The Virginia Beach School of the Arts was started in 1998 by Virginia Dill. We quickly became a center for education in the arts for our community. Originally located in the Windsor Woods area, our first location was home to Preschool for the Arts, private piano and voice lessons, art classes and Music Mommy & Me.
In 2005, we moved to our current location on Brickhouse Court. Our new, larger studios allowed us to add more summer camps, guitar and violin lessons and expand our art department. Thousands of children over the next decade came to the Virginia Beach School of the Arts for instruction in music and art!
Then in 2017, we started our first kindergarten. It was a hit! The students and parents loved it! Our instructors were parents and degreed educators who loved the nurturing and creative atmosphere of the school. We had so much flexibility and opportunity to explore opportunities because of our small classes.
After kindergarten graduation in 2018, nobody wanted to leave. Our "tribe" wanted to stick together! So, everyone registered their child as a homeschooler and we launched the first grade in the program we named Homeschool Unlimited. The following year, we added 2nd grade. Spanish and ballet classes joined the lineup too.
Then in 2020, the pandemic hit. As everyone knows, educational institutions around the world were greatly affected. Many people looked at the flexibility homeschooling offered and called Homeschool Unlimited at the VBSA the summer of 2020. They asked us to partner with them to help homeschool their students up to grade 8. So, within the span of 2 months, a dozen more teachers and assistants came on board and chose the curriculum. We acquired the building, doubled our space and got 6 additional grades launched. Our students were able to experience normalcy during a very precarious time.
Now in 2023, our Homeschool Unlimited program continues to thrive. It has expanded further and continues to meet the academic needs of homeschooling families in the Hampton Roads community.
Programs at The Virginia Beach School of the Arts today still include private music lessons, Preschool for the Arts, art camps and classes, summer camps and the academic program Homeschool Unlimited. Our music teachers are graduates of Julliard, Peabody, NYU, Shenandoah Conservatory and other leading arts institutions and universities.
We are thankful for our experiences these last 25 years and we look forward to continuing to serve our community for many years to come!
Virginia Dill holds a Bachelor of Music in piano from Shenandoah Conservatory where she graduated with honors. Born and raised in Richmond, VA, she has devoted her life and career to the education of children through the arts.