In support of Chapin’s philosophy to educate the whole child, the Lower School curriculum offers many opportunities in the arts, physical education, foreign language and technology.  Beginning in Pre-Kindergarten, all children receive regularly scheduled instruction in music, art, physical education and computers.  Children in third and fourth grades are also offered a chorus experience.  Supplemental music lessons for those families who wish to participate are offered after school beginning in first grade.  Foreign language instruction in Spanish begins in first grade and continues throughout a child’s experience at Chapin.  All Lower School children also have one library class a week but are free to visit the library at other times throughout the week to find that "next good read."

The goals of the Lower School music program include shaping musical behaviors so that the child comes to recognize and appreciate the aesthetic qualities inherent in composing, performing and listening to music.  In Art,  children are encouraged to develop an appreciation of the beauty and enjoyment that comes from both observing and producing various art forms.  The computer program covers a sequenced set of skills, from developing aptitude with a mouse and understanding print commands in Pre-Kindergarten to keyboarding in successive grades and then to using the Internet and multimedia presentations in third and fourth grades.  All activities support a child’s classroom learning, and appropriate software applications are introduced in tandem with the curriculum. 

The physical education program seeks to challenge and improve each child’s strength, flexibility, agility, speed and endurance while fostering good sportsmanship, mutual and self-respect.  Our foreign language program strives to provide students with a firm foundation in the four communicative skills:  reading, writing, oral and aural comprehension.  Chapin’s library program prepares students to be effective users of information and nurtures a lifelong love of reading.

Children in Pre-Kindergarten have music, art, library, and computers once a week, and physical education twice a week. 

Kindergarteners have one library and one computer class a week, two music classes, three physical education and three art classes a week.

In first grade, foreign language is introduced in four 20-minute sessions a week, and this configuration for Spanish class continues through third grade. First and second graders have one computer and one library class a week and two music, art and physical education classes.

In third and fourth grades, the children increase their physical education time to three times a week and a chorus period is added to their two music classes on a weekly basis.