News & Events

On August 6, 2026, Norfolk Academy announced the opening of a Coastal Research Campus on Virginia's Eastern Shore, with a letter from Head of School Travis Larrabee, including a video (below):

Dear Norfolk Academy Family,

As Norfolk Academy approaches its 300th anniversary, we are proud to announce the opening of our new 92-acre Coastal Research Campus, marking a transformational chapter in the school’s long history of leadership in education.

Located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, under an hour from 1585 Wesleyan Drive, this living laboratory sits on Cherrystone Creek, which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. This property offers a rare array of entwined ecosystems for exploration and study:

• a mile and a half of coastline
• 48 acres of wetlands and mature forest
• 44 acres of active agricultural land
• a navigable creek along one side of the property

For our region, there is no more important natural resource than the Chesapeake Bay. This new campus gives our students, from first graders to seniors, an unparalleled opportunity to take questions generated in the classroom into a natural environment that uniquely shapes our region. It is an extraordinary place for interdisciplinary investigations into the past, present, and future of coastal Virginia, with lessons that are applicable far beyond our shores.

The Coastal Research Campus marks a bold step forward in our commitment to establishing a distinctive model of experiential education, one that has been taking shape for more than two decades. The Batten Center for Civic and Global Leadership paved the way with our first Fellows Program, focused on the Chesapeake Bay, followed by four additional Fellows programs that combine inquiry and research, authentic problem-solving, and meaningful service. Those same principles have been applied to learning experiences across the school, including Engineering, Design and Innovation, Mini-mester, Maymester, and Leadership Lab, just to name a few. Our approach prepares students to think deeply, collaborate effectively, develop resilience, and engage with communities and environments around them.

Throughout this evolution, one thing has remained constant: exceptional faculty who bring learning to life. The Coastal Research Campus offers our teacher-coaches a new environment where they will spur students’ curiosity and, as our Philosophy & Objectives puts it, “empower students to apply their knowledge beyond the classroom to build a better, stronger world.”

I am profoundly appreciative of the vision and acumen of our Board of Trustees, who understood the strategic opportunity that this property offered and its essential contributions toward the school’s growth. We were positioned to take this step due to the steadfast support we receive from the Bulldog Family and the Board’s careful stewardship of the school’s resources.

As we launch into our Year of Purpose, we are thrilled to begin learning in our classrooms, on our fields and stages, and on our new Coastal Research Campus.

Sincerely,

Travis J. Larrabee
Head of School

Introducing our Coastal Research Campus (video)