Growing, private schools relocate

Charlottesville is known as a great place to raise children, and one of the reasons frequently given is the wide array of schools. “As an educator, it gives me a thrill that there’s so many options for my children,” says Patterson Cunningham, head of the Renaissance School (tuition: $10,300), a college preparatory school for grades 9-12 that is one of three private schools moving their campuses this year. With 30 students currently enrolled, Cunningham says that her old space on the Downtown Mall felt like a cramped apartment at times. Renaissance will use the next semester to move into their new, and much larger, location in the old McGuire Woods Building on Court Square. “We simply need the space,” she explains.
    Previously located on Jefferson Avenue in the Christ Church building, Charlottesville Community Jewish Day School’s new home is in the Merrill Lynch Building near the Pavilion. Only in their second year, the school (tuition: $8,400) currently supports K-2 education, with 8-10 students planned for the upcoming year.
    The Montessori School of Charlottesville has three locations in town, but has had to transplant one from its location at ACAC on Four Seasons Drive to 1602 Gordon Ave. While it has slightly less space, administrator Lindsey Schwab is excited to be in what she calls “a beautiful old house with great character and charm.” Forty-nine students will occupy the three classrooms, with two toddler classes and one primary (ages 3-6) class. (Tuition varies, but a three-hour morning primary class is $4,300.)
    Starting August 30, the Charlottesville Day School at ACAC (tuition varies, with an elementary education from 8:30am to 3:30pm costing around $9,000) fills the vacant space left by Montessori, with five pre-school classes as well as K-2 instruction. With 105 kids scheduled to attend, school director Stacy Bruns is excited that she can provide 40 square feet per child. She says the large number of schools for young children is not confined to Charlottesville, but “happening everywhere…. We’re finding that there are more parents starting to understand the importance of early childhood education.”