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Members of the 2023 graduating class cut the ribbon to dedicate Honor Hall, Sabot’s newest classroom building. (Photo courtesy Sabot School)
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Sabot’s trademark boot racks are both practical and symbolic. Sabot students are outdoors much of their day, in any weather, and make daily use of the neighboring Lewis G. Larus Park, a 106-acre outdoor classroom. (Photo courtesy Sabot School)
Sabot Returns to Its Roots
16 years after its merger, a name change links the school’s past and future
In a move that looks both backward and forward, Sabot at Stony Point, an independent school for preschool through eighth grade education, has been renamed Sabot School.
Just over 200 students attend the school, which was formed by the merger of Stony Point School and The Sabot School in 2007. It stands next to the 106-acre Lewis G. Larus Park, named for the original landowner of the area near Bon Air where Stony Point School stood.
The decision to reclaim the school’s earlier name was made as the progressive education center in September celebrated 50 years of the Reggio Emilia Approach, under which, according to the school, “children are seen as capable thinkers and theorists who, working together, research and come to understand themselves and their world.” At the same time, Sabot opened Honor Hall, a 16,000-square-foot classroom building. The confluence of events felt like “a serendipitous link from the past to the future,” according to Allison Seay, director of communications.
“Now 16 years in [since the 2007 merger], the school has tested and refined these ideas and created purpose-built spaces to enable and honor its foundational beliefs and values [that children can be powerful agents in their education],” says Irene H. Carney, Sabot at Stony Point’s first head of school and executive director. “At this juncture, our school can lay claim to having developed a unique and important offering in independent education for our region.” —Mark Newton
Jefferson Scholars Caroline Smith of Collegiate School and Henry Bearden of The Steward School (Photos courtesy Collegiate School and The Steward School)
UVA Bound
Local students named Jefferson Scholars
Two Richmond private-school students will attend the University of Virginia this fall as Jefferson Scholars. The merit-based scholarships that were awarded this year to 39 future Cavaliers provide full tuition, room and board for four years, as well as several enrichment programs sponsored by the Jefferson Scholars Foundation.
Henry Bearden is also the winner of The Steward School’s highest honor, the Dixon Award, and Student-Athlete of the Year by the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame Foundation. He was captain of Steward’s varsity soccer team and the Richmond Kickers Elite team, and he has dedicated many volunteer hours to RVAccess, a program that offers free athletic opportunities to those with special needs.
“Henry is relentlessly curious and accomplished: an intellectual, an athlete, a loyal friend and an excellent leader,” says Head of School Dan Frank. “We look forward to seeing him flourish at UVA and beyond, just as he did during his years at Steward.”
Throughout her time in Collegiate School’s Upper School, Caroline Smith served as class president and was on the honor roll. She has been recognized as a fiction writer and poet, and she has researched algae and red tide pollution, as well as the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems and oyster populations. She served as president of RVAccess for three years and Oak Grove-Bellemeade Saturday Literacy Academy for one year. Smith was also captain of Collegiate’s championship-winning varsity tennis team.
According to Jimmy Wright, president of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, one Richmond-area public school student was named a Jefferson Scholar: Ishita Bakshi of Douglas S. Freeman High School. In addition, Blanly Teresa Rodriguez of Monacan High School is one of 17 recipients of the foundation’s Walentas Scholarship, which supports students who would be in the first generation of their families to earn a bachelor’s degree. —MN
Jeff Mancabelli will become Collegiate’s head of school in 2024. (Photo courtesy Collegiate School)
Collegiate Selects New Head of School
After a two-year nationwide search, Collegiate School has a new, permanent head of school. Jeff Mancabelli is replacing the interim head of school, Wiliam “Billy” S. Peebles IV, who assumed the role in August 2022. He starts on July 1, 2024.
Mancabelli, unanimously approved by Collegiate’s Board of Trustees in May, currently serves as president of St. John’s College High School, a Catholic school in Washington, D.C. With more than three decades of experience in education, Mancabelli’s success comes from a combination of “prioritizing student success and fostering a thriving school culture and community,” Carter Reid, chair of Collegiate’s Board of Trustees, said in a statement, which added that Collegiate’s board believes that Mancabelli’s skills and values align “seamlessly with Collegiate’s core values and aspirations.”
Under Mancabelli, St. John’s College High School increased enrollment by 24% and doubled its endowment, according to a press release.
Mancabelli said in a statement that his visit to Collegiate School was inspiring thanks to the “faculty and staff’s commitment to a challenging and supportive educational experience where each student is known as an individual.” He added that he truly cares about providing personal attention and instilling a sense of family, which are staples in Collegiate School’s mission.
“Jeff embodies all of the characteristics we were searching for,” says Brandt Surgner, vice chair of the Board of Trustees, adding that he is a “seasoned independent school leader who puts students first” and has an extensive understanding of Collegiate’s master and strategic plans. “The Board of Trustees has full faith in Mancabelli,” Surgner says. “His experience and thoughtfulness will surely aid the smooth transition from interim to head of school in the coming year.” —Will Thalhimer
Photo courtesy Spiritos School
TASK Kids Acquires Spiritos School
Spiritos School, which provides services to students with autism and other forms of neurodivergence, is now owned by TASK Kids Inc.
The acquisition of the Midlothian school, which was founded in 2002 and serves up to 10 students ages 2 to 15, was completed in March. According to the school’s executive director, Danielle Damico, who was previously a Spiritos staff member but had been with TASK Kids for a year, Spiritos founder Janet Lachowsky “reached out to me personally and asked if I wanted to purchase the business because she was ready to retire.”
Spiritos is the first licensed school to be owned by TASK Kids, a California-based therapy organization, “and we hope to have many more,” Damico says.
Damico says she’s plotting a new vision and culture shift that is “more focused on trauma-informed care and compassionate ABA” therapy, or applied behavior analysis. The shift also includes “pulling the school out of the dinosaur age,” she says, shifting from paper to electronic systems and taking advantage of TASK Kids’s organizational structure. —MN
“Our goal is to be the best ABA private day school in the area,” she says. “I feel like we have always been a great school. And so, now that we’re able to put some more of these processes in place, we’re able to move things on a little faster and be a little bit more organized than what was going on before.”
