Beauvoir School


The Beauvoir School is a coeducational primary school on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington D.C., serving students from pre-kindergarten through 3rd grade. In 1933, it was founded to prepare boys for St. Albans School and girls for National Cathedral School, which serve grades 4-12.
Like the Cathedral itself and the affiliated schools, Beauvoir is overseen by the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation.

History

In 1933, Beauvoir was established as a "separate and independent school in the Cathedral system" by the Cathedral Chapter. The principal Elizabeth Glascock Taylor, and the faculty were motivated to "make children's education more exciting so that their students would be inspired to learn."
Beauvoir was initially a segregated, all-white school, but accepted its first black student in 1952.
In 2008, school employees discovered that a teacher had been producing child pornography featuring students. After five years on the FBI's Most Wanted List, the former teacher was apprehended and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
In 2012, a new playground was completed. It was designed to appeal to children under 10 of varying ages and abilities, and featured in The Wall Street Journal.

Student body

During the 2017-18 school year, Beauvor's K-3 student body was 60.2% white, 21.3% multiracial, 11.8% black, 4.3% Asian, and 2.1% Hispanic.
Beauvoir graduates have priority access to St. Albans and National Cathedral School. In 2018, Beauvoir reported that their students had a 90% acceptance rate at those two highly rated, selective schools.

Notable Alumni