About
Our Promise
Landon School challenges and inspires every boy it teaches to think deeply and broadly; to embody the timeless values of respect, perseverance, and honor; to seek balance and pursue excellence in all endeavors; to become the best version of himself.
Mark
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Kendall '24
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Susan
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As you consider Landon, you may ask of us: What is it that we believe about this institution and its mission?
We believe in the vast human potential inherent in boys and their capacity to do and to be good. - Jim Neill, Head of school
70%
Of Faculty Hold Advanced Degrees
14
Average Class Size
75
Acre Campus
The Facts
Landon is home to 690 students, 125 full-time faculty and staff, a 75-acre campus, and so much more. Statistics, though, are only one element that tells the story of who we are, what we do, and how we go about a boy-centered, well-balanced approach to help your son learn and grow.
Mission & Values
Our Mission
Landon School is committed to the ethical, intellectual, and personal development of boys.
We challenge and inspire them to think deeply, individually, and broadly; to live with respect and honor; and to grow into healthy, well-rounded men of integrity and character who seek to make a positive difference in the world around them.
Leadership
Landon’s Board of Trustees focuses on cultivating the long-term growth of the institution. Our Head of School conducts the day-to-day operations of the school. The Board of Trustees and Head work closely together to ensure Landon’s programs and practices serve our boys effectively and remain grounded in our mission.
Strategic Plan
In the fall of 2016, Landon began its first comprehensive goal-setting exercise in a decade. The 2018 Strategic Plan was the result of this exercise, and it challenges us to grow as a school and live our mission to the fullest. It is focused on six key areas: academics, character, faculty, campus, resources, and community.
We spent a year developing the six goals and associated action steps that make up the plan. The process included commentary from hundreds of community members and engagement by a 35-person committee whose voices represented a wide array of Landon constituencies and viewpoints. Our Board of Trustees approved the plan in 2017.
Campus Master Plan
Landon submitted its Campus Master Plan to Montgomery County in the Spring of 2021, which was later approved by the County in the Fall of 2021.
This plan represents has the potential to transform our grounds into an even more beautiful and beneficial home for our boys and our faculty. The plan envisions the creation of a new Upper School building, which will maintain a central location on the current site of the Andrews House, establishing a beacon of learning on the highest point of our 75 acres. With this new Upper School, the Middle School will then move into a renovated and expanded Banfield Academic Center (the current Upper School building), and the Lower School will move into the current Middle School, resulting in an academic quad that supports a cohesive Landon experience for all of our students.
The Campaign for Landon
The success of this campaign will empower us to reimagine our campus.
Our entire community will immensely benefit from this transformation. New and renovated spaces will connect our community and encourage faculty and students to ask questions and explore new ideas.
the campaign for landon
Neighbors
We value the relationships we have with the community around us, and this section of our website is designed to share information about our school. We invite our neighbors who are interested in Landon events and activities and who wish to receive communications about Landon on a regular basis to share an email address with us. If you have questions or concerns, please contact our Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer Chris Harper at chris_harper@landon.net or our Director of Facilities Mike Sopher at michael_sopher@landon.net.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Our Values
Respect is a core value of a Landon School education.
Landon is committed to promoting supportive and welcoming traits like inclusivity and appreciating diversity and how it enriches the tapestry of the community. We seek to develop in our students the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to value differences, encouraging both speaking and acting with integrity and compassion and developing an informed and respectful worldview.
The Landon 2018 Strategic Plan identifies areas for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work, including:
- Imbue an authentic respect and appreciation for differences of all kinds through programming and practices that expand students' understanding of others and that lead to lifelong brotherly bonds.
- Enrich the school population through broadened efforts to recruit and support students and faculty with diverse backgrounds.
DEI Updates
Facilities Rental
Landon facilities are available to rent. New pictures of our Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools are coming soon. Please reach out to jack_willson@landon.net with questions and/or inquiries. Here is a look at some of Landon's facilities as part of our 75-acre campus.
Campus Map
History
- 1934 — Landon School moves to the Walsh McLean estate (Whitehall) at the corner of Bradley Blvd. and Wilson Lane in Bethesda, Maryland.
- 1936 — Landon School purchases the Andrews estate at 6101 Wilson Lane, where the school stands today. Classes for Grades 3–6 remain in Whitehall until 1940.
- 1939 — Landon wins its first IAC championship, this time for baseball. In the years that follow, Landon wins an IAC title every year except three.
- 1940 — Following the completion of the new Perkins Gymnasium, the Lower School building is constructed.
- 1943 — Albert Rogers is wartime acting headmaster. Landon conducts three graduations the next year (February, June, and August) for students heading off to war.
- 1948 — Gladys Georgia becomes Landon’s first full-time art teacher, expanding the school’s arts offerings from music and theater to the studio arts.
- 1954 — The public is invited to tour the newly acquired Perkins Memorial Azalea Garden, and the annual Azalea Garden Festival, a scholarship fundraiser, is born.
- 1961 — The Lower School building is dedicated to longtime Lower School Head Clyde T. Wilson.
- 1963 — Landon Upper School students propose and adopt an Honor Code defining their own conduct.
- 1968 — Landon School fields its first lacrosse team with Coach Sullivan. Participants are in Grades 5 and 6.
- 1970 — Founder and Headmaster Paul L. Banfield retires, and Hugh C. Riddleberger is named Landon School’s second headmaster.
- 1971 — With only 15 boys in the dorm, the Boarding Department closes at the end of the school year.
- 1981 — Hugh C. Riddleberger retires; Malcolm Coates is named Landon School’s third headmaster.
- 1988 — Landon wins its first IAC Founder’s Cup.
- 1989 — The Mondzac Performing Arts Center opens with an auditorium (named for Malcolm Coates), music classrooms, rehearsal space, and a dining room.
- 1990 — Malcolm Coates retires; Damon F. Bradley is named Landon’s fourth headmaster.
- 2000 — Landon opens a new Middle School for Grades 6–8, which includes a library, science laboratories, and art studios.
- 2002 — The school adds a Civility Code to the core principles that govern our behavior as members of a community dedicated to the inclusion of all.
- 2004 — Damon F. Bradley retires; David M. Armstrong is named the school’s fifth headmaster. Landon celebrates its 75th graduating class.
- 2008 — Landon adopts a Code of Character, which raises civility to the level of honor; the Joshua M. Freeman ’83 Center for Athletic Achievement opens, providing a new fitness center and wrestling facility.
- 2013 — Landon celebrates its 60th Azalea Garden Festival.
- 2014 — Landon celebrates its 85th anniversary. The Landon United capital campaign comes to a close having raised more than $51 million for the school, the most successful fundraising initiative in Landon history.
- 2015 — Headmaster David M. Armstrong steps down to lead the International Boys’ School Coalition (IBSC); Jim Neill becomes Landon’s sixth Head of School.
- 2022 — Landon begins construction on its Campus Master Plan, including a new Upper School and academic quad.
News & Calendar
Our youngest Bears have a new home in the Freeman Family Lower School. Find out why the bigger space and new location has the entire Lower School community full of excitement.
A new opening week program provided an in-depth introduction to what it means to be a Landon Middle School student. Find out how students established and renewed connections with their peers and Teacher-Coach-Mentors through experiential learning.
Students, faculty, and staff are settling into the new Boehly Upper School! See some of the new spaces and hear from students, alumni turned faculty members, and more familiar faces.
Landon's opening day Convocation ceremony featured speeches from Head of School Jim Neill and Student Council President Kevin ’24 that focused on the year ahead. Here are lightly edited transcripts of those remarks.
Landon Magazine
Calendar
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Athletic Center Main Entrance