Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Foundation for St. Margaret’s School? How is it different from the previous St. Margaret’s School and Board of Governors?
The legacy St. Margaret’s School (SMS) was voted closed by the Trustees of Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia (CSDV) on July 10, 2025. The SMS Board of Governors was advisory to the CSDV Trustees, who voted in August to dissolve the SMS Board.
On July 30, 2025, The Foundation for St. Margaret’s School (FSMS) was recognized as a distinct business entity by the State Corporation Commission in Virginia, and it received 501(c)(3) status on September 1, 2025. This organization is the independent governing board for a reorganized St. Margaret’s School, and its purpose is “fundraising, resource management, operation, and advocacy for a girls’ school in the Episcopal tradition, in Tappahannock, Virginia.” As such, the organization is independent of CSDV and governs its own operations.
If the School is closed, how will you reopen? Who owns the property?
The objective of FSMS is to reopen the school. It is currently aligning alumnae and donors, raising funds, communicating with potential student families, and setting up infrastructure for the new school. Employees are hired, St. Margaret’s related activities such as rowing instruction, music lessons, and tutoring are occurring and administrative functions are being built. A Board of twelve individuals is developing a new Strategic Plan. This will allow for a faster restart when a location is secured. Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia owns the legacy property, and we hope to acquire it to persist in the original mission of having a school for girls in Tappahannock in the Episcopal tradition.
What is your timeframe for reopening?
We hope to reopen St. Margaret’s as soon as we are able to confirm a campus, apply for accreditation under the new organization, hire key positions, and recruit students. We believe it will take a year to prepare well when all elements are in place.
If the school did not have funds to remain open this year, how will you afford to reopen?
The SMS Board of Governors had demonstrated that it had funds to meet operating goals in 2025-26. The FSMS has funds that have been diverted to it in 2025 by donors who wish to support the continuation of St. Margaret’s School. New funds have been raised since the legacy school closing. An angel donor has pledged a historic gift to be used to re-establish the school. Additional funds remain in a legacy SMS Foundation that should come over to the school. Critical fundraising continues. Independent FSMS status allows it to apply for public funds, which was previously disallowed.
If you reopen, won’t you need to have a whole new approach at the school to be viable?
The school mission will be the same: providing quality education for girls in the Episcopal tradition in Tappahannock, Virginia. While single sex boarding schools have experienced stress since the COVID era, there is some new evidence that current geo-political chaos has families beginning to look again at all-girls schools. St. Margaret’s wants to continue what it does extremely well in preparing girls with competence and leadership skills. The world needs this right now. In addition, the school will go full throttle on the STREAM curriculum, highlighting coastal studies, and the active lifestyle, which requires every girl to participate in three sports. The unique curriculum and locale have created momentum, which is marketable. The new approach will include professional marketing and recruitment. The school budget will be overhauled. A strong CFO will be hired who is responsible for tracking budget application to school revenue goals. A three-year strategic plan will lead the school activity.
Why did St. Margaret’s School Close? Why was it done so quickly?
Each of the small boarding schools under CSDV must every year demonstrate in January that it has funds pledged or in hand to meet its goals for full, quality operations in the next academic year. This is to assure that contracts issued in the spring can be supported and obligations to families and employees will be met. In the event that school obligations cannot be met, there is time in the spring to assist with quality transitions and wind-down for school personnel and students. On February 5, 2025, CSDV Trustees recognized that, with extraordinary effort, SMS was on track fiscally to meet its goals to have a good, full year in 2025-2026. They agreed that SMS would issue student and employee contracts and “provide Church Schools with an update no later than July 1 on collected pledges, additional funds raised, and the outlook for enrollment and net tuition revenue.” On May 28, 2025, weeks ahead of that deadline, CSDV surprised SMS by expressing their lack of faith in a good outcome, and stated their intent to notify SMS constituents that they believed a September SMS opening was at risk. Despite being put in a terrible position by CSDV after demonstrating good progress, the School managed to meet its goals by early July for fundraising (exceeded), enrollment, and budget (adjusted for efficiencies). Nonetheless, CSDV Trustees voted on July 10, 2025 to close the School. It is unclear why the understood practice of February closure decision was not followed.
How will you attract students and faculty back to the school if you reopen?
Six employees are now working with the FSMS Board to re-establish the school. Part of everyone’s job is to sustain relationships and continue outreach. There is tremendous loyalty to and appreciation for the St. Margaret’s brand and experience among employees who have been at the school, families whose daughters attended SMS, and alumnae. This loyalty and deep commitment to doing girls education well is a recruiting advantage for employees and students. We will assure the strength of that loyalty is leveraged in re-assembling the school. Priority will be given to getting strong leadership in place, which demonstrates professionalism, relationship building, and best practice in rebuilding the community. The Board wants to listen to constituents and do the best possible job of reconstituting the school.
I admire your conviction and effort. How can I help you? How can I give money or appreciated stocks?
Thanks! Please tell others about the effort to restart St. Margaret’s. Your influence with friends and neighbors can be so important. If you have a special skill that you think could be helpful to our effort and want to volunteer, let us know. Our website www.smsontheriver.org shows three ways you can give: send a check, donate online, or send stock gifts to our broker.
How can I get in touch with you?
Call us at (804) 925-6070 , or email at info@smsontheriver.org.