WHO WE ARE

The Long Green Line

"I know a place where strangers become friends and friends become brothers. This place is Christ School." - Larry Johnson '20

The Christ School boy does not fit a single mold. Students come from 17 different states and 11 countries, bringing with them many narratives, strengths, and areas that need growth.

Christ School wants each student to become the best version of himself through his time here; a better student, friend, son, brother, and human being. Getting your son to be a 4.0 version of himself when he graduates as compared to the version he was upon enrollment is the shared goal of a faculty and staff who specialize in relational learning. 

Friendships transcend your time here. Strangers become friends and friends become brothers in the classrooms, dorms, and through extracurricular activities. 

"This is Christ School. A place that forges men. Men who are not afraid to walk the road less taken, the road that can't be mapped, though most certainly ends up in a place of noble achievement and devotion." - Walker Edens '25 

Christ School History

Christ School was founded in 1900 by Father Thomas Wetmore and his wife Susan Allen Wetmore as a mission of the Episcopal Church. Mrs. Wetmore's family gave them four acres of hilltop land just south of Asheville, North Carolina for the purpose of educating the rural mountain children of the area at a time when there were no public schools. In addition to academics, the mission school also taught students a trade, such as industrial arts, crafts like weaving, basketmaking, and cabinetmaking, and nursing for the girls. These trades helped support both the school and the families of the students. The Wetmores had a tremendous outreach into the poor rural community, providing nursing care and clothing. When Father Wetmore died in 1906, Mrs. Wetmore became Principal and continued her fundraising efforts on behalf of Christ School for another 40 years.

What is a Greenie?

From "Dishwashers" and "Warriors" to "Greenies"

A frequently asked question, and here's the answer!

In 1917, the Christ School baseball team defeated the Bingham Military Academy 2-1 to win the Western North Carolina baseball championship. As a reward, the team earned new uniforms and J. Mitchell Taylor ’1919, a player/manager ordered green ones to replace the mismatched hand-me-down uniforms the teams received from other schools.

The team first wore green in 1919 and since then Christ School’s athletic teams have been known as “The Greenies.” Prior to that, the teams had sometimes been called the “Warriors” but more frequently the “Dishwashers,” alluding to the necessary work each boy had to do.

The school has grown to over 500 acres of academic and residential buildings, athletic fields, wooded trails, and green space. Christ School currently has more than 300 boys in grades 8-12, and students come from all over the United States and across the globe, adding cultural depth to the rigorous academic education. The school is still affiliated with the Episcopal Church as an unfunded mission and accepts boys of all faiths. St. Joseph's Chapel at Christ School is the longest continuously operating Episcopal church in western North Carolina, and the tradition of a Chaplain conducting regular Chapel services has continued unbroken for over a century.

Christ School was co-ed until 1927 when public schooling became available and provided transportation for the children of the area. At this point, Christ School became a true college preparatory Episcopal boarding and day school for boys.