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Chapin's richly textured curriculum is driven
by the commitment to develop curious, lifelong learners.
It balances intellectual rigor with exposure to a wide
variety of academic and cultural experiences. It is
our goal to develop independent thinking and sound learning
and reasoning skills so that our students will be prepared
to move confidently forward in their academic endeavors.
Lower School
Chapin’s Lower School, consisting of grades
Pre-Kindergarten through four, serves our children through
six years of dramatic growth. Our program is designed to
meet a range of developmental needs, from those of our
youngest primary students to our more independent fourth
graders. A typical day might find our very youngest
students tossing a bean bag at an outline on the floor to
determine a letter sequence in a "mystery word," while our
fourth graders might be nose deep into a novel that takes
them to the height of the Andes Mountains in Peru.
Meanwhile, second graders could be enjoying a special pasta
luncheon with their eighth grade buddies. Everywhere in
between one finds children actively engaged in the learning
process.
Despite a variety of individual lessons and
lesson objectives on any given day, however, one also finds
a common purpose among all the classrooms. It is clear that
the goal of any of these experiences is to create a lifelong
love of learning in our children and to develop in them
those skills necessary for this pursuit. Another common
thread is the integration of Chapin’s Character Development
Program into all facets of a child’s day, so that Respect,
Responsibility, Honesty, Kindness and Perseverance are
experienced and practiced.
Further "peeks" into our Lower School
classrooms might find some children drilling the basics, the
four-times table, for example, while others might be forming
cooperative groups to apply the four-times table to a
problem-solving situation. Our faculty take cues from what
is rooted in the past and which they know to be
educationally sound, and then infuse this with the further
knowledge gleaned from current studies about how children
learn. Our goal is to keep children moving along their own
paths to further learning. Keeping the whole child in mind,
our program includes special areas like Computers, Foreign
Language, Art, Music, Library and Physical Education. Our
teachers combine the science, the art, and the "heart" of
teaching to create stimulating learning environments that
successfully meet our goals for all of our students.
Upper School
The middle school years (Chapin’s Upper
School) cover an extraordinary period of growth,
development, and excitement in your child’s life. Students
are seeking the independence to stretch beyond the home (and
homeroom) while at the same time seeking the approval of the
adults and peers around them. They are beginning to think
analytically and critically with a growing level of
sophistication. While each year in the Upper School has its
own challenges, passions, and issues, we seek to build a
program that encourages the best in children by sparking
interests and providing skills for a lifetime of learning
and healthy decision-making.
Chapin’s Upper School students are a unique
group of learners and require a program that challenges them
in an age appropriate manner. Through the blending of
academic rigor with character development, the Upper School
seeks to bridge the primary years in Lower School with
secondary school. Likewise, our Advisory Program, Honor
Code and Honor Council, elective offerings, leadership
classes, and community service initiative provide
opportunities to broaden and enrich our strong commitment to
personal development. This is done, keeping in mind our two
prevailing goals: to encourage the development of
respectful, responsible, honest, kind, hardworking young
people and to guide them in becoming independent, engaged,
enthusiastic, life-long learners who possess the skills
necessary for future academic and personal success.
The Upper School faculty, administration,
staff, and I are all deeply committed to working with
students in this age group and seek to build a strong
partnership with you so that we can make your child’s Upper
School experience fulfilling and successful.
We hope you will take time to review this
academic overview in an effort to glean a better
understanding of our programs and expectations.
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