FAQs

Peabody has a 26% student of color population.

In 2019-2020, approximately 30% of the Peabody student population receive some form of financial aid.  

While the majority of our students are from the Charlottesville/Albemarle area, students travel from as far away as Waynesboro, Staunton, North Garden, Gordonsville, and Louisa to learn here.

The faculty averages 13 years of teaching experience, with 40 % of teachers having 15 years teaching experience or more.

Algebra I
Algebra II
Geometry
Biology
French I
French II
Spanish I
Spanish II

In addition to the core academic classes in English, Math, Science, History, and World Language, Peabody students in the lower school also take specials classes in the subjects of Art, Music, Drama, Physical Education, and Technology.

Middle School students have the opportunity to select from a menu of offerings for their Arts & Enrichment segment of the day.  A list of those class offerings can be found here.

Both the WPPSI and WISC are designed to predict how well children will perform in school. The tests are standardized and are administered to children all over the country. The test is designed to assess your child’s problem solving skills as well as his or her intellectual strengths and weaknesses. Some parts of the test may be influenced by the academic exposure your child has had.

The results of the test will help show how your child compares with others of his or her age in problem solving skills, verbal abilities, critical thinking, abstract reasoning, and preparation for school. The tests predict academic achievement, but motivations, study skills, academic opportunities, and self-discipline also play important parts in academic achievement.

Most children enjoy the testing. We encourage you to tell your child that s/he will be asked some questions and be given some activities to see what s/he knows and what s/he has been taught. Some questions will be answered with words, and others will be solved like puzzles. We discourage parents from saying it is an IQ or intelligence test because that makes children nervous and is not exactly accurate. Because the assessments are influenced by education, they are not purely intelligence tests. We encourage you to tell your child that the results of the assessment will be used to help show more about what he or she has learned over the past couple of years. We also suggest that you tell your child that the tests are often given to children much younger and much older than they, so there will be some questions that seem very easy and some that are very difficult. It is important for your child to know that he or she is not expected to know all of the information and that it is okay not to know something.

Typically, students who are successful at Peabody School score above the 90th percentile on the WISC or WPPSI, with most students scoring above the 95th percentile. The verbal subtests of the WISC and WPPSI are weighted more heavily by the Admissions Committee than other subtests.

Contact any licensed school or clinical psychologist to arrange for testing. Request that the test results be forwarded to Peabody School. The testing typically takes between 1 1⁄2 and 2 hours, and children usually enjoy participating in the testing activities. Please do not attempt to have your child tested if s/he is tired, ill, or has recently been ill, as testing can only be done once every 365 days. Please indicate to the test administrator that the test is for Peabody School in order to expedite scheduling. Several local options include:

• University of Virginia      434.924.7034
• Angie McHugh               434.996.6574 or amchughedd@gmail.com
• Lisa Locke-Downer        434.466.1588 or www.crozetaces.org (Crozet)
• Julia Blodgett                 434.242.2331 or juliablodgett@earthlink.net
• Suzanne Michels           434.296.0762 or suzemichels@gmail.com
• Allison Anderson           434.806.6510 or aandersonphd@gmail.com