Hanover Academy celebrating 50th anniversary

At the end of a quiet Ashland street just minutes off Interstate 95, a classroom was filled with 4-year-olds strengthening their hand-eye coordination by "coloring" a house on their computers.

Their small hands used a mouse to move a paintbrush over the color spectrum at the bottom of the screen and then onto the part of the house they wanted to color. Most of them were finished in minutes and were moving on to a more difficult task -- writing their names using the mouse and paintbrush.

The staff at Hanover Academy, a private school tucked away on 7 acres off state Route 54, say there's nothing more important than starting children off on the right foot.

It's the reason, said Head of School Rebecca Thomas, why pre-kindergartners are exposed to Spanish instruction and why a once-in-a-lifetime field trip to Costa Rica was open to every student in the school and their families. It's also why the school closes an hour early on Fridays so teachers can tutor students who need extra help. "You can't trade that for anything," Thomas said as she watched the 4-year-old Picassos working their magic under the guidance of technology teacher Racquel Dozier. "This is our future."

There are 80 students enrolled this year at the academy, which runs from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The school is celebrating its 50th anniversary, though its origins date to before 1849, when it was moved to Hanover from Caroline County.

Back then, it was established as a preparatory boys school for the University of Virginia. It closed in 1889 and was rebuilt in 1959 with pre-kindergarten through grade five. Later, sixth through eighth grades were added.

There's a strong sense of family within the small school's aging but colorful walls.

Former students return to be teachers, and parents and grandparents remain volunteers long after their children and grandchildren have gone on to high school. And in a time when school administrators don't stay in one place for too long, Thomas is in her 15th year. She's the fourth head of school since 1959.

"It's always felt like home," said Sheila Waters, a fourthand fifth-grade teacher who is a former student. "It's the first place I wanted to come back to after I graduated."

Every day starts with opening exercises, in which all students file into the school's one main hallway to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and the Lord's Prayer, listen to announcements, and sing "Happy Birthday" or recognize other individual student achievements.

Thomas said capacity is about 130 students, although like other private schools, the academy is feeling the pinch of the economy. Annual tuition is $6,990, but half-day pre-kindergarten programs are less.

The majority of the students come from Hanover, though Thomas said some come from as far as the town of Colonial Beach and Louisa County. About 30 percent are minorities, compared with roughly 15 percent in Hanover's public schools last year.

Nick Cooley, a sophomore at Patrick Henry High School this year, spent his pre-kindergarten and elementary years at the academy.

Classes were small, he said, and "everybody was my friend."

Henrico County resident Michele Huff was looking for a nurturing kindergarten environment for her daughter, Emily, seven years ago. At the time, Henrico offered only part-time kindergarten and Huff was looking for a full-day experience. She found the academy, and her daughter is now a seventh-grader there.

"We liked the small class size," she said. "Her kindergarten teacher sang to her every morning. You're not going to go anywhere else and get that kind of love."

Emily agreed with her mother, saying one of the things she enjoys most about her school is its environment.

"It kind of feels like your second home," she said.

Thomas said she would love to expand to include high school, but it's not financially feasible yet.

Contact Holly Prestidge at (804) 649-6945 or .