Quick Facts

School Type: National Cathedral School is an independent day school for girls in grades 4-12.

Enrollment: 597 students.

Student/Faculty Ratio: 9 to 1.

Financial Aid: NCS has provided over $4.7 million in financial aid for the 2023-2024 school year to 22% of the student body.

Campus: NCS is located at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and Woodley Road in northwest Washington, DC, and is situated on the 59-acre Cathedral Close with Beauvoir School and St. Albans School.

Diversity: Students of color constitute 46% of the NCS student body.

Coordinate Program: NCS has a strong coordinate program of classes and extracurricular activities with St. Albans School.

Date Founded: October 1900. NCS is the oldest of the schools on the Cathedral Close and was built before the Cathedral itself.

Mascot: The Eagle.

School colors: Purple and Gold. The colors also serve as centers of school spirit: Upon joining NCS, each student and faculty/staff member is assigned to either the Gold Team or the Purple Team, and this designation will last for a person's entire career at NCS. (Those with older relations already assigned to a team may opt to join that team, too.) The two teams compete over the year for points, and the year's winner is announced on Flag Day.

The School Shield: It unites elements of the shield of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington with those related to Washington, D.C. On top is the Jerusalem Cross, symbol of the kingdom of God and the city of Jerusalem. The five crosses traditionally are said to symbolize the five wounds of Christ. Below are elements from the D.C. flag, which is based on the Washington family coat of arms: a white field with two horizontal red stripes and three red stars. The middle star has been replaced by a crown of five towers, a form that in heraldry indicates a principal city, a capital, or the seat of a bishop.

National Cathedral School is the oldest of the institutions constituting the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation. Our students and teachers are intimately connected to the Washington National Cathedral and other institutions on the Cathedral Close by ties that are spiritual, educational, and legal, and by traditions born of long association. The Cathedral is the venue for an all-school service that is held every seven school days, as well as for all major NCS events, from the opening of school to Commencement.