as printed in the August 11, 2023 edition of Richmond Magazine, by Mark Newton and Will Thalhimer

Sabot Returns to Its Roots

16 years after its merger, a name change links the school’s past and future

In a move that looks both backward and forward, Sabot at Stony Point, an independent school for preschool through eighth grade education, has been renamed Sabot School.

Just over 200 students attend the school, which was formed by the merger of Stony Point School and The Sabot School in 2007. It stands next to the 106-acre Lewis G. Larus Park, named for the original landowner of the area near Bon Air where Stony Point School stood.

The decision to reclaim the school’s earlier name was made as the progressive education center in September celebrated 50 years of the Reggio Emilia Approach, under which, according to the school, “children are seen as capable thinkers and theorists who, working together, research and come to understand themselves and their world.” At the same time, Sabot opened Honor Hall, a 16,000-square-foot classroom building. The confluence of events felt like “a serendipitous link from the past to the future,” according to Allison Seay, director of communications.

“Now 16 years in [since the 2007 merger], the school has tested and refined these ideas and created purpose-built spaces to enable and honor its foundational beliefs and values [that children can be powerful agents in their education],” says Irene H. Carney, Sabot at Stony Point’s first head of school and executive director. “At this juncture, our school can lay claim to having developed a unique and important offering in independent education for our region.” —

The original article appears here.