Charlottesville’s college preparatory high school for academically and artistically advanced students.

Congrats to Ari H ’23 for her team’s win at the Warhammer 40k Apocalypse over the Memorial Day weekend! 

Congrats to Zoë S ’24, who read her poem “Assimilation” at the Moonstone Poetry Reading on Saturday 5/21. She will be published in the New Voices – Spring 2022 Anthology through the Moonstone Art Center in Philadelphia.

Congratulations to Will B ‘ 08! 
His work on Measuring and Mitigating AI Carbon Intensity was published in AI2.

Congratulations to the Class of 2022!
We celebrated their accomplishments in style at the Paramount Theater of Charlottesville! 

The Inaugural YPAC Book Drive Was a Spectacular Success!
Together, the community donated 729 children’s and YA books! That’s right, seven-hundred-and-twenty-nine!!!
All books donated will be given to the local charity Book Baskets, which distributes books to underserved children and those in need.

Thank you to Dean of Students Mr. McLellan for leading, and to Zaharra C ’26 and Olivia T ’23 for volunteering, at Party in the Park on Saturday, with a bounce house, ice cream truck, and culturally competent books for children in our community! This is the return of this kind of literary event for children after a 2-year pandemic hiatus, and we look forward to more events in the future. 

Congratulations to Ms. Claiborne for this great Virginia Public Media feature for her voice work on the award-winning NPR podcast, Seizing Freedom, which “highlights true stories of Black people’s fight for liberation, progress and joy from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond, the series illustrates the myriad ways Black people have sought and defined their own freedom in spite of the monumental forces at work to keep them from it.”

The Charlottesville Player’s Guild’s commitment to original work continues with two staged readings. We will present an evening of work written by local Black female playwrights with discussion to follow in order to help these two emerging playwrights grow their pieces.

BLACK PANTHER by Zaharra C ’26 is an autobiographical dramatization of the life of a multiethnic young woman, repeatedly resisting the sinister comforts of assimilation. You are invited to attend in person or via live stream – tickets are available for both formats at this link!

Congratulations to Liam C ’25, offered the Goalkeeper position on the SOCA Blue Team, their top level traveling team that plays in the VA Premier League Soccer League! 

Congrats to Zaharra C ’26 on completing her RVA Fashion Week audition and VMFA Fashion Show Program – representing 5 months of work – on Saturday 5/14! 

Congratulations and gratitude to Mr. Pun, Sylvie B ’22 (pictured), parent Amanda M, Mr. McLellan, and all of the RS community members who helped to produce and celebrate Charlottesville’s first Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Festival on Sunday, May 15!

Congratulations to the Class of 2022 on some exception college acceptances and awards!
class size: 11
college acceptances: 55
total financial scholarships & awards: $3,128,432
average: $284,402

Congratulations to English Faculty  Ms. Avakian on two counts! 
Last week she successfully defended her Masters Capstone at the UVA School of Education and Human Development, on the topic of providing support to multicultural students within higher education. 
Then, her play, The Secret Ingredient, currently playing at the The AAPI Women’s Voices Theatre Festival at Strand Theater Company in Baltimore, received this review: “a lush movement piece about the Iranian motherland.”

Congratulations to Olivia T ’23 for her acceptance to the VCU Dental Career Exploration Summer Program! 

For the… fifth? eighth? tenth?? year in a row, Renaissance School has been the number one contributor to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank School Food Drive! With thanks to Francesca O ’24 for leading the charge this year! 

Congratulations to the RS Tri Team, who had an amazing debut race on Sunday May 1, 2022 at the Lake Monticello CalTri! 
Captain Zoë S ’24, Lillian S ’25, and Sam C ’24 – 1st place female!
Gio L ’22, Cole M ’25, and Burke L ’24 – 2nd place male!
Zaharra C ’26, Eavan B ’25, and Aurora O ’24 3rd place female!
Thank you to everyone from the community who came out to support. Go Ravens!!!

Congrats to Zoë S ’24 on her 3rd place in the SW District 13 & over Championships Swim Meet in Christiansburg VA! Zoë placed 3rd in the Women’s 15 & over 200 yard Butterfly, and dropped seconds off her time!

Congrats to Ari H ’23 for her acceptance to the SCAD Rising Star summer program! 

Ms. Avakian ’13 is excited to announce that her play, The Secret Ingredient, was selected to be produced this summer by the Asian Pacifica Arts Collective in Baltimore as a part of their theater festival. This script has been her favorite project, as it addresses themes of identity and immigration.

Congratulations to Bailey F ’15, offered a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Art History Department at the University of Vienna [Universität Wien]! The fellowship also combines teaching with research, and he will be working as an English teacher in an Austrian secondary school.

Congratulations to goalie Liam C ’25 for his selection to the selected for the U15 boys challenge all star soccer team! A few people from challenge teams get chosen as recognition for their positive attitude, good attendance and advanced playing ability/potential.

Congratulations to Hinke Y ’23 who won the election and has been sworn in as Youth Governor for the Commonwealth of Virginia for the Model General Assembly of 2022-23! Click the link to watch the video of her swearing in.

On Saturday Zaharra C ’26 and Maya P ’23 served as panelists for a virtual teaching workshop for K-12 educators sponsored by the University of Virginia Center for Liberal Arts, Virginia Humanities, Learning for Justice, Center for Anti-Racist Education, and New American History. They collaborated with students from Charlottesville area public schools, community leaders, and educators to offer students personal perspectives on learning about historically marginalized histories, people, cultures, and strategies that lead to meaningful learning experiences. Great job!

Renaissance School students (including Olivia T ’23, shown in this NBC News photo) joined our Dean of Academics, Mr. McLellan and The Foothills Child Advocacy Center, ReadyKids, and others, hoping to protect at-risk kids from experiencing child abuse. More information is available in the NBC news report at this link.

Congratulations (gratulationes!) to Lily A ’25, Nora H ’25, Walter T ’25 on their Gold Medal Summa Cum Laude scores on the National Latin Exam! 

Congratulations to Ms. Claiborne, starring in the Charlottesville Players Guild’s Gem of the Ocean by August Wilson, premiering tomorrow evening at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center! Break a leg! 
Tickets and more details at this link. 

Congrats to Mr. Pun for appearing on Sincerely, Your Small Business hosted by Jess Norby. “The podcast is your window into what inspires local business owners, makes them tick, and how they’ve grown as business owners, community members, activists, parents, and friends.” Mr. Pun talks about being a restauranteur! Click to have a listen.

Congratulations to Mr. McLellan for a donation of over 100 children’s books in partnership with C&F Bank for the next Simunye book giveaway!

Congrats to Sylvie B ’22 and Hinke Y ’23, as well as alumni William B, Cora O, and Ella S, ’21! Their synthetic biology research article, Synthesis of cadaverine in Escherichia coli transformed with pET28-a plasmid, was published in BioTreks Journal!

Congrats to Hinke Y ’23, whose classical music radio show Worldview launches 2/28/22 on WTJU and CharlottesvilleClassical.org!

Congrats to Hinke Y ’23, whose classical music radio show Worldview launches 2/28/22 on WTJU and CharlottesvilleClassical.org!

Congratulations to Music Faculty Mr. Pun on the success of his crowdfunding campaign for children’s book Som Tum and Sticky Rice!

Congrats to Brian F ’10, star of While You Were Partying at the SoHo Theater in NYC! Critics raved “Absolutely knock-you-down hilarious…like sliding on wet grass into an electric fence.” -Helen Shaw, New York Magazine

Congrats to Aurora O ‘24 for her publication in the 2nd Street Gallery December 2021 Zine How Strange It Is To Be Anything At All!

Ms. Johnson will be leading a workshop at the 2022 NAIS Annual Conference, Making Sense of Meaningful, Disruption-Driven Change: A New Framework for Independent School Leaders.

Congratulations to Art Faculty Mr. Haske for his showing at the Second Street Gallery The Third Mind, inspired by the artistic collaboration and friendship between Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, this exhibition paired artists and challenged each pair to create a single painting together. Mr. Haske and his brother had a joint piece in this exhibition!

Congrats to Oscar G ‘24 for his publication in the 2nd Street Gallery December 2021 Zine How Strange It Is To Be Anything At All!

Congrats to Zaharra C ‘26 for her publication in the 2nd Street Gallery December 2021 Zine How Strange It Is To Be Anything At All, and her acceptance to the VMFA Teen Stylin’ Summer Program!