The Webb Schools Welcome Students for 2021-22 Academic Year

After more than a year of online instruction, The Webb Schools are welcoming 400 students to campus for the 2021-22 academic year with a weekend orientation on Saturday, Aug. 28 and Sunday, Aug. 29.

Vivian Webb School and Webb School of California have enrolled about 200 students each, including some 250 who will board at Webb for the first time since the pandemic required the campus to close in March 2020. Nearly 80 percent of full-time faculty members also live on campus.

“We are thrilled to be welcoming students back to our campus for the full Webb experience,” Head of Schools Taylor B. Stockdale said. “For 99 years, Webb has delivered an extraordinary academic community for stellar students from all walks of life. This year, as we begin our 100th year, will be especially meaningful as we reunite our Webb community.”

Webb’s highly diverse student body hails from across California, nine other U.S. states and 13 countries across the globe.

Students engage with a one-of-a-kind curriculum that emphasizes experiential learning, advanced studies courses, in-depth and topical humanities courses, partnerships with higher education institutions and field work for the Raymond M. Alf Museum, the only accredited paleontology museum on a high school campus.

In addition, the campus provides a host of activities and enrichment programs for boarding and day students designed to create an inclusive, fulfilling community experience.

“The Webb experience is multifaceted,” VWS Dean of Students Sarah Lantz said. “It begins with our intense academic program, but also stems from the deep sense of community fostered by our student life and residential program.”

During the closure, Webb completed renovations to its Hooper Community Center, which has been expanded to serve as a hub for the campus community, and Appleby Dormitory, one of 10 residential housing halls.

Hooper Center features student gathering areas, a café, video screens for gaming or movies, study spaces and staff offices. The dormitory renovations included converting 17 double rooms to 34 singles, providing an equitable balance of singles and doubles for Vivian Webb School and Webb School of California.

This is the first time that students have been on campus for Webb’s full program since March 2020.

Webb offered synchronous online classes in the 2020-21 academic year, including a second set each day for students outside the Pacific time zone. In spring 2021, Webb hosted students on campus for limited activities, study groups and athletics.

For 2021-22, Webb is following strict health and safety protocols developed by its Medical Advisory Board and supported by the campus Health Center. Protocols include regular screening tests to ensure student safety. All staff and students must be vaccinated, barring medical exemptions, and masks are worn in all academic and communal areas, indoor and outside.

View a full gallery from move-in and orientation activities to the Convocation ceremony.