Landon School history

1936 — Landon School purchases the Andrews estate at 6101 Wilson Lane, where the school stands today.

1939 — Landon boys win their first IAC championship.

1940 — Following the completion of the new Perkins Gymnasium, the Lower School building is constructed.

1948 — Gladys Georgia becomes Landon’s first full-time art teacher, expanding the school’s arts offerings from music and theater to the studio arts.

1954 — The public is invited to tour the newly acquired Perkins Memorial Azalea Garden, and the annual Azalea Garden Festival, a scholarship fundraiser, is born.

1963 — Landon Upper School students propose and adopt an Honor Code defining their own conduct.

1968 — Landon School fields its first lacrosse team with Coach Sullivan.

1970 — Founder and Headmaster Paul L. Banfield retires, and Hugh C. Riddleberger is named Landon School’s second headmaster.

1981 — Hugh C. Riddleberger retires; Malcolm Coates is named Landon School’s third headmaster.

1988 — Landon wins its first IAC Founder’s Cup.

1989 — The Mondzac Performing Arts Center opens with an auditorium (named for Malcolm Coates), music classrooms, rehearsal space and a dining room.

1992 — A course in humanities is installed for juniors, combining English and history in an interdisciplinary study of the foundations of Western civilization.

2000 — Landon opens a new Middle School for Grades 6–8, which includes a library, science laboratories and art studios.

The Landon Civility Code dates to 2002, when it was developed by School leadership.

2008 — Landon adopts a Code of Character, which raises civility to the level of honor; the Joshua M. Freeman ’83 Center for Athletic Achievement opens, providing a new fitness center and wrestling facility.

2013 — Landon celebrates its 60th Azalea Garden Festival and plans for its 85th anniversary.

2014 — Landon celebrates its 85th anniversary.

2015 — Headmaster David M. Armstrong steps down to lead the International Boys’ School Coalition (IBSC); Jim Neill becomes Landon’s sixth headmaster.

In the fall of 2016, Landon began its first comprehensive goal-setting exercise in a decade.

The Landon Core Values have evolved over the School’s history and are formally articulated here as part of efforts by faculty and the Board of Trustees to deliver on the goals of the 2018 Strategic Plan.

To conduct a communitywide equity audit and to facilitate professional development for the Board, faculty and staff, during the 2020-21 school year, the school engaged Val Wise and Norma Day Vines at Wise Consulting.

Landon’s campus will be reopened for these purposes and these standards will be effective October 18, 2021.