Located a few miles northwest of downtown Atlanta, the Westminster campus consists of 180 acres along scenic Nancy Creek. The main campus has 18 academic, athletic, and residential buildings, including the recently opened 104,000-square-foot Junior High School complete with dedicated classrooms for music, art, dance, science, computer labs, writing lab, its own chapel and multi-purpose room and dedicated locker commons area for each grade and gender. In addition, the adjoining Westminster Camp property consists of several facilities, including an outdoor pool. Athletic facilities include three gyms (one with a natatorium), seven practice and playing fields, sixteen tennis courts, and a three-mile wooded cross country trail
Westminster’s governing body is the 30-member Board of Trustees, which sets school policy and develops the school endowment, which is currently valued at $193,700,000 (as of 6-30-11). Since 1991, the president of the school has been William Clarkson IV, a graduate of St. Mark’s School of Texas, Duke University, The General Theological Seminary, and Perkins School of Theology. Ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church in 1973, Dr. Clarkson also served as a teacher and administrator at St. Mark’s School and The Potomac School.
To support our strong academic curriculum, Westminster offers a wide range of resources to augment classroom instruction and to ensure the development of each child’s mind, body and spirit. Physical resources include spaces dedicated to specific types of programs such as sciences and the arts, classrooms equipped with computers and smart boards for large group electronic access, 11 academic computer labs, and an extensive system of libraries with a total collection of over 97,000 volumes. These collections are augmented by an extensive computer research network that features on-line services and access to numerous internal and external databases.
Recognizing that students learn through a variety of experiences, our program includes experiential learning through our Discovery program, opportunities to explore our community through service learning (both city-based and global travel-oriented), classic instruction supplemented with in-depth study of the arts, physical education, a second language, technology, and a plethora of extracurricular activities including: Band, Orchestra, Drama, Visual Arts, 17 different sports, clubs, and more. There are 83 sports teams and numerous concerts and performances throughout the year. We encourage each child to explore his or her own interests as a way to develop interpersonal relationships with friends who have similar affinities and with the teachers who guide or coach them.
The Westminster student body consists of approximately 1,852 boys and girls who come from communities throughout Atlanta. In a typical year, the Elementary School (pre-first–5th grade) has 469 students, the Junior High School (grades 6–8) has 561 students, and the High School (grades 9–12) has 822 students. Westminster seeks students who demonstrate excellent academic promise and personal integrity and who represent various racial, ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds. In addition to the admission of four classes of pre-first students, there are openings for new students in all divisions of the school (grades 1-5 have very limited openings). The largest number of openings occurs in grades 6 and 7 due to an expanded enrollment at these levels.
The academic schedule for all students begins at 7:55 a.m. Pre-first dismisses at 2:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. on Friday), first grade at 2:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. on Friday), grades 2-5 at 3:15 p.m. (2:00 p.m. on Friday), and grades 6-12 at 2:40 p.m. (extra help sessions end at 3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday).
The comprehensive fee covers tuition, fees, lunch, and includes books for pre-first–grade 5. Textbooks for grades 6–12 average $300-500 per year.
The 2011-12 comprehensive fees are as follows:
Grades Pre-First–5 $18,375
Grades 6–12 $21,315
Westminster is committed to economic diversity in its student body and provides over $3,900,000 per year in need-based financial aid. Financial aid is provided by the school’s endowment, not by tuition paid by other families. In compliance with the Georgia High School Association, no athletic or academic scholarships are offered. All aid is based solely on a family’s financial need as determined by the School and Student Services in Princeton and by Westminster’s financial analysis. To insure that Westminster’s admissions decisions are “need-blind,” admissions and financial aid decisions are made independently. The endowment benefits all students, since Westminster’s per-student costs significantly exceed tuition revenue.