Head of School's Welcome

Dear Prospective Families,

Thank you for visiting the Wilson Hall website, where you will find evidence that we live our mission—providing a rigorous and well-balanced education in a safe Judeo-Christian environment. At Wilson Hall, rigorous means thinking hard; it means stretching students beyond what they believe possible; and it means allowing students to take intellectual, artistic, and athletic risks in a place where failure is part of the developmental process. While we boast excellent test scores (1199 SAT average for seniors, 1399 SAT for top 25%, and 1463 SAT for top 10%) and college scholarship awards ($7.2 million total and $3 million applied for our most recent graduates), among other achievements, this is a community of faculty and families who understand that there are some aspects to education that are immeasurable.

How do we grade, for example, a student’s participation in our chapel program? But spiritual thinking—asking the big questions about life—is essential to a life well lived. Our founders knew that and expected that character education would be woven throughout the curriculum and extracurricular programming, and so it is to this day. Wilson Hall is designed to build diligence and integrity, our foundational values, in every member of its community, and that is the reason that when you come for a campus visit you will recognize a unique atmosphere, one where respect and hard work are the expectations, not the exception.

Wilson Hall is a place people want to be. As a class of 2000 graduate, I know the difference a Wilson Hall education makes in the lives of its students, which is why I moved back to Sumter after 22 years—I want my daughters to experience this place, a place, in the words of Virginia Woolf, that protects “the great Cathedral space” we call childhood.

Whether you love the arts, computer science, engineering, ceramics, music, history, or just a great conversation about the implications of The Great Gatsby for the 21st century, Wilson Hall has something for everyone. And our faculty—trained in the fields of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and education research—are prepared to meet students where they are and get them where they want to go.

We hope you will schedule a tour today!

Sincerely,
Brent C. Kaneft
Head of School
brentkaneft@wilsonhall.org