Mission Statement
We, at Kerr-Vance Academy, strive to provide for our students an intensive liberal arts college preparatory program in a safe atmosphere where all are treated respectfully.
We endeavor to maintain high expectations while actively engaging our students in learning.
Further, we strive to foster intellectual curiosity, concern for others, physical development, creativity, and social and moral values.
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We will be results oriented, focusing on growth and improvement in student achievement and teaching quality.
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Learning is not an accident. Teachers will plan and deliver lessons that authentically engage students at a high level by pushing students to extend their thinking and reaching beyond their current capacities.
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The school community values learning for learning’s sake. We promote learning as the vehicle for which students are prepared for a rapidly changing world. Students are encouraged to take risks, ask questions, and take initiative.
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The school community will think globally. Students will become global citizens who make informed decisions, solve problems, and collaborate.
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The school community will demonstrate concern for others manifested in mutual respect, relationships, and service.
Who We Are
Opening in 1968, KVA sits on 25 acres of a beautiful rural campus surrounded by rolling pastures and nestled under mature shade trees offering a peaceful learning environment for students to learn. Families from 6 counties seek out the value of a KVA education and find their way to campus each day, including families from southern Virginia.
KVA has been accredited by Cognia for 50 years a high achieving K-12 college preparatory program. In 2025, the KVA Early Learning Center, serving children as young 18 months to 4 years old, was also recognized by Cognia as an accredited Early Learning Center, the only one of its kind in the region. This milestone reflects our commitment to providing exceptional early childhood education and fostering a nurturing environment for even our youngest learners.
Our History
Vance Academy was founded by a group of interested men and women and opened its doors in a temporary building in 1968. The land was given by Anne and Roger Fleming. The school serves six counties in the surrounding region, including Southern Virginia. Its mission then, as now, was to provide strong academic, athletic, and character education.
From the beginning, the Academy grew steadily. By the fall of 1969, a new building was ready to accept students in grades one through nine. Two years later a new wing was added for the high school facility. This wing contained five classrooms and a fully equipped science lab. In June of 1973, construction of the James W. Crawford Gymtorium was completed. Five years later, in 1978, work was begun on a new building for the upper school classes. This building contained six classrooms and an office complex for the guidance counselor.
Kerr Lake was founded in 1971 by a group of parents who purchased the Townsville High School and established a school that provided classes for kindergarten through ninth grade. In 1986, Vance Academy and Kerr Lake merged, thus creating Kerr-Vance Academy.
The building program continued in 1997 to complete the Jerry S. Cottrell Cafeteria, which opened in September 1997, and the new Primary Center opened in 1999. It housed the daycare, Pre-kindergarten classes, Kindergarten classes, and Art and Music Complexes. In 2000, the most recent addition to the school was the middle school building, which included upper school classrooms and a science lab on the lower level. In 2007, the middle school classrooms were converted to the present day Media Center. Upper school classrooms and a science lab continue to reside on the lower level.
Kerr-Vance Academy will continue to play a central role in the growth and development of our area and will continue to offer the children of this community an extraordinary college-preparatory education.