Holton-Arms School

Founded more than a century ago, Holton-Arms school encourages young women to approach the world with a thirst for challenge, unflinching curiosity, and a sense of responsibility to use what they learn for the greatest good. Here, we help students get to truly know themselves so that they can best contribute to their communities and make a vital impact on the world. Joining the Holton family means:

• A commitment to hard work—knowing you will be guided and mentored by the finest teachers.
• Spending your days alongside sisters of many ages and backgrounds, learning from one another’s experiences and celebrating one another’s achievements.
• Connecting classroom studies to the shared global challenges you’ll one day inherit and embracing the world as the larger context for everything you learn here.
• Reaching beyond your comfort zone, knowing there’s always someone here who has your back.
• Learning to think and solve problems with creativity, and learning to write with persuasiveness and flair.
• Representing your school with effort and pride in and on the court, pool, studio, or stage.
• Joining a proud legacy of alumnae whose contributions and leadership touch every corner of the world.

Holton was founded in 1901 by Jessie Moon Holton and Carolyn Hough Arms. Originally located in downtown Washington, D.C., at 2125 S Street, the School moved to Bethesda, Md., in 1963. Learn more about Holton's history. Holton-Arms School cultivates the unique potential of young women through the “education not only of the mind, but of the soul and spirit.”

The School provides rigorous and dynamic programs in the traditional academic areas, the fine and performing arts, and athletics. Here, young women of diverse backgrounds can take risks, learn from mistakes, pursue opportunities for leadership, and build lifelong friendships. Holton-Arms is a vibrant community that values consistency and order as well as creativity and freedom.

We seek to develop personal integrity and the sense of responsibility that help young women to make wise and ethical choices. We work to build the values of respect, compassion, and service to others, within the School and in local, national, and global communities. We believe that with intellectual curiosity, self-reliance, tenacity of purpose, and commitment to others, Holton women will make a difference in a complex and changing world.