Episcopal High School (also known as the High School, Episcopal and EHS), founded in 1839, is a boarding school located in Alexandria, Virginia. The Holy Hill campus houses 440 students from 31 states, the District of Columbia and 16 countries. The school is 100-percent boarding and is the only all-boarding school of its caliber located in a major metropolitan area. History Episcopal High School was founded in 1839 as the first high school in Virginia. The Rev. William N. Pendleton and three assistant heads initially taught 35 boys at the boarding facility which occupied of land. It was originally known as the Howard School, from its location at the site of an earlier school. It became known affectionately as "The High School". The central administration building, Hoxton House, dates to around 1805, built by Martha Washington's eldest granddaughter, Elizabeth Parke Custis Law. In 1840, Episcopal's student body tripled in size to accommodate more than 100 boys. It continued to grow until the Civil War, when it closed immediately after Union Army forces occupied Alexandria in 1861. Some 500 students served as soldiers in the war, many like Rev. Pendleton (who became a brigadier general) for the Confederacy. For the next five years, school buildings served as part of a large hospital for Union troops. Poet Walt Whitman served as a nurse in the hospital. The school reopened in 1866. Under the direction of Launcelot Minor Blackford (principal, 1870–1913), the school initiated a modern academic curriculum as well as pioneered interscholastic team sports in the South, including football, baseball, and track. EHS competes against Woodberry Forest School in the longest-running consecutive high-school football rivalry in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. Beginning in 1900, every fall the Maroon and the Woodberry Forest Tigers have competed on the football field. The location of the game alternates each year; it is either in Orange or Alexandria. Recognizing the need to improve its facilities, the school also undertook an aggressive building program that formed the foundation for the present-day campus. During this era, Episcopal also instituted its Honor Code, one of the oldest among secondary schools. A committee of students and faculty members promotes understanding of the code and handles violations. The Honor Code has served as a foundation of the EHS community since its inception. In 1968 the school's first two African-American students enrolled thanks to the generosity