with Our PORCHes

By Josie Ross, Dean of Residential Life

When families visit Foxcroft, the first thing they are often struck by is our uncommonly beautiful campus. The second? Our sleeping porches. Here since the School’s beginning, sleeping porches were implemented by our founder, Miss Charlotte, as a way to boost immune systems with fresh air and develop hearty women who could brave the elements. Today, they support good sleep hygiene as dedicated technology-free sleeping spaces in an increasingly plugged-in world.

At its root, our entire residential life program is centered around community, belonging, and holistic care for every student, the same ideals Miss Charlotte held when she introduced the porches all those years ago. And, because everything we do is curriculum, the porches also inspired the acronym PORCH to describe the intentional and purposeful way the residential life program prepares our students for their future:

When students PRIORITIZE, they explore and establish habits and routines that facilitate their success, building a framework for good decision-making.

OWNING their actions helps students understand that building a trusting relationship (and community) begins with admitting mistakes and taking action to make it better.

By RESTING and reflecting, students learn how sleep impacts their daily lives and that their eyes and minds need rest from screens as much as they need rest from sports or classes.

Students learn how to CARE for their spaces (rooms, sleeping porches, laundry rooms, common spaces, and the outdoors) grounding these actions in our school values of respect, integrity, kindness, and service.

Students set HEALTHY boundaries by establishing and communicating personal boundaries while respecting those of others, thereby better navigating conflict when it inevitably arises.

Thus, with the aid of PORCH and our porches, our students can look to the future, convinced of their ability to continue their journeys, finding new places of belonging wherever their lives might take them. •

3. Old Girl Ellie Wicht ’23 guides her New Girl Mimi Hadad-Larrieu ’26 and family through freshman orientation during Opening Days.

4. Our sleeping porches are one of the many unique and special aspects of Foxcroft.

5. Per tradition, sophomores move New Girls' belongings from cars to dormrooms, allowing students and their families to focus on orientation.

Welcoming Freshmen into our Community

When freshmen arrive at Foxcroft, whether from across the country or around the world, each brings a different understanding of what it means to live in a community. Because of this, as a compliment to our PORCH program, a very intentional, skill- and communitybuilding Freshman Program offers multiple layers of support and attention as we introduce them to what it means to be a part of the Foxcroft community.

A longstanding example of this is Old Girl/ New Girl pairings, which begin the summer before freshman year, when the senior Old Girl reaches out to welcome her New Girl, becoming a first friend and someone to go to for advice and guidance. More recently, a required semester of Foxcroft 101 allows freshmen to deepen their understanding of themselves in mind and body as they build their individual voices and take ownership over themselves and their actions.

Every girl, whether a boarder or day student, has a room and roommates, and all freshmen are housed together. From this foundation, we build our understanding of one another, and each girl begins to develop an understanding of how she fits into our larger community.

Everything We Do is Curriculum

As a boarding school where the vast majority of faculty members live on campus, Foxcroft provides a unique opportunity for teachers to apply their knowledge of students outside the classroom to their approaches inside the classroom. Serving as advisors, mentors, dorm team members, coaches, chaperones, and more, faculty engage in inumerable teachable moments throughout the day — equiping students with the skills they need to succeed in the classroom and in life.

As CLAIRE MUNOZ ’24 puts it, “Foxcroft is a community. It is where everyone knows each other and cares for one another. The teachers, especially, always make sure to check up on every student and make sure everyone is doing okay. Things like that make Foxcroft so special, and that is why I love it so much because everyone is seen and heard.”

By Whittney Preston, Dean of Inclusive Excellence

During my time at Foxcroft, one of the things that I have enjoyed the most is getting to know our faculty and seeing how they go out of their way to ensure our students feel as though they belong in their classrooms and on this campus. Before attempting to create a training and professional development program around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) for our campus community, I took some time to observe and explore what our faculty were already doing to make those things happen.

93% of faculty and staff live on campus

100% offer extra help outside of class

What I saw was faculty being intentional about including all students in class discussions and, through exciting and engaging lessons, finding organic ways to create “window” and “mirror” opportunities that provide students with insight into the identities, experiences, and motivations of others, as well as reflecting their own. Like when Dr. Lindsay Anderson asked her chemistry students to look up chemists with whom they have things in common. I sat in on this class and participated in this activity, and, once completed, we had a board full of chemists with whom members of our community could truly connect. Activities like this — which shed light on the individual interests, passions, and backgrounds of our students — are essential to ensuring that everyone is known and valued here at Foxcroft.

Working in collaboration with the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (VCIC), I have provided professional development for faculty on belonging in our classrooms. We have also done extensive work with VCIC discussing bias, identities, and relational aggression. I am also working closely with the student results of a recent climate survey to ensure we are listening to how our students feel and creating programming they see as beneficial to belonging on this campus.

1:5 faculty to students ratio

13 students per class (average)

5 teachers have Ph.D. or J.D.

Faculty have participated in professional development opportunities such as the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington (AISGW) Building Belonging series. They continue to use me as a resource to ensure they are doing all they can to make their classrooms places where our students feel they belong and are ready to learn and grow. •

6. Dr. Lindsay Anderson is one of several faculty members to incorporate “window” and “mirror” opportunities in their classrooms.

Guided by intentional programming over the course of the school year, advisory groups are one of the ways that Foxcroft works to ensure that every student is known and valued. Advisory groups are often the smallest group a student will experience on campus, as advisors work to build a sense of community and belonging. The goal is for advisory groups to be a safe space for students to express themselves, support each other, and have fun together. At the end of each school year, students are given the option to choose a new advisor for the upcoming year to ensure that they have a connection to their advisor and feel supported by the people they are closest to on campus.

Advisory time is a combination of social and academic reflection. Advisors serve as a mentor and advocate for students, modeling how to live up to Foxcroft’s shared

By Jodi Campbell, Dean of Students

values of respect, integrity, kindness, and service. Every month, advisory groups complete one or two lessons focused on social-emotional and character development. The emphasis on these topics in the advisory program will continue to grow each year as we work to ensure there is dedicated time for social-emotional growth outside the classroom.

Advisors also help advisees identify and access the resources they need to succeed at Foxcroft, whether it involves help with time management, organizational skill development, conflict resolution assistance, or identifying ways to be more involved in campus life. Each week, advisors monitor their advisees’ grades and will schedule one-on-one meetings with students, communicating concerns and plans of action with parents as necessary.

All of this is to say that advisors play a vital role as the first point of contact for students' families and the school community.

Wellness Education for Today's Girl

“At Foxcroft, we take a holistic approach to Wellness, focusing on both mind and body so that wellbeing is supported in all areas of our girls' lives,” explains Wellness Education Coordinator Dr. Meghen Tuttle, who works closely with the Office of Student Life, Advisory, and the Office of Residential Life to plan programming.

Foxcroft’s Wellness Program prepares girls for lifelong wellness by engaging topics from health, nutrition, and stress management to financial literacy, healthy relationships, and digital balance. Its centerpiece is a required semester-long class for freshmen, but regular seminars, including a yearly Wellness Weekend, are presented through the other three years.

Advisors have a close relationship with their advisees, allowing them to understand the student's academic and social progress. They are an integral part of the familyschool relationship, guaranteeing that every student is known and valued and that each develops the confidence and skills necessary to share their unique voice with the world. •

8. Puppy time is the best time! Mr. Northrup’s advisory never complains when he brings Mabel for a visit!