Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School Blog: Take Charge

As lead learner at Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School, I am forever absorbing and reflecting on the various teaching and learning practices around our community.  Teaching and learning not simply in the classroom environs, but also in our Co-Curricular programming, Student and Residential Life programs, and even in our school operation spaces.  Simply asked, how can we better engage and seek greater learning and meaning from the moments we nurture throughout the day and each week?  What reflective practices are we committed to as individual learners, as well as a school community?

Members of the CH-CH community might be surprised to find a familiar face on their TV screens this holiday season. Is that Spanish Teaching Fellow Samantha Cruz sending up a cloud of flour from her stand mixer on Netflix’s Nailed It? Why yes, in fact, it is! If you have a Netflix account, you can watch the episode here.

The CH-CH Middle School is currently enrolling students and will open its doors for 8th-grade students in the fall of 2023 and then for both 7th and 8th-grade students in the fall of 2024. Leading the charge for this new addition as the Head of Middle School is Kelly Walsh. Kelly has held the role of Director of 9/10th grade programs at CH-CH for the past six years and is passionate about creating a program that will unlock the potential of middle school students. The Chronicle Magazine (CM) sat down to talk with Kelly (KW) about her background and plans for CH-CH Middle School and the impact it will have on the community as a whole. 

“When I think back to the merger and my experience at Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall, I marvel at how international the community was, including myself, a daughter of a Liberian diplomat in England. As the President of our Senior Class, I was proud of how our 1972 class joined together with a feeling that the big tent included everyone and that your aspirations and desire to achieve were encouraged and undergirded. For today's students, continue the tradition of being a welcoming and affirming community. Thank you to my former faculty: Sharon Quarles, Louise Schulze, Beatrice Smith, Paul Economides, Lee Colby Wilson, Margaret Fitzgerald, and Roy Hatt (Head of School)."

The Certificate of Distinction Program at CH-CH is designed to give students the opportunity to dive deep into areas of interest and passion within Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), the Humanities, Math and Science, and Visual Arts. Students are mentored by a CH-CH faculty member throughout this journey. By completing a balance of coursework and outside enrichment opportunities, students further develop their creativity, critical thought, analysis, collaboration, and communication skills. 

It’s the middle of summer and Em Chonofsky ‘14 admits that her home is “the equivalent of being in your car with all the windows open. So it is warm.” That’s just one quirk she’s learned to live with, residing aboard a 48' long, 6'10" wide steel boat, known as a narrowboat. She first felt the lure to live aboard one of these UK canal boats as a university student six years ago, but it wasn’t until she was a working woman that Em made the leap into boat ownership.

When looking at a private day or boarding school for your child, Open Houses are one of the best ways to experience what the school has to offer, while meeting the teachers, parents, students, and administrators. At the same time, Open Houses can be a whirlwind, especially if you are considering multiple schools. I know this well, as I’ve gone through the process from both sides, as a parent (twice!) and now as a member of the Admissions Team at CH-CH. 

From my experience in attending Open Houses with my daughters, and now helping run and organize them, I’ve put together the 10 most important tips to ensure you get the most value out of your visit. 

Have you walked by the Peebles, the Admissions building on campus and noticed silver clouds balanced atop a twisted metal base? That is Cloud Tree 1, a sculpture by artist Alaina Mahoney (AM) and part of CH-CH’s Campus as Canvas initiative that was installed in 2018. We interviewed Alaina Mahoney to ask her four brief questions about this piece and her process to create it. 

As we embark on the new 2022-23 school year, I reflect upon the challenges facing school leaders and schools over the past two years while, at the same time, identifying the opportunities moving forward. We experienced a tumultuous two-year stretch weathering a global health pandemic, as well as other historic socio-political events and economic headwinds in America. Working through this unprecedented set of challenges, we look forward to moving beyond, identifying new opportunities, and leveraging many of the strengths making CH-CH such a special community.

Starting at a new school can bring up a mix of emotions for students and they may feel overwhelmed by the change. CH-CH recently assembled a group of experts that included a teacher, a physician and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor to give you four tips as a student starting at a new school this school year.