Character Education Program

Building a Deeper Understanding of the World

We all dream that our children will be successful in their careers, whatever that means for their individual passions. In our hearts, we know that means so little unless they are successful as citizens, as partners, as parents, as siblings, as friends. The dream we all share is that the world is full of good people. At Chapin School, we help that dream come true, one child at a time.

Chapin's Five Virtues

Central to every student’s daily life, the five virtues - respect, responsibility, honesty, kindness, perseverance - are woven into the curriculum, in the language we use, and in the very essence of the school. Sometimes, they are discussed in relation to the themes of a book being read. Sometimes they are the topic of weekly Morning Meetings. Sometimes they become the focus of a teachable moment on the playground. Our students come to know that the five virtues purposefully ground and guide them through every step of their lives at home and at school.

Student Character Committee

When the Character Development Program was first established, Chapin had already integrated a great deal of activities that fell under Character Development, such as Community Service Projects, Family Groups, and a Leadership Class. To make the program more inclusive and purposeful, the school created both a faculty and a student committee.

The Faculty Character Development Committee develops an overarching theme for the year, with ideas of ways to infuse that theme into the life of the school.
The Student Character Committee (SCC) implements hands-on activities, such as making banners for each of the virtues, hanging quotes related to the virtues throughout the school, and visiting Lower School classrooms.

The SCC’s involvement with Lower School classes is probably the most popular and rewarding aspect of its work. During their visits to classrooms, SCC members read to students, conduct discussions about relevant topics, put on theme-based puppet shows, or might engage younger students in an activity aimed at teaching them about friendship, sharing, or problem solving. It is through these activities that our older students become role models for our younger students and begin reinforcing what it means to be a good person, a person of character.

Honor Code

Chapin's Honor Code provides a focus for the school's commitment to foster the ethical and social development of its students. It seeks to promote a community that holds personal integrity and mutual respect as standards for behavior. More than just a set of rules, the Honor Code is a set of ethical standards by which a person can live both in and out of school.

Central to the concept of the Honor Code is an understanding that this system is based upon trust and responsibility. Every student has the right to be trusted in his or her personal and academic life, and this right is inevitably bound to the duty and obligation to be truthful and honorable. Students are also expected to use their influence to encourage honorable conduct among all fellow students.

The Honor Code is designed to complement the Character Development Program and uses the five virtues as its foundation:

Respect: Students will conduct themselves and treat other members of the community and their property with dignity and high regard. Students will be responsive to the needs and concerns of others and will show care for school and personal property.
Responsibility: Students will behave, both in and out of school, in a manner that contributes positively to the academic climate and general welfare of the community. Students will be held accountable for their choices.
Honesty: Students will be truthful in their words, actions, and behavior. The Honor Code implies a trust that each student will do homework, tests, and other forms of work alone, unless directed to do otherwise; will carefully cite and document all sources; and will use the property of others only with permission of the owner. The signature of a student following the Honor Pledge ("I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment") reaffirms that the work submitted represents his or her own efforts.
Kindness: Students will show consideration and compassion toward others in their thoughts, words, and actions. If a student in grades 6 - 8 appears to have violated the spirit of the Honor Code, the matter will be heard by the Honor Council. The Head of Upper School and/or the Head of School will handle violations involving students in the fifth grade.
Perseverance: Students will set appropriate goals and will persist in meeting all commitments and obligations.

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