St Albans School

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St. Albans School (STA) is an independent college preparatory day and boarding school for boys in grades 4–12, located in Washington, D.C. The school is named after Saint Alban, traditionally regarded as the first British martyr. Within the St. Albans community, the school is commonly referred to as "S-T-A." It enrolls approximately 545 day students from grades 4 through 12, approximately 30 boarding students from grades 9 through 12, and is affiliated with the National Cathedral School for Girls (NCS) and the co-ed Beauvoir School – The National Cathedral Elementary School for PreKindergarten-3 students, all of which are located on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral on Mount St. Alban in Washington. St. Albans, along with its affiliated schools on the Cathedral Close and the Washington National Cathedral, are members of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation.The school was founded in 1909, with $300,000 ($7.2 million in 2015 dollars) in funding bequeathed by Harriet Lane Johnston, niece of President James Buchanan. Initially, it was a school for boy choristers to the Washington National Cathedral, a program that the school continues today.The school mascot is the bulldog, a symbol adopted under the school’s fourth headmaster, Canon Charles S. Martin, because of Martin’s fondness for his pet bulldogs. The St. Albans motto, "Pro Ecclesia et Pro Patria," translates to "For Church and Country." St. Albans requires all students to attend Chapel twice a week in The Little Sanctuary. The school seeks to develop in its students a sense of moral responsibility through Chapel, its Honor Code, and a co-curricular social service program.