The Winchester School was founded in 1970 to teach two years of pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade children a balanced program of strong academics in the language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and a foreign language with stimulating art and music classes, both children’s and classical art and music. Time for the children to play with one another, both outside and inside the school, and first-rate field trips, both for fun or to augment things the children are studying, are a vital part of the overall program. As Mary Rhim, the director and founder of the school, put it: “I wanted to start a school that was a complete answer to what I looked for and wanted for my own children when they were young."

Winchester School received accreditation from the Maryland State Department of Education during its first year of operation. For the first five years, the school offered two 3-hour programs, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. But the increasing demand from parents within the school for an alternative to full-time day care for young children changed the direction of the school. The school became dedicated to offering the best possible academic program for 3, 4, 5, and 6-year-old children with loving, experienced, college-degreed teachers at the helm with the additional hours of before-school and after-school child care added. For the past 32 years we have maintained our hours of operation from 7:30AM to 6:00PM. We are, therefore, an accredited private school with before and after-school child care for pre-kindergarten through the first grade. In September 2007, we are offering second grade.

For a number of years Winchester School had two locations, one in Bethesda and the other in Silver Spring. After renting space from churches, it was exciting to find a permanent home at 3223 Bel Pre Road in Silver Spring, where we have been for the past 26 years. We receive high praise for the excellent foundation our children exhibit when they leave us to enter their neighborhood public schools or a number of large 12-year private schools in the Washington metropolitan area.

Winchester School remains a small, caring, family-oriented school with a combination of an excellent academic curriculum and superb teachers to teach it – a combination not easily found. A parent once described Winchester School as “an undiscovered gem on Bel Pre Road.” Our children every year never cease to amaze us with their abilities, their enthusiasm, and their accomplishments. We will always demand excellence from Winchester children. Our motto: “Exemplary behavior, highest possible achievement. Nothing less will do."