Our Philosophy of Education

At Chapel Field, we seek to cultivate the souls of our students throughout their time in school.  Our aim is not merely to produce transcripts that will make for excellent college admission nor is it merely to prepare them to get good jobs (as important as both of these things are).  Rather, our aim is to prepare them to become men and women of virtue, equipped with the tools for learning so that they are set to thrive in whatever future the Lord has for them.  

Our operating metaphor is that of a tree.  Our aim is to help grow students who are like the tree in Psalm 1, planted by streams of living water.  

Therefore, as we educate our students, it is of the utmost importance that we plant them near the living waters of Jesus Christ.  We do this by situating the entire educational experience in a Christ-centered culture.  From the aesthetics and daily rhythms of the school to our school discipline, we endeavor for the entire institution to bear the “aroma” of Christ.  Since we affirm that Christ is the Truth incarnate, we aim to see Christ manifested and glorified in every subject and “small t” truth.

The soil in which our students are planted and through which they drink of the living waters of Christ, is composed of the three transcendentals – truth, goodness, and beauty.  We aim to feed the souls of our students with the best that the Christian faith and the western tradition have to offer.  The greatness of these works invigorates their hearts, minds, and souls with great ideas and presents them with wonderful models that serve as measuring rods for their own lives and lifelong sources of wisdom.

As trees planted in such soil by the living water of Christ, we seek to establish the base of their lives in gratitude and humility.  Only with such a posture is it possible for any student to truly grow.  We seek to cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving for the gifts God has given us, for the subjects we are studying, and for ourfamilies, churches, country, and school.

As our students grow throughout their time at Chapel Field, we seek to help them order their affections.  As Plato acknowledged, this is the aim of all education – to cultivate the affections so that students love and hate the right things in proper proportion.

In the end, we seek to prepare them for fruitful lives, starting with a love of truth.  That is, our ultimate aimfor our students is not the mere collection of knowledge, but a genuine love for the truth.  Secondly, we aim to cultivate a pursuit of wisdom and virtue throughout their lives.  Like Solomon’s son in Proverbs 2, we want to set our students on a quest for wisdom, searching for it as if it were gold or silver, and we want them to be unrelenting in their pursuit of virtue.  That is, we want them to pursue excellence, intellectually, vocationally, and spiritually.  Ultimately, we want them to lead lives of wisdom and virtue for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We want to train them to be men and women who view their lives as resources with which to serve Christ in their families, communities, and vocations, and throughout the world.

This metaphor is especially helpful for reminding us of the timeframe we are working in as educators, and it helps establish appropriate expectations for our students.  That is to say, trees do not grow quickly. However, if tended faithfully, fed, pruned, and given plenty of light, they will mature over the years into trees abounding with fruit.  At Chapel Field we do not aim our labors at the end of a school year or even at the point of a student’s graduation, rather we aim at equipping them to be fruitful adults by giving them a Christ-centered education that will set habits and virtues to last a lifetime.