Landon School

Background

Paul Landon Banfield and his wife, Mary Lee, founded Landon School in 1929. The school's first location was a former residence in the Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C., now home to the Embassy of Estonia. Banfield moved Landon to its present 75 acre campus in Bethesda in 1935. The farmhouse, stables, and barn from the previous use of the Bethesda property still stand on the campus and are used today.

In September 2022, as a part of the Landon School's redesign of its campus, the 100-year-old Andrews House was relocated in order to make space for the new Boehly Upper School building. Moving the 9,000-square-foot, 1,122-ton historic building was a delicate operation that required months of planning.

The school has a reputation for cultivating athletes.

Demographics

The demographic breakdown of the 690 boys enrolled for the 2022-2023 school year was:

41% of the student body identified as non-Hispanic white.

• Native American/Alaskan – 0%
• Asian – 7.7%
• Latino/Hispanic – 5%
• Middle Eastern American – 1.9%
• International students – 2.3%
• Black – 15.2%
• Multiracial – 6.4%
• Caucasian – 59%
• Other - 3%

Academics

Landon School is a college preparatory school for boys in grades 3-12. The school's daily schedule is from 8:00 a.m. – 3:40 p.m., with flexible and extended hours for before/aftercare and athletics. The school states that the schedule for each division is age-appropriately designed to maximize students' most attentive hours.

The Lower School schedule includes periods for each subject, consisting of language arts, science, social studies, math, music, and ethics classes, broken up by movement opportunities, athletics training, and quiet reading time.

Middle School and Upper School utilize rotating block schedules that are similarly designed to maximize students' attention, with breaks for movement and club meetings in between. In 2023, the School plans to move the sixth grade from the Middle School to the Lower School.

In 2018, Landon announced it would discontinue AP courses to focus on offering its own set of high-level "advanced" courses that better align with their Mission, Philosophy, and Portrait of a Graduate. 84% of the Class of 2022 is attending a college or university where they applied for early decision or early action.

Funded by its namesake Cary M. Maguire '46, the Maguire Ethics Scholarship Program awards a merit-based scholarship of $10,000 to a student entering Upper School who demonstrates the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and character. Scholarships are available to both new applicants and current eighth-grade students.

Extracurriculars

The school offers 22 athletics options, including varsity interscholastic sports such as swimming, soccer, water polo, football, cross country, ice hockey, wrestling, basketball, baseball, track, tennis, golf, rugby and lacrosse. Landon also offers interscholastic club sports such as riflery, sailing, fencing, squash and ultimate Frisbee, as well as intramural sports and strength and conditioning.

In collaboration with Holton-Arms School, Landon School performs three productions per year, a musical and a non musical. In addition to acting, students can learn lighting, sound and set design. The School offers theatrical class, boys Improv Club and Director's Workshop where students can create and direct their own original play.

Additionally, the school teaches arts such as painting, advanced drawing, architecture, ceramics, digital art, sculpture and photojournalism. Students can submit their work to regional and national competitions or to the school's on campus magazine entitled, Prometheus Unbound.

Athletics

Landon competes in the Interstate Athletic Conference (IAC) alongside six other all boys' schools in D.C., MD, and VA. The IAC consists of 12 sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and wrestling.

Lacrosse

In 2017, Landon was in the top 2 of USA Today Super 25 boys lacrosse rankings.

Wrestling

Landon School wrestler Joel Brown was named All-Met Wrestler of the Year by The Washington Post, after a 32-3 season. In 2023, The Landon School's wrestling team won the Interstate Athletic Conference title, its fourth since 2018. 13 of 14 Landon wrestlers reached the finals, eight of whom won their final matches.

Hockey

The Landon School's hockey team won the Interstate Athletic Conference title in February 2023. The team defeated Bullis to claim the win after a tied score forced a shootout. The Hershey Bears hockey team signed Landon School alumnus Sam Anas to play in the 2022-2023 season. In 2011, Anas led the Landon Bears in a 25-0-1 season.

Soccer

In 2022, The Landon School's soccer team beat St. Albans to win the Interstate Athletic Conference championship. Landon School alumnus Kristian Fletcher signed a contract in 2022 to play professional soccer for D.C. United. While playing for Landon School, Fletcher was named the All-Met Player of the Year in boys' soccer by The Washington Post.

Baseball

In 2016, The Landon baseball team won its first Interstate Athletic Conference title since 2011, beating Bullis by a score of 8-4.

Heads of School

Since its founding in 1929, Landon School has had six headmasters.

Paul Landon Banfield (1929-1970)

Hugh C. Riddleberger (1970-1981)

Malcolm Coates (1981-1990)

Damon F. Bradley (1990-2004)

David M. Armstrong (2004-2015)

Jim Neill (2015-)

Controversies

In spring 2010, it was revealed that students allegedly planned a fantasy football-like "draft" in which female students at other local schools were chosen for each "team," and "points" were to be scored on the basis of sexual encounters with those students. The revelations came in the wake of the news about George Huguely V—a former Landon lacrosse player and football quarterback—who was charged in the murder of his girlfriend Yeardley Love.

In September 2022, several Landon School students were seen in a viral video singing a racial slur while riding the Washington Metro. The school issued a statement that it was aware of the incident and "deeply concerned".

In 2022, the parents of Landon student Charlie Schnell withdrew their son after he was accused of drawing disturbing images of Black people and sharing it with a Black classmate. Schnell was bullied over the incident and disturbed by another student's threat of a school shooting. Less than two weeks later, Schnell committed suicide using a Landon banner, and his parents held the school responsible, saying that their biggest mistake was sending their son to Landon. Lawyers for the school sought unsuccessfully to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the student's parents. A confidential settlement was reached in 2025.

In the fall of the 2002-2003 school year, ten Landon students were caught cheating on their SAT exams. Among these students were eight who admitted to the offense one month later after rumors had spread throughout the school. Those eight students were suspended for the remaining month of the fall semester, though they were allowed to take their fall semester exams. Two other students were pressed to withdraw from Landon or face expulsion.

Notable alumni

• Sam Anas – hockey player for HC Dinamo Minsk
• Jaye Andrews – former professional basketball player in the British Basketball League
• Darion Atkins – basketball player for Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Ned Bittinger – portrait painter and illustrator
• Todd Boehly – part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chelsea Football Club
• Robbie Bordley – first modern-era captain of the United States national rugby union team, teacher and renowned lacrosse coach at Landon School
• Alan Brinkley – historian and Columbia University provost from 2003 to 2009
• Donald Dell – former Davis Cup player and coach, first sports agent in professional tennis
• Bill Eacho – former US Ambassador to Austria (2009–2012)
• Ahmet Ertegun – Turkish-American businessman, founder of Atlantic Records
• Nicholas Hammond – American actor
• Fred Hetzel – played six seasons in NBA, top pick of 1965 NBA draft
• Rush Holt – physicist and former Congressman (1999–2015) (D-NJ)
• George Huguely – University of Virginia student convicted of second-degree murder of Yeardley Love, a fellow student at UVA.
• Ken Jenkins – NFL running back and kick return specialist
• Rufus G. King III – Chief Judge, DC Superior Court, 2000–2008{{cite web | url = http://www.dccourts.gov/dccourts/docs/DCSC_Bio_King.pdf | title = The Honorable Rufus G. King, III, Chief Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia | author = Superior Court of the District of Columbia | work = (Official Biography) | access-date = July 14, 2010
• Knight Kiplinger – editor emeritus of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine
• Bronson La Follette – Wisconsin Attorney General from 1974 to 1986
• Gregory S. Martin – retired U.S. Air Force four-star general
• Nick Martin – founder and CEO of TechChange
• James McEwan – whitewater canoeing bronze medalist at 1972 Summer Olympics
• Doug McKelway – television "journalist" for Fox News
• Fred McNair – professional tennis player, 1976 French Open doubles champion
• Sam Potolicchio – educator
• Maury Povich – television personality, host of Maury, a syndicated talk show
• Danny Rubin (born 1991) – American-Israeli basketball player for Bnei Herzliya of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Jonathan D. Schiller – American lawyer who is a co-founder and managing partner of the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
• Tom Scott – co-founded Nantucket Nectars
• Teddy Sears – actor
• Topper Shutt – TV weatherman
• Thomas Tamm – US Justice Department attorney, illegal wiretapping whistleblower
• Thomas A. Wadden - Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine.
• Matt Ward – Tewaaraton Trophy winner and NCAA lacrosse All-American

References

References

1. "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for Landon School". [[United States Department of Education]].
2. "Landon School".
3. "Paul Banfield, Founder, Head of Landon School". [[The Washington Post]].
4. Morris, Walter. (2022-09-06). "Historic Bethesda School Building Being Moved".
5. Jaffe, Harry. (October 1, 2003). "From the Archives: 'Our Sons Have Something To Say'".
6. "Landon at a Glance: FACTS + FIGURES".
7. "Landon School".
8. "Landon Private Elementary School {{!}} Bethesda MD {{!}} D.C. Area".
9. "Landon Private Boys Middle School {{!}} Bethesda, MD {{!}} Near D.C.".
10. "Landon Private High School {{!}} Bethesda, MD {{!}} D.C. Area".
11. Dean, Louise. (2018-07-02). "Courses need development focus". Early Years Educator.
12. "Achievements - Landon 2021".
13. (May 13, 2015). "2015 Landon Spring Magazine by Landon School - Issuu".
14. (April 6, 2017). "Landon School (Md.) up to No. 2 in Super 25 boys lacrosse rankings". [[USA Today]].
15. "Landon School". The Washington Post.
16. (August 12, 2019). "Landon Magazine Summer 2019 by Landon School".
17. (May 20, 2022). "Prometheus Unbound 2022 by Landon School".
18. "Interstate Athletic Conference".
19. (2017-04-06). "Landon School (Md.) up to No. 2 in Super 25 boys lacrosse rankings".
20. (2023-03-28). "Winter 2022-23 All-Met Players of the Year". Washington Post.
21. "Landon wrestling leaves no doubt who rules the IAC". Washington Post.
22. "Landon rallies to beat Bullis in shootout, claim IAC hockey crown". Washington Post.
23. Pr, Ahl. (2022-08-15). "Bears sign Anas to deal for 2022-23".
24. "Landon makes adjustments, tops St. Albans for a share of the IAC title". Washington Post.
25. "Kristian Fletcher Signs With D.C. United {{!}} Club Soccer {{!}} Youth Soccer".
26. Eilerson, Nick. (2016-05-20). "Landon rallies late, then holds off Bullis for IAC baseball title". Washington Post.
27. (2020-08-27). "Landon School History: Founding, Timeline, and Milestones - Zippia".
28. Dowd, Maureen. (June 9, 2010). "Their Dangerous Swagger". The New York Times.
29. (May 23, 2010). "The Complex Life of Murder Suspect George Huguely". [[The Baltimore Sun]].
30. Reyes, Elaine. (June 10, 2010). "Students Allegedly Tab Girls for "Fantasy Sex Draft"". [[WRC-TV]].
31. (September 3, 2022). "Landon School 'deeply concerned' after video shows students using racial slur on Metro". WTOP-FM.
32. (July 6, 2024). "Wrongful-death suit against prep school over teen's suicide moves forward". The Washington Post.
33. (January 10, 2024). "'Landon failed Charlie': Parents sue school after 16-year-old son's death by suicide". News4.
34. (February 17, 2025). "Family of student reach settlement with Landon School before wrongful death trial". wtop.
35. Schulte, Brigid. (November 23, 2002). "Eight at Landon School Admit Cheating on SAT". The Washington Post.
36. (January 31, 2024). "Sam Anas signs two-year extension with the KHL's Dinamo Minsk".
37. Joseph, Remi. (May 17, 2021). "Eighth-grade Teacher Jaye Andrews' Global Life Before Greenhill". The Evergreen Online.
38. "Darion Atkins, Basketball Player, Stats, Height, Age".
39. "Ned Bittinger".
40. "Chelsea bid expected by L.A. Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly - sources". ESPN.
41. (May 15, 2018). "Boys' lacrosse Top 10: After more than 40 years, Rob Bordley coaches final Landon game". The Washington Post.
42. (June 17, 2019). "Alan Brinkley, historian of liberalism, dies at 70". The Washington Post.
43. (September 4, 1977). "Donald Dell: All Over the Tennis Court". The Washington Post.
44. (February 2020). "austria.usembassy.gov}}{{Dead link".
45. Trow, George W. S.. (1978-05-29). "Ahmet Ertegun and the American Art of Making a Hit".
46. (March 2, 2016). "Our Man in Arlington".
47. (December 5, 2013). "This Is What Happened To The Original 'Sound Of Music' Cast".
48. (November 8, 2021). "'Spider-Man' TV Star Nicholas Hammond Wasn't Approached for 'No Way Home' — But He Sure Wanted to Be".
49. Bijan C. Bayne. (July 7, 2010). "Landon's Fred Hetzel Named to Southern Conference Hall of Fame". DC Basketball Blog.
50. (November 15, 2011). "Rush Holt, The Lone Physicist in the U.S. Congress, Has Become New Jersey's Voice For Innovation and Education-www.njmonthly.com". New Jersey Monthly.
51. Timanus, Eddie. (May 4, 2010). "Lawyer calls Virginia lacrosse murder case an 'accident'". USA Today.
52. "Ken Jenkins Career Statistics". pro-football-reference.com.
53. (December 30, 1979). "Ann S. Miller Is Married to Knight Kiplinger". The New York Times.
54. 'Wisconsin Blue Book 1985–1986,' Biographical Sketch of Bronson C. La Follette, pg. 6
55. "General Greg Martin '66". Landon School.
56. "General Gregory S. Martin". U.S. Air Force.
57. (May 27, 2014). "When and How to Scale: DC Startup at a CrossRoads". Forbes.
58. Free, Bill. (May 18, 1992). "In a splash, Olympics disappear for paddlers – Final U.S. berths won on Savage River". Baltimore Sun.
59. (December 26, 1989). "The TV Column". Washington Post.
60. "Junior USTA Interscholastic Championships". United States Tennis Association.
61. "Best 300 Professors Press Release". princetonreview.com.
62. (November 12, 2009). "New Neighbors: Povich and Chung Are Moving Back to Washington". Washingtonian.
63. (February 4, 2011). "Danny Rubin goes from Landon to Boston College walk-on to ACC starter". Washington Post.
64. "No Trial Too Daunting".
65. "Breaking down the walls that divide us".
66. Lowell Davis. (August 19, 2008). "Summer '08 – Lowell in the Big City". Landon School.
67. Katherine Thurston. (October 2002). "Teddy Sears". About One Life to Live Fans Guide.
68. (February 8, 2018). "Topper Shutt". WUSA9.
69. "US Civil Liberties". historycommons.org.
70. (October 2021). "New gift marks the importance of support for clinical psychology graduate students". Carolina Arts & Sciences Magazine.
71. University of Virginia Athletics Men's Lacrosse. "Player Bio: Matt Ward". University of Virginia.
72. "Spring 2002 All-Met Lacrosse". The Washington Post.