How to Get Into St. Anne’s-Belfield School: Admissions Guide

St. Anne’s Belfield School Overview

St. Anne’s-Belfield School is a coed private K-12 day and boarding school located in Charlottesville, Virginia. It has two campuses that sit on over 55 acres of land. Its Belfield campus serves preschool to grade 8, while its Greenway Rise Campus houses grades 9 to 12. It has a total population of more than 900 students and more than 100 faculty and staff. With an average class size of 12 and a student-teacher ratio of 8:1, students are ensured the attention and support that they deserve. Founded in 1910 by a strong group of women who sought to provide their daughters with the same level of education afforded to their sons by the University of Virginia, St. Anne’s-Belfield School uses education to inspire its students to pursue excellence as active citizens. It has a close and tight-knit community rich with tradition to enrich lives and foster tolerance and understanding.    

How hard is it to get into St. Anne’s-Belfield School? 

Many families aspire to send their children to St. Anne’s-Belfield School due to its prime location and academic philosophy. Admission into this institution may be limited by the availability of slots, as they accept only a handful of new applicants per year for each grade level. Deadlines may also make the admissions process harder. The deadline for the first round of applicants is on January 24, and the deadline for the second round of applicants is March 15. After April 22, St. Anne’s- Belfield begins rolling admissions; however, again, due to availability, slots are not always guaranteed.   

To increase your child’s chances of getting accepted into St. Anne’s- Belfield, we suggest you seek the help of experienced admissions consultants. Our expert team understands the admissions process and can help your child stand out from the crowd through an extensive and helpful strategy. 

St. Anne’s-Belfield School Admissions Process

The St. Anne’s-Belfield School application process begins by creating your account on their admissions portal. All application requirements can be found here, and you will be able to monitor the status of your application. While the application requirements may vary depending on your child’s grade level, here are the steps you need to follow: 

1. Schedule an Admissions Interview 
2. Delegate teacher recommendations.
3. Complete the personal statement. 
4. Complete the Parent Statement
5. Request a transcript. 
6. Take the ISEE, SSAT, or SAT

St. Anne’s-Belfield School Application Requirements

Teacher Recommendations 

Applicants are required to submit a total of three recommendation letters from their school. One from either their English or history teacher, one from either their math or science teacher and one from their counselor or principal. The forms will be sent to their email after submitting their information through your St. Anne’s-Belfield School account.   

As these individuals interact with your child on a near-daily basis, these letters are important aspects of your child’s application. Their professional and unbiased observations will enable St. Anne’s – Belfield School’s admissions officers to assess if your child’s character, personality, and academic aptitude are adequate for the school’s environment. To ensure the very best letters of recommendation, it’s crucial that your family builds strong relationships with your child’s teachers.  

Parent Statement

Parents or guardians are required to fill out a questionnaire that can be found on the St. Anne’s-Belfield School application portal. Typically, these forms contain questions that ask about your child’s character, achievements, and other personal information. When filling out the questionnaire, it’s important to remain both honest and authentic to capture your child’s entire profile. We suggest focusing on strengths and unique characteristics that will help admissions officers understand your child’s potential for success. For tips and tricks on what to write for a strong parent statement, our educational consultants have put together a list for you to take advantage of here.  

Personal Statement

Applicants are required to submit a personal statement, also known as a candidate essay, as part of their admission requirements. You should answer in a 250-500-word essay one of the prompts listed on the St. Anne’s-Belfield School application portal.  

While this requirement may seem simple, your child’s answer will allow admissions officers to gauge both your child’s writing ability and how they may fit into the school. The possible question prompts can delve into things like personality, skills, or interests. Our years of experience as educational consultants have allowed us to understand what admissions officers are looking for. Here are some useful tips we’ve come up with to help your child write a compelling personal statement. 

Transcript

A transcript will provide St. Anne’s-Belfield School with an overview of your child’s academic readiness to take on their rigorous curriculum. If you’re concerned that your child’s grades are not impressive enough to give them a competitive edge in admissions, we suggest private school admissions consulting. We have a team of academic coaches and tutors who will work closely with your child to improve their grades and build up their confidence to achieve exceptional scores. We provide both online and in-person tutoring for a wide range of courses. Our academic coaching strategy boosts both GPA and executive function. 

Standardized Testing

St. Anne’s-Belfield School applicants are required to submit testing results depending on the year level they’re applying to. Students applying to middle school and below are not required to submit any test scores at all. Students applying for grades 9-12 are required to submit recent results for either the SSAT or the ISEE.

Additionally, international students are required to submit additional tests to prove their ability to speak English if it is not their first language. St. Anne’s- Belfield accepts the TOEFL or the Duolingo English Test.  

Admission testing is an important part of the application process. St. Anne’s-Belfield School will use your child’s results to determine whether they’re a good fit for the rigorous academic environment. However, if you feel that your child may not be ready for such a test, our academic coaches can guide them through a comprehensive test prep program that offers both ISEE practice tests and  SSAT practice tests that will ensure they’re ready to face even the most challenging questions out there. 

Admissions Interview

Both the applicant and their parents are required to undergo separate interviews as part of the admissions process. Interviews may be conducted in person or over Zoom. There, you will have the chance to meet a member of the admissions team and learn more about the school and its environment. However, these interviews will also use this as an opportunity to gauge whether your family and, more importantly, your child, are a good fit for the St. Anne’s-Belfield School community.

If you’re not confident about taking the interview, we offer interview preparation to help you. Our process involves introducing you to common interview questions and how to answer them in a way that is both authentic to your values while also appealing to the St. Anne’s-Belfield School admissions officers.       

St. Anne’s-Belfield School’s Alumni

1. Nicole Kassell – an Emmy-nominated filmmaker who has worked on The Woodsman and Watchmen. 
2. Schuyler Fisk – an American actress and singer-songwriter. 
3. Sandy Reisky – the founder of Apex Clean Energy, a company that supplies corporations with wind and solar infrastructure. 
4. Sally Mott Freeman – an author and speechwriter, known for her book The Jersey Brothers, a World War II novel. 
5. Nat Friedman – the former CEO of the software developer platform GitHub, and a current advisor to the AI program Midjourney. 
6. Matthew Swift – the co-founder and CEO of Concordia, a non-profit known for its annual summit, which brings together government bodies, businesses, and nonprofits to discuss world needs.
7. Martine Kalaw– an author and speaker who talks about her past as a stateless and undocumented immigrant in the United States. 
8. Chris Long – a former football player in the NFL who currently hosts the Green Light Podcast. His father is NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long.  
9. John Graham – a film composer who has scored for various films such as Avatar, Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, and more.  
10. Andrew McCullough – the Technical Logistics Director for NBC Sports. 

Student Life at St. Anne’s-Belfield School

Students at Nueva are given a wide range of possibilities that encourage them to follow their interests and passions. In athletics, more than half of the students participate in sports. There are art programs, clubs, student publications, enrichment classes, weekend events, and summer camps where students can develop their skills. During Nueva Trips Week, grades 5 to 12 students get to participate in 27 different virtual trip experiences across four continents. To further expose students to broader opportunities, Nueva connects its upper school students to partner organizations for summer internships in different disciplines.

At St. Anne’s-Belfield School, we believe that learning can and does occur from the moment our students set foot on our campus.

From the relationships developed in our homeroom/advisory program to the opportunity to participate in Chapel, upholding the Honor Code, to engaging in community service and clubs, there is a lesson in everything we do.

Our Dining Services team, Counseling Office, and even our uniform dress code work together to promote the personal health, wellness, and safety of our students. They can work, play, learn, and grow in an environment that is structured yet flexible, warm yet challenging, intimate yet broad.

The whole student experience at St. Anne’s-Belfield School is as important to our faculty and staff as classroom learning and requires consistent attention and encouragement from all members of our community. The energy generated and sustained by students and teachers creates relationships that are at the very center of a School education, and have a lasting impact on all of our alumni.

The phrase “seeing is believing” applies to St. Anne’s-Belfield School, where each division overflows with life, enthusiasm, encouragement, and support. To learn more about the student experience or to visit campus and enjoy it yourself, please contact our Office of Admission.

St. Anne’s-Belfield School Academics

St. Anne’s-Belfield School approaches education through an environment that encourages curiosity and lifelong learning, which is ultimately reflected in a rigorous curriculum that teaches students to navigate our ever-changing global landscape. From PreK to grade 12, students will take courses that develop a critical and social mind to foster emotional intelligence alongside academic prowess. Students are allowed the freedom to build their education by having the freedom to explore their passions in traditional academic disciplines.   

St. Anne’s-Belfield School Athletics

St. Anne’s-Belfield School Athletics program offers a variety of sports for students to pursue across seasons. Students are encouraged to explore disciplines and develop their character as teammates and athletes. The sports offered include Cross Country, Field Hockey, Football, Soccer, Tennis, Volleyball, Basketball, Diving, Squash, Swimming, Baseball, Golf, Lacross, and Track. Furthermore, the comprehensive Sports Medicine Program ensures that student welfare and health are prioritized throughout their athletic journey.  

St. Anne’s-Belfield School Arts

St. Anne’s-Belfield School encourages students to explore their passion for the arts. Their expert faculty combines technical skills with individual expression to create stunning works of art that capture the imagination. St. Anne’s-Belfield School offers a variety of opportunities to delve into the world of art through a variety of disciplines. Their Music program allows students to compose and perform to develop their individual techniques while also growing as part of the whole through Orchestra and Choir. The Visual Arts program encourages the exploration of drawing, painting, printing, clay, and mixed media. Lastly, the Theatre program offers intensive courses to not just develop their performance skill but also the human spirit.  

Activities at St. Anne’s-Belfield School

To encourage students to explore the world around them and experience the value of community, there is a wide range of clubs for them to choose from. From the Treble Makers to Club Green to The Ronald McDonald House Club, students are encouraged to complement their learning outside of the classroom. On weekends, boarders can experience a variety of activities. Those looking for a challenge can go for hikes or take biking day trips to the city. Those looking to sit back and relax can enjoy a movie or eat s’mores by the campfire. At St. Anne’s-Belfield, students are never bored.