Kenston Forest School


Kenston Forest School is a private school located in Blackstone, Virginia, which serves students from ten surrounding counties. It was founded to avoid integration. In addition to educating grades pre-kindergarten through twelve, the school has an Early Learning Program that is licensed by the State of Virginia. The school is accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Virginia Independent Schools Association.

History

Kenston Forest School was founded in 1966 as a segregation academy by the Lunenburg-Nottoway Educational Foundation. Kenston was chosen to be built on 28 acres of land right outside of Blackstone, and by 1966 the school had enrolled 175 students. The school lost its status as a tax-deductible charity in the 1970s because of its discriminatory admissions policy. It regained its 501 status in 1988.
The name "Kenston" originates from a merging of the town names "Kenbridge" and "Blackstone." Kenston Forest School originally enrolled students in grades eight through twelve, acting as a high school for students from both the Kenbridge Day School and the Blackstone Day School, two private lower schools in the area. In 1981, after declining numbers of enrollment in all of these schools, the three decided to merge to form Kenston Forest School as it is today, one non-discriminatory, nonprofit school for grades pre-k through twelve. The school is still overseen by The Lunenburg – Nottoway Educational Foundation, which is governed by an appointed Board of Directors.

Athletics

Kenston Forest's athletic teams are named the Kavaliers, girl's sports are unofficially named the Lady Kavaliers. The school competes as a member of the Virginia Commonwealth Conference of the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association in Division III, the lowest division in the VISAA. KFS fields 15 sports teams, five junior varsity, and ten varsity sports teams. Kenston has four varsity boys teams, four varsity girls teams, and two mixed-gender varsity sports teams. Kenston's boy's sports include eight-man football, basketball, cross country, and baseball. Kenston's girl's sports include basketball, cross country, volleyball, and softball. Kenston's mixed-gender sports are golf and soccer. Kenston's rival is inner conference Brunswick Academy. Kenston also competes with non-conference schools. In 2019, Kenston's football team joined the VISFL.
KFS has won VISAA State championships in the following sports.
Other VCC member schools include Blessed Sacrament Huguenot, Brunswick Academy, Richmond Christian School, Christchurch School, Fuqua School, Isle of Wight Academy, Southampton Academy, The Steward School, and Tidewater Academy.
KFS's hashtag is #GTDBAK which is primarily used for athletics.