International Student FAQ

St. Anne's-Belfield is located in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the shadow of the University of Virginia. Our students benefit from living in a small town community while also having access to all of the resources afforded one of the top universities in the United States. Our students regularly attend cultural, artistic, and athletic events hosted by the University. Three historical homes of U.S. presidents are nearby: Monticello, Montpelier, and Ash Lawn, exposing our students to many educational and historically significant opportunities outside of the classroom. The school is also in close proximity to Washington D.C. and Richmond, Va., offering both fun cultural opportunities and convenience to international airports.

All graduates of St. Anne's-Belfield are required to complete four years of English, three years of math, three years of science, three years of history, one year of theatre arts or choir, and 15 hours of community service for each year they attend the School. St. Anne's-Belfield offers 18 Advanced Placement (AP) courses covering our core subjects, world languages, as well as studio art and music theory. Students often take AP exams not offered as classes such as U.S. History, Literature and Language, Economics, Psychology, and more.

See our College Admission Profile which includes our average SAT, SAT II, and AP scores. For students who have exhausted the offerings at St. Anne's-Belfield, the University of Virginia provides a wealth of advanced academic opportunities. 

Over the past four years, our international students have gone on to attend many of the top colleges and universities in the United States: the Art Institute of Chicago, Boston College, Carnegie Mellon, the College of William & Mary, Columbia University, Cornell University, University of Washington St. Louis, Emory University, New York University, Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Chicago, the University of North Carolina, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia, among others.

St. Anne's-Belfield students currently hail from nine different countries: China, Vietnam, Spain, Austria, Germany, Kenya, Canada, Afghanistan, and the United States. Additionally, over the last four years, our Residential Life program has included students from these countries: South Korea, the United Kingdom, Poland, New Zealand, Jamaica, Mexico, and the Czech Republic. 

International students make up approximately 11% of our Upper School student body at St. Anne's-Belfield. 

Weekends in the Residential Life Program are filled with activities on and off campus. On Fridays, we offer a bus to our Belfield Campus so students can support their peers competing in athletic events. We typically also offer a movie in our state-of-the art auditorium or through our outdoor projector. During the cooler months, we also gather around a fire and enjoy s'mores, conversation, and musical performances. 

Other common activities include hikes, visits to local orchards, art galleries, and farmers markets. We also enjoy bike day trips around the city and other locations nearby, as well as outdoor workouts utilizing our wonderful facilities on both campuses. Given our talented student body, we also organize talent shows, and competitions among the different Res Life “Houses.” Students are also able to sign themselves out of campus to go shopping, grab a bite to eat, or meet day students.

After finishing the school day, students enjoy an afternoon snack before heading to sports practice and other physical activities.

We gather for dinner four times a week from 6:30-7 p.m. and sit by House, a group of 6 – 8 students and a faculty member. This set up allows students to get to know and develop relationships with a wider group. After dinner, ninth and tenth graders head to study hall, while upperclassmen are able to study in their rooms or other academic spaces around campus. After study hall and quiet hours end at 9 p.m., students are free to enjoy each other's company in their rooms, hang out in the lounges, play ping pong or pool, or workout and play sports in our Student Activity Center.

At 10:30 p.m., every student is expected to be in their rooms for “good nights.” At midnight our wifi shuts off to help our students get a good night of sleep.

Dormitories close for winter break and spring break, but remain open for an additional fee during Thanksgiving break. The School offers a learning trip during spring break open to both boarding and day students. Information about the trip will be shared at the beginning during the summer. View the academic calendar here.

The School provides transportation to and from the International Airport of Dulles (IAD) at the beginning and end of each major break.

The Residential Life Program at St. Anne's-Belfield is available to students in Grades 9 – 12. Students interested in joining the Res Life Program at St. Anne's-Belfield may not turn 19 years of age before Aug. 1 of their Grade 12 year. 

St. Anne's-Belfield offers acceleration ELL classes for Grade 9 and 10 students. Ninth and tenth grade students who are non-native speakers of English will take a diagnostic test that will determine whether or not they are part of this course. This course is an accelerated and intensive reading, writing, and speaking class intended to support students’ work across our curriculum. The goal of this class is to create a supportive environment for students to sharpen the English language skills they need to be successful at St. Anne’s-Belfield and beyond. Additional support will be made available to English language learners in the form of peer tutoring or partnership with our Student Support team. No additional fee is associated with our ELL Program. 

St. Anne's-Belfield’s admission application is available through our Applicant Portal. In order to access the portal, you must first submit an Inquiry, after which you will be emailed login credentials to begin your application. 

We are happy to assist you in starting an application! Please email us at admission@stab.org with any questions. Please include your name, mailing address, and desired grade for admission. We also accept the Standard Application Online through the Enrollment Management Association (EMA). 

Whenever possible, a campus tour and interview are encouraged. If this arrangement is not possible, a Zoom interview will be scheduled as soon you complete the application.

Every student interested in attending St. Anne's-Belfield must provide results from the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT), Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE), or the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT) with their application. Prospective students whose native language is not English must also provide results from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or Duolingo. Our accepted applicants tend to have an average TOEFL score of 90 or 115 in Duolingo.

Please refer to our Upper School Admission Process page, where you can find application deadlines and the dates admission decisions will be communicated to the applicant. If applicable, waitlists are occasionally used when we are not able to provide all qualified candidates a space in our Residential Life Program. 

The section titled “What Does the Application Process Include?” provides all of the items required for an application. 

Once a student is accepted to St. Anne's-Belfield, we will send the applicant a welcome letter, contract, and an I-20. The student and the family are then responsible for scheduling an interview with their embassy in order to obtain a student visa and for returning a contract to St. Anne's-Belfield with a deposit for the next school year. The student is also responsible for submitting all paperwork (health examination, immunization records, consent forms, etc.) by July 15.

St. Anne's-Belfield Admission Office
admission@stab.org
2132 Ivy Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903
(434) 296-5106 - phone
(434) 979-1486 - fax