Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School Blog: Take Charge

Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School celebrated the opening of The Landry Center on Saturday, May 31st, marking the completion of the largest capital campaign in the independent school's 197-year history.

The ribbon-cutting followed the Commencement Ceremony for the Class of 2025, and drew alumni, parents, trustees, and community members to witness the unveiling of the School's newest academic building.

After a rainy morning, the clouds cleared, and the sun began to shine just as the Wilkins Hall bell began its 52 rings. The bell signals the 52 graduates of the Class of 2025 to begin their traditional walk over the hill to Morgan Lawn for the start of the School’s 197th Commencement ceremony. 

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. 

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. 

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.

CH-CH’s Theatre Program Director, Bekah LaCoste, can’t help getting emotional when she thinks about how long the road has been for students to be able to perform in a theater for live audiences again, and how incredible the impact was. “Hearing laughter in the space, in such a big voluminous way, is so inspiring,” she said, wiping away tears. “It made everyone remember how valuable theatre is, to everyone involved.”