Caedmon offers an early childhood through Grade 5 educational model for children ages 21 months through 10 years and an incredibly diverse and welcoming community. As the first Montessori school in Manhattan, our early childhood classrooms are bright with sunlight, wood, and engaging Montessori materials. In the elementary years, our Montessori-inspired approach incorporates Montessori values with a personalized education and continues to develop independence, coordination, concentration, organization, and curiosity. Additionally, students are exposed to a variety of hands-on curricula through design thinking, project-based learning, and having a voice and choice in the classroom.
Here are just a few highlights of our program:
29% FACULTY OF COLOR
20% MALE FACULTY
40% INTERNATIONAL FAMILIES
SPANISH (KINDERGARTEN THROUGH ELEMENTARY)
LATIN (GRADES 3 THROUGH 5)
VIOLIN (KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE 3)
EXEMPLARY MIDDLE SCHOOL PLACEMENT (TYPICALLY 3 CHOICES PER GRADUATE)
EMOTIONALLY ENGAGED AND RESPONSIVE FACULTY
We invite you to learn more about our philosophy and approach to education and meet members of our community through a Virtual Tour & Panel Discussion and/or Open House and to get a sense of our community and how we work with children via one of our sample Curiosity Classes or Story Time. These events will allow you to see and hear for yourself the joy in learning that our students experience every day. There is no need to apply before scheduling any of these events.
As Manhattan’s open-concept school, our classrooms—and our way of learning—seek to break down barriers between and within disciplines, concepts, and people in order to nurture flexibility, provoke inquiry and forge instructive connections.
In the first years of your child’s Calhoun journey, we work to open understanding between your child and their peers by developing independence alongside collaboration. We offer families the choice of two tracks for children in preschool through 3rd grade: Open Inquiry and Montessori. Though the tracks differ in several aspects of their approach, they share much in common: above all, shaping independent, self-aware, compassionate, and proactive young learners and citizens. The two tracks join together through a carefully planned transition in 4th grade.
As students reach our Middle and Upper School grades they learn in our open floor plan spaces, designed to literally and conceptually eliminate the barriers between grades, disciplines, and learners. At Calhoun, we believe knowledge is worth sharing and that there’s always something to be learned from any person or experience. By opening up to others with what we know and learning from them in return, we gain deeper insight and further our own thinking—ultimately equipping us to more effectively and innovatively contribute to our society at large.
Founded in 1901, The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine is a place where century-old traditions live on in vibrant, modern ways. As a school, we celebrate and honor our history as we integrate the technology and innovation that have redefined education—and our world. The Cathedral School has always charged to the forefront of equity, justice, and social change. Originally founded by Bishop Henry Codman Potter as a boarding school for boys in the Cathedral’s choir, The Cathedral School grew into an independent, coeducational, Episcopal K-8 day school for children of all faiths during the 20th century.
At a time when school integration was being challenged, The Cathedral School became one of the most substantially integrated independent schools in the country. Ten years later, in the fall of 1974, Bishop Paul Moore and Head of School Canon Harold Ransom Landon ushered in a new era as Cathedral admitted its first female students. What has remained constant since 1901 is our school’s passionate commitment to academic excellence combined with the development of articulate, confident, responsible citizens of the world.
Throughout the whirlwind societal changes of the 20th century and the technological changes of the 21st, The Cathedral School has remained tied to its core traditions. Our students still use the 13-acre Cathedral Close as an outdoor classroom; students eat family-style meals; eighth graders still receive personalized “bookplates” from teachers prior to Commencement; and of course, the school continues to provide the children’s choir for the largest Gothic cathedral in the world.
OUR MISSION
The Chapin School is dedicated to empowering a diverse, ambitious, and resolute community of young women to thrive and lead in their world.
Guided by our motto, Fortiter et Recte, Chapin considers bravery, compassion, service, and respect for self and others to be fundamental values. We believe that equity, inclusion, and collaboration are critical to personal growth. By advancing and deepening each student’s agency, confidence, and resilience within an affirming and joyful learning environment, Chapin strives to ensure that each student is emboldened to pursue distinction as a leader and contributing citizen.
UNDER ONE ROOF
All Chapin students, Kindergarten through Class 12, attend school under one roof, creating a unique sense of continuity and community. The school building, located at 100 East End Avenue, features 56 classrooms, a two-story library with a multimedia room, eight science laboratories, three art studios including a photography darkroom and a ceramics studio, three music studios, a black box theater, two dance studios, two computer laboratories, a design and innovation lab, two cafeterias, three gymnasiums, a fitness center and a training room, a greenhouse, and a play roof.
