its Development Office.

Women sitting at Miller School.

• 2006: Point Gaurd Danny Manuel from Waynesboro, Virginia was named VIS Divison II Player of the Year.
• 2007: The largest senior class in Miller School's history is established with a total of 42 students.

2006: Miller's boys varsity baseball team won its first state championship title.

• 2007: The passing of the school's historian, Peggy Flannagan. She died at the age of 101 years old.
• 2007: Power Forward Marshawn Powell from Newport News, Virginia was named VIS Division II Player of the Year.
• 2008: Miller School changed its colors from maroon and gray to teal and green. Also the mascot is no longer the Red Devil; Miller School's athletic teams compete as the Mavericks.
• 2008: Power Forward Marshawn Powell from Newport News Virginia was named VIS Division II Player of the Year.
• 2009: Miller's boys varsity basketball team won its first state championship title.
• 2010: Miller's girl varsity basketball team won its first state championship title.
• 2010: Miller's Brandon Bolden is ranked as the #1 HS basketball player in Virginia on virginia.rivals.com
• 2011: Miller's girls' basketball team wins back to back state championships.

Honor Code

The Honor Code at Miller School is direct and to the point: "I will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor will I tolerate any violation of the honor code by any other student."

The Honor Code is administered in large part by an Honor Committee of student and faculty members. These individuals sacrifice their time and energies to serve the School in this vitally important capacity. It is the Honor Committee, which conducts hearings with respect to allegations of Honor Code violations. These hearings are conducted in private as an educational and dispositive exercise, with many basic due process principles being a fundamental part of each proceeding.

Student on second floor of 'Old Main'

AP Course Offerings

English Literature, English Language, U.S. History, Modern European History, Environmental Science, United States Government, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, French Literature, Spanish Literature, Spanish Language, Economics

Elective Offerings

Visual Arts, Photography, Performance Arts, Woodworking, Guitar Making, Music, and Drama

Community Outreach

Miller School students do a service project from 13:00 to 15:00 (EDT/EST) every other Wednesday. Students assimilate into different organizations such as Habitat for Humanity or the local surrounding Hospitals and other need based organizations. Miller School also awards 35% of the student body with need based financial aid.

Extracurricular Programs

The Miller School of Albemarle has a National Honor Society Chapter. Membership in the National Honor Society is based on a combination of factors, including overall GPA, leadership within the school community and service to the wider community. Students who are inducted into the NHS serve as peer tutors during their time at Miller. In addition, the Society performs some sort of community service each year, whether by volunteering with a local organization or raising money to support a local charity.

The student run Miller School Publications distributes The Devil's Advocate, the school newspaper which includes student activities, world news, movie reviews, and interviews. Light upon the Hill, the art literary magazine showcases student prose, poetry, photography and art work. "The hill" is the nickname that students call the campus.

Student government

The Miller School of Albemarle has a student government which consists of a student body President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Each student grade also has two class representatives which represent their respective classes during student government meetings. The student government works directly with the school's administration to represent the views of the students in decisions made which affect the student body as a whole, or in part. The student government also works with the school's administration and board of directors to raise money and orchestrate student activities such as dances and balls with other boarding and day schools, and student requested dress down days, which are days where the school's dress code does not apply.

Miller school in popular culture

• The Miller School of Albemarle was also used for the exterior and interior scenes of the boarding school attended by the characters in the film, Toy Soldiers

• The Miller School of Albemarle was also used for the exterior and interior scenes of the boarding school attended by the characters in the film, Major Payne

• The Miller School of Albemarle was also used for the opening sequence of the boarding school attended by the characters in the film, Morgan Stewart's Coming Home

• The Miller School of Albemarle was also used for the opening credits fly-over sequence in the film, Cry Wolf

T-PALLANTE-18s

External links

• Miller School official website

Coordinates: 38°0′25.7″N 78°42′3.7″W / 38.007139°N 78.701028°W / 38.007139; -78.701028