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 forward confidently 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 a floor outline 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. Everywhere in between one finds children actively engaged in the learning process.
In addition to a variety of individual lessons and lesson objectives on any given day, 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. Respect, Responsibility, Honesty, Kindness and Perseverance are experienced and practiced every single day.
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 incorporates foundational educational practices rooted in the past as well as techniques 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 a 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 spent 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 Class, 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 and staff 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.