Napa’s Oxbow School, a private arts boarding school serving both local students and those from across the U.S., will close after its summer session at the end of its 25th year.
School leaders announced the shutdown in a letter dated Friday.
“The board of trustees made the difficult decision to close The Oxbow School following the 2024 Summer Art Institute session,” the statement read.
“In recent weeks, the board has carefully and painstakingly considered the future of The Oxbow School,” the letter continued. “The headwinds against independent schools have been, and remain, quite strong, and the practical and financial realities of operating a small, arts-focused boarding school such as ours have dramatically evolved.”
According to the Oxbow school website, tuition for the spring 2024 semester is $34,000. That included both room and board and supplies. All-inclusive tuition for six weeks at the Oxbow Summer Art Institute is $16,000.
“We simply could not adapt our unique and intimate school experience without losing the special character and identity that have defined Oxbow,” school officials wrote.
The statement described the decision as “heartbreaking,” for the Oxbow community, both past and present.
A 2010 Napa Valley Register story noted that more than 750 students had completed the program, just over a decade after its creation. When contacted on Monday, school staff declined to provide the total number of alumni, the number of students receiving financial aid, and the percentage of Oxbow students who came from Napa County.
School leaders are working “to identify and share ways to celebrate and honor the legacy of the school and the pioneering contributions of its founders, Ann Hatch and Robert and Margrit Mondavi,” said the statement.
Founded in 1998, the Oxbow School is based at 530 Third St., across the street from the Napa Valley Expo.
According to a 1998 Register story, the school was launched with $6 million from the Mondavis, of Robert Mondavi winery fame, and $2 million from Hatch, a longtime philanthropist. In its early years, nearly half the student body was expected to come from Napa County.
In 1999, the Register reported that local students qualified for a “nearly a full scholarship, courtesy of a $2.2 million endowment” from the Mondavis.