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West End School to add female students, expand

Female students could enroll as soon as September 2024.

The West End School

The West End School is located at 3628 Virginia Ave.

Photo by LOUtoday

After getting its start with three students in a small house on Chestnut Street, the West End School will soon be instructing 300 co-ed students on its 6-acre campus at 3628 Virginia Ave.

The tuition-free, boys-only private boarding school announced on Friday that it would begin a $10 million fundraising campaign to construct a new building for female students — which the school looks to add to its educational roster as soon as September 2024.

Thus far, the school has raised $6 million + looks to raise the other $4 million by the end of the year to begin construction on the new facility in early 2023.

While the girls’ program will begin as a daytime-only endeavor, the school may add female dorms in the future — the program looks to serve 150 local girls.

In April, Brown-Forman Corp. made a $20 million pledge to the West End School that will be allocated over the next 10 years to help with the school’s operating costs — with $10 million each going toward the boys’ school + introducing the girls’ school.

Founded by Robert and Deborah Blair in 2005, the West End School works with male students from pre-K to eighth grade + currently serves more than 140 students. It offers athletic, music, and enrichment programs for its students in addition to providing on-campus housing for alumni who go on to attend high school, but still want to reside in a structured and safe environment.

In the school’s early days, its class of three students would commute to a former JCPS building for class until the Blairs were able to purchase the facility and renovate one of its wings into a dormitory.

Want to support the school’s mission? Check out its wish list for items you can contributeincluding sponsoring a field tripdonate directly, or sign-up to volunteer.

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