For over 155 years, The Webb School has provided challenging academics with an emphasis on morals and values in a family-like setting. It is a place where young adults are not just expected to learn — they are encouraged to lead, as The Webb School promotes independent thinking, creative initiative, personal integrity and civic responsibility. The community, including an average class size of 13, inspires lifelong connections while fostering individual growth. Students from more than 20 countries and a dozen states allow for a global experience in Middle Tennessee that shapes students into engaged citizens of the world. The result: stronger, more confident thinkers, makers and doers who are prepared for college and life.
What Makes Us Unique
Two Things You Can't Find Anywhere Else: Why The Webb School Endures
Founded in 1870, The Webb School is the oldest continuously operating boarding school in the South. But longevity isn't the story. What sets Webb apart are two things most schools can only aspire to.
1. A character code that hasn't budged in 150+ years.
Webb's motto, Noli Res Subdole Facere, "Do Nothing on the Sly," came straight from founder Sawney Webb, and it still anchors campus life today. Every student signs the Honor Pledge: no lying, cheating, or stealing. That single commitment builds a culture of trust most schools talk about but rarely achieve. Paired with a mission that has never changed, to turn out tireless workers, accurate scholars, and people of genuine character, Webb offers something rare: an education with a spine.
2. Signature programs that turn passion into mastery.
Webb doesn't just prepare students for college, it hands them real-world experience before they graduate. Through WILD (Wilderness Instruction and Leadership Development), students build grit and lead in the outdoors. Tennessee Flight Training lets eligible students earn a private pilot certificate by graduation. Add Health & Human Performance, Leadership, Computer Science, and the Emerging Voices program, and you get students who don't just learn, they fly, lead, build, and find their voice.
A 1870 honor code meets 21st-century ambition. That's the Webb difference.