Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (SCH)

Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (sch), the largest independent school in philadelphia, offers a rigorous curriculum to over 1,200 students - early childhood (18 months) to grade 12 - from over 100 regional zip codes and international origins. Sch's educational model is distinguished by single-sex education in grades pre-k through 8 followed by a coed upper school. This unique structure expresses sch's belief in the benefits of single-sex academic instruction in the lower and middle grades and recognition of the value of coeducation in our students' final preparation for college and beyond.sch is distinguished by signature programs in entrepreneurial leadership, robotics and engineering, college preparation, new media, outdoor education, and the arts.founded in 1861 and situated on a 62-acre campus in Chestnut Hill, philadelphia, the school has a long history of educational excellence, preparing students to lead lives characterized by thoughtfulness, integrity, and a quest to effect positive change.five values serve as the foundation for our teaching and community spirit: diversity, integrity, resilience, courage, and thoughtfulness.distinctive features of sch facilities:a 19th-century inn listed in the national register of historic places, 17 laboratories, including a 1,600-square-foot, state-of-the-art engineering and robotics lab, the jamie bell recording studio for video and music production, imagineering lab and physics and engineering lab for lower school, certified leed gold science & technology building, 6 sol lewitt installations and a violet oakley mural, 1/2-acre solar array rooftop installation, low and high ropes challenge course, 5 performing arts venues, fabrication and design spaces, including 13 3d printers and 2 laser cutters, early childhood center focused on reggio emilia approach, new state-of-the-art fitness center, 2 resurfaced turf fields with organic infill, new commons for upper school, the wissahickon valley as a backyard classroom points of pride:- each season, sch athletes are selected to all-inter-ac teams and sign with colleges and universities around the country to pursue their passion at the next level. Sch has earned both inter-ac titles and state championships.- upper school students have 100+ electives to choose from, including forensics, architectural design, advanced creative writing, and vector calculus. - sch's upper school robotics team was part of first's 2019 detroit world championship-winning alliance. Over the past 20 years, the team has finished in the top 10 at "worlds and won the coveted first chairman's award 8 times. Robotics students have been accepted into the nation's top engineering programs, including princeton, mit,caltech, penn, brown, columbia, cornell, carnegie mellon, johns hopkins, Georgia tech, clemson, rpi, wpi, rose hulman, and all three military academies.- 73% of sch faculty hold advanced degrees and an average of 17 years of teaching experience.- 90% of students in the class of 2023 were accepted into one of their top two college choices.- sch's unique center for entrepreneurial leadership (cel) curriculum has been licensed internationally and is recognized as a leader in entrepreneurship education. Collectively, cel students have earned $10,000 in scholarships & grants in competitions such as global youth entrepreneurship, rising starters, and tiger global case competition and raised $40k for social impact initiatives.- sch affirms that diversity is a condition of excellence and that embracing a diverse, inclusive community is fundamental to providing the most rigorous, globally competitive education. At sch, we aim to engage, understand, and celebrate the broad range of human experiences and perspectives. Through our curriculum, professional development, community-centered events, and daily interactions, we are committed to cultivating empathy and inclusion and nurturing the authentic expression of every individual.- recent graduates include an olympic gold medalist, the recipient of the "rising star award" from first robotics, a forbes magazine "30 under 30" summit participant, and on the un foundation's "top 10 female entrepreneurs to watch" list. Achievements of the last five years:- with the installation of a new head of school in july 2022, the school completed a successful transition in leadership.- the school has engaged in strategic development exercises ('23-'24), intending to deliver a strategic vision for the school in the fall of 2024.- sch is conducting the Pennsylvania association of independent schools (pais) self-study ('23-'24) in preparation for a pais accreditation team's visit in the fall of 2024.- phase ii of sch's campus master plan was completed in the fall of 2019 with the construction and opening of the new $34m mccausland lower school and commons. The first stage of phase iii was completed in the fall of 2023 with the opening of the new fitness center and expanded dining/social areas.- sch opened the early childhood center in january 2020, now operating at full capacity with over 100 enrolled students and additional facilities.