Our History

Chapel Field is a daughter ministry of Affirmative Evangelism Fellowship (AEF). AEF was founded in 1979 by Bill and Kathy Spanjer as an outreach ministry to international refugees and under-privileged children in New York City.  Bill and Kathy began running summer camps on their 150-acre farm in Pine Bush, NY for kids in Harlem and the Bronx, bringing them up for weeks at a time and offering biblical, theological, and vocational training.  Eventually, weekly Bible studies were formed in the different boroughs and the camps on the farm increased to a quarterly schedule rather than merely once a summer.  By 1985, Bill and Kathy became convinced that there was a need for a more sustained ministry for the children they were serving.  Therefore, they started a Christian school where the kids could receive a solid, Christ centered education in an environment that was safe and edifying for their souls.   They gave 100 acres of their farm to the ministry and began converting the building they had used for the camps into their first schoolhouse. 

Chapel Field opened its doors in the Fall of 1986 with an enrollment of 26 students in grades 9-12.  Several of the students enrolled were from the inner city and lived in host homes within the community.  Gradually, the school formed a junior high and in 2007, an elementary school.  The mission and vision of Bill and Kathy Spanjer remains central to the work of Chapel Field.  In 2018, we launched an effort to refresh that mission and to renew our commitment to it.  In doing so, we began to pursue the classical model of Christian education with a plan to begin a slow transition toward becoming a classical Christian school. In the Fall of 2022, Chapel Field officially announced that it is a classical school.