Welcome to Foxcroft!

List of 3 members.

• 

  Cathy McGehee 

  Head of School

  540.687.4320

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  Catherine Smylie McGehee became Head of Foxcroft School on July 1, 2014. Cathy has led efforts to adopt a new strategic plan and a revised campus master plan as well as to pass the School’s 10-year Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS) reaccreditation process. During her tenure, the School completed the $75 million Centennial Campaign, raising $79.9 million for the residential initiative and for endowment. She has overseen a new branding initiative and the roll out of a new website. Major campus projects include the opening of Court Welcome Center, construction of two turf athletic fields, renovations to four dormitories, and new faculty housing. Cathy has worked to update the School’s technological infrastructure, including expanded wifi throughout most of campus, as well as to open The Innovation Lab, a maker space designed by and for our students. The Academic Concentration program, launched during Cathy’s time as Head of School, allows students to focus their studies in Animal Science, Global Studies, STEM, and the Arts.

  
  Cathy is a member of the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools Board of Trustees, is Secretary of the Virginia Association of Independent Schools Board of Directors, and serves on the VAIS Accreditation Committee. In addition, Cathy has served as the chairperson for the VAIS Heads Conference Planning Committee and on the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington Member Services Committee and the VAIS Strategic Visioning Committee. For the past four years, Cathy has facilitated Headways for Heads of Schools, the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools online conversation and networking series that addresses timely topics such as school community and student safety. She has been a frequent presenter at independent school conferences, including The Association of Boarding Schools, NCGS, and VAIS, and has lectured at the University of Richmond. In May 2014, she received the Gibb Family Distinguished Alumni Award at the University of Richmond during the school’s commencement exercises.

  
  A native Virginian, Cathy spent the previous 19 years at St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, VA, where she served as the Director of the Upper School from 2006-14. Previously, she was chair of the St. Catherine's English Department (K-12) and taught English in the Upper School. Cathy also taught English in Eden Prairie, Wayzata, and Burnsville, MN, and at Fluvanna County High School in Palmyra, VA.

  
  Cathy holds a Bachelor of Science in English from Vanderbilt University, where she also earned teacher's certification from Peabody College. She earned her MA in English from the College of William and Mary and a Master of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Richmond. She is married to Dr. Read McGehee III, an ophthalmologist, and has two daughters. Eliza, a Vanderbilt graduate, who earned a master’s in history at James Madison University, teaches history at the Steward School in Richmond. Jane graduated from Davidson College with a degree in English and works in the publishing industry in New York City.
• 

  Abigail "Abby" Pheiffer 

  Project Manager for the Head of School

  540.687.4300

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  Abby’s diverse background in education, science, photojournalism and athletics provides a wealth of applicable knowledge for her role as the Project Manager in the Head of School’s Office at Foxcroft.
  
  

  Before coming to Foxcroft, Abby was the Internship Coordinator at Mystic Aquarium (CT), where she managed a program for 20 internship mentors and 75 interns! Previously, she was an Adjunct Instructor in photojournalism at the University of Missouri School of Journalism while also serving as Director of Photography at the Columbia Missourian.
  
  

  Abby was a teaching assistant and coach at Downe House, a girls’ boarding school in Cold Ash, England. Coaching in partnership with the English Lacrosse Association, she traveled to primary schools in England and Scotland to represent Downe House and introduce lacrosse to young children.
  
  

  As a staff photojournalist for both The Day in Connecticut and the Loudoun Times-Mirror in Virginia, Abby received numerous awards for photography and editing. Together with two fellow graduate students, she edited and published a book called Arrow Rock: where the past is the future – which not only helped her earn her master’s degree from Missouri's School of Journalism, but also earned the students and faculty involved the 2010 Osmund Overby Award from the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation. The book was accepted into the Library of Congress collection. Abby also completed a multimedia internship at Washingtonpost.com and worked as a Graduate Coordinator for Pictures of the Year International and the Missouri Photo Workshop.
  
  

  At the College of William and Mary, Abby earned a Bachelor of Science in biology and played varsity lacrosse for four years. She received the College of William & Mary President’s Award, Feffie Barnhill Leadership Award and Academic All-American Second Team Honors from the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association.
• 

  Julia Jackson 

  Executive Assistant to the Head of School

  540.687.4322

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  Julia joined the Head’s Office as Executive Assistant to the Head of School in January of 2017. A native of Loudoun County, she lives in Middleburg with her husband, Daniel, and their two young children. 
  
  Julia attended Clemson University, where she studied Animal Veterinary Sciences, and managed a large 24-hour veterinary practice in Fairfax for almost eight years. Previous to her time at Foxcroft she was executive assistant to the President of a data analytics firm. She’s thrilled to be living and working in the community that she grew up in.