About

100 Years

100 Years of Highland

Some schools have a past. Highland has a story that's still being written. It began in 1928 with nine students, two teachers, and a conviction that has outlasted nearly a century: that how you learn shapes who you become. In 2028, we'll mark 100 years of that belief.

The journey matters, and ours started long ago.

Two women. One idea that lasts

Dorothy Rust and Lavinia Hamilton didn't set out to build an institution. They set out on a journey to teach children well. A journey that will turn soon turn one hundred years old.

In 1928, our founders opened the Warrenton Branch of the Calvert School on the lower floor of what is now the John Barton Payne building in Old Town Warrenton. Nine students. Two teachers. A single room. No turf fields, no theater, no science labs, just two educators who believed young people rise when you challenge them and stand beside them.

That belief didn't fade. It compounded. Everything Highland has become traces back to a simple idea those founders trusted: give students real work, real responsibility, and real care, and they will surprise you.

Growing into our purpose

Highland never stood still. It moved, expanded, and reinvented itself without ever losing that first thread. By 1957, the school had found its permanent home and a new name: Highland School. The decades that followed weren't just marked by construction projects. They were chapters in the same story.

Each milestone served the same purpose. Not growth for its own sake. Growth in the service of our students and families.

Milestones

List of 13 items.

1928: Founded as The Calvert School

Dorothy Montgomery Rust and Lavinia Hamilton establish the School as the Warrenton Branch of the Calvert School on the lower floor of what is now the John Barton Payne building in Old Town Warrenton.
1929: Move to St. James Episcopal Church in Warrenton

Misses Rust and Hamilton move the school to St. James Episcopal Church on Culpeper Street in Warrenton.
1930's: Calvert Moves to Greene Street location

In the 1930's, the founders moved the Warrenton Branch of the Calvert School to a new location at 200 Greene Street in Warrenton. Mrs. Hamilton and Miss Montgomery operated out of this location for more than 20 years before moving to the school's present location on Broadview Avenue.

The location on Greene Street is now the home of Jack & Jill Pre-School.
1957: School move to current location

School is renamed Highland School and moved to our current location at 597 Broadview Avenue in Warrenon.
1995: Increased enrollment, expanding facilities

Each grade expands into two sections. School adds science labs, classroom, art center, music room, computer labs, guidance center, resource room, and expanded library.
1996: Upper School opens

The Upper School welcomed its first 9th and 10th graders in 1996, then grew class by class until Highland could carry a student from earliest childhood through graduation.
2004: Highland Center for the Arts opens

The Highland Center for the Arts opened in 2004, giving students a stage to perform, build, and find their voice. In 2019, it was renamed the Michael A. Hughes Center for the Arts, honoring the person whose vision brought the building to life.
2009: Learning Center endowment launched

The Learning Center Endowment established with a gift from Kenan Trust.
2010: The William A. Hazel Family Lower School

The William A. Hazel Family Lower School opened in 2010 and earned LEED Silver certification, the first school in Fauquier County to do so, proving that how we build matters as much as what we build.
2012: Renovations to Middle School

Extensive renovation of Highland's Middle School building completed. This renovation modernized the facility by adding the Johnson Academic Media Center, a new library space and dedicated technology lab, and increasing classroom space and capacity for students.
2014: Renovations to Upper School Library

Renovations of Hazel Family Library in Upper School completed. The renovation resulted in a more flexible and collaborative space for students and school events for faculty, students, and parents.
2019: Center for the Arts named

Highland Center for the Arts renamed for long-time Artistic Director Mike Hughes. The newly-christened Michael A. Hughes Center for the Arts is dedicated as part of the 15th Anniversary Gala honoring Mr. Hughes and Paul and Gina Rice and their family for the gift that established the center in 2003.
2022: Upper School Gym named for Gary Leake

In 2022, the Upper School Gym was named for long-time Athletic Director Gary Leake. Newly named the Gary W. Leake Gymnasium, the gym is home to our basketball and volleyball programs and hosts community events and all-school gatherings throughout the year.

From nine students to a living community

What started in one room now stretches across a 42-acre campus. More than 560 students fill three divisions today. A faculty of 70 and a staff of 30 know them by name. The numbers have changed dramatically. The fundamental nature of the place has not.

We still believe in rigorous learning held inside a caring community. We still expect students to step boldly, question deeply, and serve selflessly. The campus grew. The mission stayed.

Traditions that connect every generation

A tradition isn't just something you repeat. It's something you belong to. At Highland, traditions are rites of passage. Field studies trips that take learning into the woods and beyond. Field days that turn classmates into teammates. And the Blue/Gold competition, a rivalry that began as a simple athletic contest in the 1970's and grew into a celebration of grit, sportsmanship, and school spirit, eventually honored as Barbara Wilkes Field Day.

These moments do something quiet but powerful. They link a kindergartner in 2026 to an alumnus from 1974. Different decades. Same experiences. Same heart. That's how a community remembers who it is.

100 years is a measure of what endures

In 2028, Highland turns 100. We don't take that lightly. A century is long enough to test what a school is made of. Trends come and go. Buildings rise and get renamed. Faculty arrive, teach generations, and pass the work forward. Through all of it, one thing has held: the belief that the journey matters more than the credential, and that character is built, not assumed.

The centennial isn't a finish line. It's a threshold, a chance to look back at where we've been and step boldly toward what's next.

The journey continues

Dorothy Rust and Lavinia Hamilton couldn't have pictured the campus we have today. But they would recognize the students on it. Young people trusted with real challenges. Learners who speak up, recover from setbacks, and do the right thing when no one is watching. Graduates who don't just succeed, they contribute.

That was the vision in 1928. It's the vision now. As we approach our 100th year, we carry it forward the same way we always have: one student, one journey, one bold step at a time. The journey matters. It always has.

Become a part of the story

Interested in learning more about how you can become a part of Highland's story for the next 100 years? Click on any of the links below to start your journey for your student and family.