Head of School Autumn A. Graves

Dr. Autumn Adkins Graves joined St. Anne's-Belfield School as head of school in 2020. A leader within the education sector for more than 30 years, she previously served as the head of Girls Preparatory School (GPS) in Chattanooga, Tenn., and has previously held significant leadership roles at Mercersburg Academy, Breck School, Sidwell Friends, Friends Seminary, and Girard College.

In her first four years of leading St. Anne’s-Belfield School, the School has achieved tremendous programmatic growth to further support the mission. Among these achievements include:

• Enrolling the largest student body in the School’s history,
• Supporting the redesign of the Early Childhood Program (ECP). The shift to an outdoor curriculum and pedagogy includes opening The Natural Classrooms, which includes cottages for each class, STEM centers, an Art Lab, and renewed play spaces that enhance children’s physical and emotional creativity and resilience, 
• Reimagining the Upper School Residential Life program to be more inclusive of domestic and international students, now representing 11 countries and ten states,
• Renovating 10,000 square feet of an iconic building on the historic Greenway Rise Campus to include a state-of-the-art makerspace, recording studio, library, and flexible learning spaces,
• Orchestrating a school-wide process to design the Portrait of a 2036 Graduate, incorporating futurist thinking that will lead to strategic programmatic and philanthropic enhancements to programs and spaces, 
• Recommitting the School to its health and wellness programming by creating a Support Services Department, expanding athletics offerings, and renovating recreational and strength training facilities, and
• Creating a comprehensive Civic Engagement Initiative that includes a full-time director, volunteers, service-learning, and a social entrepreneurship fellowship with public and private school students in the Charlottesville region.  

Dr. Graves is a long-term advocate for education, women, and children. She is active in several selective members-only organizations in the independent school community. Her memberships include Heads Collegiate Forum (formerly The Country Day School Headmasters’ Association), The 1911 Group, where she serves as secretary of the board (formerly Head Mistresses Association of the East), and the Heads and Principals Association (formerly Headmasters Association). Dr. Graves previously served on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chancellor’s Advisory Roundtable, the Creative Discovery Museum of Chattanooga, the Women’s Fund of Greater Chattanooga, and The Shipley School in Philadelphia. Dr. Graves has received numerous awards during her career, including Philadelphia Business Journal's "40 under 40" in 2011 and O Magazine's "Women to Watch for the Decade List" in 2010.

Additionally, Dr. Graves cares deeply about innovation and leadership within independent schools. As a trustee and vice chair for the Southern Association of Independent Schools, she has served on its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) task force. Dr. Graves serves on the Leadership + Design board, a collaborative that designs experiences for the people who create the future of teaching and learning. And recently, she began evaluating applications for new member chapters for the National Cum Laude organization. 

Dr. Graves earned a bachelor's degree in rhetoric and history from the University of Virginia, a master's degree in private school leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania. She and her husband, Vann, are parents to two current St. Anne’s-Belfield School students in the classes of 2033 and 2035.

Please consider the following publications to learn more about Dr. Graves and her ideas for leadership and education:

• NAIS Member Voices: Equipping Students in the Age of AI
• MoonshotOS: Tackling Institutional Challenges: When do you lay down a longstanding program? 
• Richmond Times Dispatch Op Ed
• NAIS Leadership Lessons: The Parallel Paths of School Heads and Preachers