Chadwick School

Last updated

Chadwick School
Chadwick School.jpg
Location
Chadwick School
26800 South Academy Drive

Palos Verdes Peninsula
,
California
90274

United States
Coordinates 33°46′36″N118°21′40″W / 33.77667°N 118.36111°W / 33.77667; -118.36111
Information
Type Independent
Established1935;90 years ago (1935)
Head of schoolJessica Donovan
Faculty106 [1]
GradesK-12
Enrollment830 [1]  (2013-2014
  • Village School(K-6): 320
  • Middle School(7-8): 150
  • Upper School(9-12): 360
)
Campus Suburban
Campus size45 acres (18 ha)
Color(s)Navy and white   
Athletics24 CIF Varsity teams
Athletics conference CIF Southern Section Prep League
Mascot Pacific bottlenose dolphin
Endowment$20,706,482
Website chadwickschool.org

Chadwick School is a nonsectarian independent K-12 day school located in an unincorporated area on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, California, United States. [2] [3] [4] Specifically it is located at the top of the neighborhood referred to as Academy Hill, which is bounded by a canyon, a precipice, Crenshaw Boulevard, and Palos Verdes Drive North.

Contents

History

The school was founded in 1935 [2] by Margaret Lee Chadwick and Commander Joseph Chadwick in San Pedro, California. In 1938, the school moved to Palos Verdes, California. In the beginning, Chadwick was an open-air day and boarding school for 75 students. After the retirement of the Chadwick family in 1963, the school created a board of trustees [2] and in 1968 discontinued its boarding program. In 1972, Chadwick joined the Cum Laude Society. [2] Up until the 1970s, the school owned all of the hill leading up to it, which was sold off to establish the school's endowment. As a result of the ensuing neighborhood development, the school's growth and traffic are constrained by a conditional-use permit with the Academy Hill Homeowners Association. [5] Since the 1970s, the school has opened more buildings, a gymnasium, and a performing arts center. [6] It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. [7] The movie adaptation of the book Mommie Dearest was filmed at Chadwick in 1981. [8]

Student and faculty profile

2025 student enrollment is 854 students across three schools: the Village School (K-6), the Middle School (grades 7-8), and the Upper School (grades 9-12). The student to faculty ratio is 8:1. [9] According to Niche 2025 rankings, the school ranked in the top 5% of independent schools in California and in the Los Angeles area. 80 percent of the faculty members held advanced degrees in the 2024-25 school year according to FindingSchool.com. [10]

Chadwick International

Chadwick International's four-story atrium Chadwick International2.jpg
Chadwick International's four-story atrium

On January 13, 2010, the school announced that it would be administering and integrating a sister school in South Korea. Chadwick was the third school chosen to administrate the new school after a deal with Vancouver International Primary and Secondary School fell through. Prior to that, the International School Service had submitted plans to run the school but withdrew them. [11] Later in the process, the school's opening was delayed by Chadwick administrators when they failed to submit paperwork on time. [12]

The school is located in the Songdo International City, a city renowned for its efforts to "go green" [13] and is administratively a near replica of Chadwick School in Palos Verdes. [14] Headmaster Ted Hill has stated that the sister school will remain in contact with the originating school through the use of Telepresence equipment supplied by Cisco. [15]

The school opened on September 6, 2010, and completed its first year in June 2011. As of the 2013-14 school year, Chadwick International enrolled 780 students in grades pre-K through 10. Eleventh grade was added in September 2014, and the school graduated its first class in 2015-16. There are now frequent exchanges and visits between the two Chadwick campuses. [16] [17]

Sperm whale skull fossil

On February 5, 2014, a fossil of a sperm whale skull embedded in a boulder of Middle Miocene Era Altamira Shale located on the grounds of Chadwick School was removed to be studied at the L.A. County Natural History Museum. [18] [19] An expert from the museum believed that the skull might be of a previously unknown species. [20] [21] This event was widely covered by Los Angeles area news outlets. [22] [23] [24] [25]

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

Commander field in preparation for a game Chadwick field.jpg
Commander field in preparation for a game

Chadwick's main rivals are Polytechnic School in Pasadena, California [26] and Flintridge Preparatory School in La Cañada, California. [27]

Chadwick participates in 23 Varsity CIF sports. They include boys' football, tennis, volleyball, waterpolo, basketball, soccer, baseball, golf, and girls' tennis, volleyball, water polo, equestrian, basketball, soccer, golf, lacrosse, softball, and cheerleading. They also include coed cross country, swimming, and track and field.

In 2007, Chadwick reevaluated its image and decided that yellow was not an appropriate school color. It also realized that its athletics logo featured a non-native dolphin. After these realizations, the school designed a new blue, grey, and white logo featuring a native and more aggressive-looking dolphin.

In 2022, the school updated their baseball and softball fields with a $1.5 million gift from businessman and philanthropist Warren Lichtenstein, whose son attended Chadwick School. The fields were renamed the Lichtenstein Family Field. [28]

School newspaper

The school newspaper, The Mainsheet, is published in print and online. [29] Online publication was restarted at the beginning of March 2012. [30] [31]

Performing Arts

Chadwick offers robust programs in Theater, Vocal Music, Instrumental Music and Dance. Performances take place throughout the community and at the Geoffrey Alan Laverty Center for the Performing Arts. [32] In 2015 the school was invited by producer John Gertz to pilot the first American school production of Zorro the Musical . [33] In 2025 (as well as in many previous years), the Chadwick Upper School Chorus took place in the National Youth Choir Festival at Carnegie Hall. [34]

Intracurricular activities

Robotics

In 2006 members of the high school community started Wicked Wobotics, team 2150, a FIRST Robotics Competition team. [35] The team won the Judges' choice award at the 2008 FIRST Robotics competition in Las Vegas, Nevada and was ranked sixth after the qualifying rounds. [36] The FRC team was discontinued in 2010. [37] The remaining team focused on the simpler and less expensive VEX Robotics Competition.

In 2011, the school added an optional robotics class to its science curriculum and moved into a larger room previously occupied by the maintenance department. In 2014, the team had 30 members and had to move to a much larger classroom. Chadwick Robotics also collaborates with the robotics program at the Chadwick International campus in Songdo, South Korea, sharing engineering techniques and innovative strategies for each year's contest.

Notable alumni

Business

Medical

Entertainment

Literature

Athletics

Notable employees

In literature

Nonfiction

Fictional Chadwick School novels

Filmography

Film
YearFilmNotes
1981Mommie DearestShot in main parking lot

References

  1. 1 2 "Chadwick At A Glance". chadwickschool.org/. Chadwick School. Archived from the original on December 22, 2013. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Chadwick School celebrates 75 years". Los Angeles Daily News . October 1, 2010. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Rolling Hills Estates city, California." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on March 28, 2010. Archived June 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Visit Chadwick." Chadwick School. Retrieved on April 13, 2019. "26800 South Academy Drive Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA, 90274"
  5. ↑ Ritsch, Massie (19 August 2001) Growing Private Schools Getting Lesson in Civics Los Angeles Times
  6. ↑ "Home - Chadwick School". www.chadwickschool.org.
  7. ↑ "Chadwick School Navigator — February 2011". Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  8. 1 2 "Mommie Dearest" – via www.imdb.com.
  9. ↑ "Chadwick School". Niche . Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Chadwick School". FindingSchool. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  11. ↑ "Chadwick opens Songdo campus". koreatimes. September 8, 2010. Archived from the original on February 1, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Songdo School Opening to Be Delayed Again". archive.is. October 24, 2012. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Chadwick Likely to Run Songdo School". archive.is. July 31, 2012. Archived from the original on July 31, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Home - Chadwick International". www.chadwickinternational.org.
  15. ↑ "Chadwick School to operate new school in South Korea - The Daily Breeze". Archived from the original on October 13, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Video: The City of the Future". ABC News.
  17. ↑ "Chadwick International School: ES Schedule and Calendar". Chadwickinternational.org. Archived from the original on March 27, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  18. ↑ "A Whale of a Find at Chadwick". The Navigator. Chadwick School. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  19. ↑ Pappas, Stephanie (January 28, 2014). "Whale of a Tale: Rare Marine Fossil Found at School". livescience. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  20. ↑ Mintz, Zoe (January 29, 2014). "Rare Whale Skull Discovered By Science Teacher, 'Remarkable' Fossil May Belong To New Species [PHOTO]". International Business Times. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  21. ↑ Littlejohn, Donna. "'Priceless' fossil find on Palos Verdes Peninsula could be 12-million-year-old sperm whale". The Daily Breeze. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  22. ↑ Romero, Dennis (January 28, 2014). "12-Million-Year-Old Whale Fossil Found at Palos Verdes School". La Weekly. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  23. ↑ Irick, Whitney (January 29, 2014). "Science Teacher Discovers Rare Whale Fossil on School Grounds". NBC4. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  24. ↑ Holguin, Robert (January 29, 2014). "RARE FOSSIL DISCOVERED AT PALOS VERDES SCHOOL". ABC7. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  25. ↑ Harvey, Pat; Magers, Paul. "Fossil Of Possible Undiscovered Sperm Whale Found In Palos Verdes". CBS Los Angeles. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  26. ↑ Perkins, Travis. "Chadwick football ends third in league". Palos Verdes Peninsula News.
  27. ↑ "News Post". www.chadwickschool.org.
  28. ↑ Charky, Nicole (8 February 2022) Chadwick School Upgrades Baseball, Softball Fields With Donation Patch Media
  29. ↑ "The Mainsheet". themainsheet.online.
  30. ↑ "Student Publications". Chadwick School. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  31. ↑ "chadwick mainsheet blog". Chadwickmainsheet.wordpress.com. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  32. ↑ "Geoffrey Alan Laverty Center Chadwick School". Architizer.com. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  33. ↑ "Chadwick performs pilot production of 'Zorro The Musical'". dailybreeze.com. Daily Breeze. February 26, 2025. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  34. ↑ "Performance History: National Youth Choir". carnegiehall.org. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  35. ↑ "WestBots FRC 911". Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
  36. ↑ "Team 2150 - W-Squared". The Blue Alliance. March 27, 2008. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  37. ↑ "W-Squared - Team 2150". The Blue Alliance. October 26, 2023.
  38. ↑ "Danese Cooper - LinkedIn".
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  41. ↑ "Hearts and Minds" – via www.imdb.com.
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  43. ↑ "Wanting More – Jessica Gottlieb". May 28, 2010.
  44. ↑ "The Free Information Society - Lee, Brandon". www.freeinfosociety.com.
  45. ↑ "Mike Lookinland". IMDb.
  46. ↑ DeSalvo, Louise A.; Giunta, Edvige (August 1, 2003). The Milk of Almonds: Italian American Women Writers on Food and Culture. Feminist Press at CUNY. ISBN   9781558614536 – via Google Books.
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  48. ↑ Nemy, Enid (August 9, 2001). "Maureen Reagan, 60, Activist and President's Daughter". The New York Times .
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  51. ↑ Elaine Woo, "Michael Viner dies at 65; tabloid book publisher", Los Angeles Times , August 13, 2009.
  52. ↑ Scott, Cathy (June 16, 2019). Murder of a Mafia Daughter: The Life and Tragic Death of Susan Berman. Barricade Books. ISBN   9781569802380 – via Google Books.
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  54. ↑ Olivia Vordenberg. "Poetry Out Loud". Poetry Out Loud. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
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  60. ↑ Gnerre, Sam (August 13, 2018). "South Bay History: 'Aunt Maggie' created an education powerhouse on the Peninsula". Daily Breeze.
  61. ↑ "Chadwick football team crushes Saint Joseph", Palos Verdes Peninsula News, October 7, 2010.
  62. ↑ "Chadwick School to Open State-of-the-Art "Chadwick International School" in South Korea This Fall - EON: Enhanced Online News". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  63. ↑ Gray, Alysia (January 10, 2011). "A Local School's Famous Photogs". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  64. ↑ Ph.D, Ruth Barton (August 13, 2010). Hedy Lamarr: The Most Beautiful Woman in Film. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN   978-0813126043.
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