Yesterday was the 125th birthday of C.S. Lewis, a man beloved by us at Chapel Field.  He is best known by many for his Narnia series, but he is the author of many other works ranging from high scholastic writing on Medieval literature to works of apologetics and theology.  Lewis grew up in a nominal Anglican home with a devout mother and a distant father.  As a young boy his mother died…

No people ought to feel greater obligations to celebrate the goodness of the Great Disposer of events, and of the destiny of nations, than the people of the United States. His kind providence originally conducted them to one of the best portions of the dwelling place allotted for the great family of the Human race. He protected and cherished them, under all the difficulties and trials to which they…

Today was the birthday of one of the great minds of the Western world and one of the great fathers of the Christian church, St. Augustine.  Augustine was born in 354 A.D. in North Africa.  He was born to a Christian mother and a non-believing father.  While his mother prayed incessantly for his salvation, even to the point of tears, his father wanted him to be a worldly success.  He was given the best education his…

“How can you not be romantic about baseball?” Brad Pitt, playing Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane in the 2011 movie MoneyBall posed that rhetorical question. If you haven’t seen MoneyBall, stop reading this immediately and go watch it. Life is all about order and proportion and you clearly lack both (I’m joking, but only slightly). Russian short story master Isaac Babel wrote, “No iron spike…

Our purpose tonight, through worship and thanksgiving, is to rededicate ourselves to that noble, God-given calling. It’s only right and fitting, then, to remind ourselves WHAT that calling is, and THE PURPOSE for which we’re assembled here tonight. To do that I’ll read the school’s mission statement: “Chapel Field’s mission is to partner with parents to cultivate…

Lord God, we pray for our students; for our pre-k and elementary students whose young minds and souls need the good soil of a godly education to lay strong roots for a life of faithfulness. For our junior high students; for their growth and maturity, for minds furnished and equipped to serve you, and for our high school students, that they may become godly young men and women whose chief ambition is to live for your glory. Grant them all a blessed year in which each student grows in wisdom and stature and holiness. Guard them from the idolatrous delusions…

A classical education is primarily concerned with the right reordering of the student’s affections, teaching them to enjoy good things, teaching them to hate wicked things, teaching them to love most what is most worthy of their love. A classical education is also concerned with giving students what…

"The time is now near at hand which must [...] determine, whether Americans are to be free men…" This July 4th, join us in remembering George Washington's orders to the Continental Army in anticipation of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Our school is beaming with pride over the season that our boys’ basketball team has had this year.  After an excellent regular season, they have gone on to defend their Section IX championship, defeating The Mount Academy and by defeating Bridgehampton and then later South Kortright in the regionals, they secured a ticket to the State Final Four.  They will be competing this Saturday in Glens Falls in the State Semi-Finals against North Warren.  It is a joy to be represented by such fine young men and it has been exciting to watch…

Assuredly you have heard the idiom that one should not judge a book by its cover. That piece of practical wisdom is not something I wish to debunk but I might desire to add a layer of nuance to it: One should not judge a book by its cover but one might attempt to judge it by its opening words. This elongation of the old adage certainly causes it to lose its marketable brevity and bite but my hope is that what is lost in economy might be gained in wisdom…

Video Recording: Today is the day each year when the church remembers the death of St. Polycarp. Watch as Bill Spanjer discusses the life and legacy of the saint. In a day such as ours, may we hold saints like Polycarp up for our children to see that they might also be encouraged to be faithful witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ.

As many of you will know, yesterday was Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent.  Lent is a season in the church’s calendar, one of fasting and the contemplation of our sin and frailty.  It serves to prepare our hearts for the celebration of the death and resurrection of our Lord.  Whether or not you “give something up for Lent” it is a worthwhile thing to spend time reflecting on such deep and important matters. For one, it is crucial for us to recall that we are dust.  As the Bible tells…

A phrase often repeated around Chapel Field is 19th century educator Charlotte Mason's famous observation that "all education is self-education."  This might sound like a strange thing for a school to affirm. If everything is self-taught, why go to school at all? Why seek out teachers if we don’t need them? Of course, a little time and attention reveals that that's not what Mason is suggesting. The profound truth at the heart of this quotation is this: anything a person learns they ultimately have to see for themselves…

Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of my father’s passing.  I shared with the upper school students in morning assembly yesterday that it saddens me that so few of them knew him.  In fact, it is so difficult for me to get my mind around the fact that most Chapel Field families and even some faculty, did not know “Coach,” as we all fondly called him.  He was a larger-than-life person whose imprint and influence were on every nook and cranny of the school.  He and my mother poured their entire…

For most of us, Christmas is a time of celebration with rich food and beautiful settings, a time of sentimentality and nostalgia.  It is a time of singing and of joy.  Historically the season of Christmas lasts for twelve days concluding on January 5th and punctuated by Epiphany on January 6th.  Epiphany is the day that the church remembers the arrival of the magi to worship Jesus, the newborn king.  This too, is a story that conjures up sentimentality as we remember the three star-gazing kings coming with their treasures to Bethlehem.  In the history of the church, it is the time in which Christians celebrate the revelation of the gospel…