Open 365 days a year, Mount Vernon is located just 15 miles south of Washington DC.
From the mansion to lush gardens and grounds, intriguing museum galleries, immersive programs, and the distillery and gristmill. Spend the day with us!
Discover what made Washington "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen".
The Mount Vernon Ladies Association has been maintaining the Mount Vernon Estate since they acquired it from the Washington family in 1858.
Need help with homework? Our Digital Encyclopedia has all of the answers students and teachers need.
The Washington Library is open to all researchers and scholars, by appointment only.
The winner of the Mount Vernon History Teacher of the Year will receive a $5,000 cash award, as well as an all-expense paid trip to George Washington's Mount Vernon for up to 100 students and 10 chaperones (inclusive of bus transportation, tickets to the Estate, and lunch vouchers).
The Mount Vernon Teacher of the Year runner-up will receive tickets to George Washington's Mount Vernon for up to 50 students and 5 chaperones.
Teachers may submit a self-nomination or be nominated by a colleague.
Mount Vernon is honored to give the History Teacher of the Year Award to Kim Belknap, a history teacher at Herndon High School in Herndon, Virginia. Kim also serves as a Fairfax Country Public School DBQ Coach where she mentors fellow teachers to use the Document Based Question method in their classrooms. A National Board Certified teacher in Social Studies-History, she also serves as an AP Exam Reader.
Kim is described by a colleague as “a model of what it means to be a life-long learner. She continuously reflects on her own teaching methods, and shares her reflections at workshops, department and staff meetings”. Another colleague praises her teaching methods that “incorporate student-friendly learning targets into her own lessons and units. These targets empower students and clarify that they are not only acquiring historical content but also learning to read, write, think, and discuss as historians.”
2018 Mount Vernon History Teacher of the Year Runner-Up
Theresa Early, a special education teacher at Laurel Ridge Elementary School in Fairfax, Virginia was selected as the 2017 runner-up.
Read the press release here.
