Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro is nearing a century and a half of existence and is clearly focused on the present and future and not wedded to its storied past.
The school year will wrap up Saturday morning with a school commencement at First Presbyterian Church, where Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears will deliver the keynote address. The Republican running for governor is to be welcomed with a 19-gun salute prior to her speech.
Enrollment at the all-male institution stood at 80 this year, but Col. Randal Brown, Fishburne’s president, is presiding over both physical and program changes at the school, whose alumni include the late Virginia Gov. Gerald Baliles, and WWE founder Vince McMahon. Brown, who became Fishburne president in 2022, has 23 years of service in the Army National Guard and has been a teacher and administrator at other private schools. He is a graduate of Rhodes College and holds a master’s in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University.
“We have some older facilities we need to address,’’ Brown told the News Virginian.
Chief on the list of renovations is an upgrade to the 102-year-old Fishburne barracks, listed on both the Virginia Landmarks Register and on the National Register of Historic Places. More than $2 million in private donations have been raised to renovate the barracks, and work will start this year.
“We need another $4 million so we can take care of the boys in the barracks,’’ Brown said of the remaining funding needed for the renovation.
Fishburne student recruitment, which was complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to be global.
“We will have two new students from Africa,’’ Brown said of the fall enrollment.
He anticipates enrollment surging past 100 this fall and said the school can comfortably accommodate 150 students.
The 2024-25 school year has seen Fishburne pivot to include its first ever middle school program. Twenty-four students have spent the year in grades 6 through 8, learning a core curriculum led by the school’s director. Innovative activities include a school government in the seventh and eighth grade that impeached its president twice and convicted him in the Senate once. Students go on monthly field trips to gain a greater understanding of what they have learned.
Middle School Director Christianna Herrera designed the program and curriculum.
“We are able to differentiate where they are with one-on-one tutoring,’’ Herrera told The News Virginian. “I’m invested in these students.’’
Herrera said she will miss her students over the summer. The year “was not without its challenges, but was a fantastic year,’’ she said.
The middle school program’s future permanent home will be First Presbyterian Church, which Fishburne purchased last year but will continue to serve as a church.
Despite the limited enrollment, Fishburne has a thriving athletic program. Playing eight-man football for the first time ever last year against other military schools, Fishburne finished with an 8-1 record. The school’s wrestling program has two alumni now wrestling at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
About a quarter of Fishburne graduates go on to military service, while a similar percentage continues their education at colleges and universities.
Brown said the continuing challenge “is growing the enrollment.”
He is excited about Saturday’s commencement, highlighted by Earle-Sears.
“She is a good fit for us,’’ said Brown, who said Earle-Sears can offer graduates memories of her time as a Marine Corps member.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com