Maria Bowen Chapin opened "Miss Chapin's School for Girls and Kindergarten for Boys and Girls" in 1901. The school originally enrolled 78 students, who were taught by seven teachers.[2] It developed from a small elementary school Chapin and Alice Wetmore founded in 1894 that was explicitly intended to prepare young girls for success at the Brearley School, which had been created 10 years earlier. Chapin ran the educational side of "Primary Classes for Girls" and Wetmore ran the business end. The two ended their partnership in 1901, and Miss Chapin's School was born.
Chapin's first high school diplomas were granted in 1908, and the last boys attended in 1917.
According to archival sources recounted in And Cheer for the Green and Gold, Chapin was an early feminist and suffragette who focused heavily on character development and intended the school to offer the same classical education as was available to boys of that era.
Chapin remained headmistress until 1932. At her request, the school was renamed the Chapin School after she died, in 1934.
Chapin's 802 students are split into three divisions: Lower School (kindergarten through grade 3), Middle School (grades 4 through 7), and Upper School (grades 8 through 12).
Around sixty students start in kindergarten, where they are divided into three classes. Each K class has two teachers, with regular use of teaching specialists (e.g., reading, Spanish, art, music, science, technology, gym, etc.)
There are about 265 students in the Upper School (8th through 12th grades), where they are taught by 53 faculty members. Traditionally, Chapin did not make an effort to replace students who left the school (generally for boarding and coed schools), leading to graduating classes of around 40. Class numbers have changed, so that now many grades contain 65–70 students. A few students are added every year or two, often to compensate for students leaving, and 6–10 are added in 6th grade. The number of students added in 7th and 8th grade varies, but a larger number are added in 9th grade, usually more than is necessary to compensate for the students leaving the school, increasing the class size.
While the lower school program combines progressive and traditional characteristics, the upper school curriculum is considered to be a traditionally rigorous liberal arts program. There are multiple requirements, including at least one modern language and two years of Latin. The Latin requirement is fulfilled in the 7th and 8th grade, and not required for those joining the school past that. The languages offered in addition to Latin are Spanish, French, and Mandarin. While Chapin used to offer AP classes, they were phased out in recent years[when?], and the school focuses on advanced courses of their own design. Electives are called FOCUS courses, and are offered to students starting in 10th grade.
Many students do independent studies or study abroad programs, particularly through Chapin's exchange programs with the St. Hilda's Anglican School for Girls (Perth, Australia) and the American Community Schools (Athens, Greece). Since 2011, Chapin has worked with the Kibera School for Girls in Nairobi, Kenya, developing curriculum ideas and visiting each other's campuses.[4] Chapin is also a charter affiliate member of the Online School for Girls (OSG), in which students can take courses offered to more than 30 girls' schools across the country. New York Interschool courses are offered in advanced math, leadership, and ethics. Mentorship derives from multiple sources, including faculty advisors and peer leaders.[5]
While many Chapin students live on the Upper East Side near the school, others hail from other parts of Manhattan, as well as Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, New Jersey, Westchester, and Long Island.
The student-to-teacher ratio is 6.8 to 1. Twenty-one percent of the students receive tuition assistance, amounting to over $5million per year.[6]
The school's motto is Fortiter et Recte (Bravely and Rightly).
The wheel on the school's seal was chosen by the school's founder because it is the symbol for Saint Catherine of Alexandria, the patron saint of philosophers, thinkers, and educated women. The students leave assembly in a wheel pattern.[8]
Chapin has had a tradition of green/gold competitions since at least 1912. Throughout the year, but especially on the annual Field Day, these green and gold teams fiercely compete until a winner is announced at the end of each school year. Students join their team in 4th grade—when applicable, joining the team of their mother or grandmother—and remain on the same team throughout their time at Chapin.[5]
Commencement ceremonies have remained unchanged for a century. Students wear white dresses and stand together with no differentiation made. No academic awards are given, and there has never been a Chapin valedictorian.[9]
Chapin has long stood in athletical rivalry to the neighboring Brearley School, with which it shares some classes, after-school programs, homecoming, and a robotics team.[10]
The school is divided into sections. The lower school, for students in grades K-3, is centered around a class of 20 students with two teachers and specialists in various areas such as music and PE. In middle school, grades 4–7, students begin to travel around the building to different classes with different students and peers, but the whole grade shares a teacher in one subject area and takes the same curriculum. The high school at Chapin starts in 8th grade.
Facilities
All Chapin programs exist under one roof.
Annenberg Library
The building features the two-story Annenberg Library with over 45,000 volumes and rooms for multimedia and video editing.[11][12] The library also contains a 3D printing and vinyl cutting room, three student study rooms, a student conference room, multiple lounge and table areas amongst the bookshelves, and a multi-media room. There is a separate lower-school library.
Classrooms and gyms
As of 2015, Chapin featured 49 classrooms, eight science laboratories, four art studios including a photography darkroom and a ceramics studio, two music studios, a black box theater, a dance studio, two computer laboratories, four gymnasiums and a greenhouse.
Additional facilities
In 2008, construction at Chapin provided new facilities for art, language, science and the greenhouse via expansion of the fifth and sixth floors and addition of the seventh and eighth floors.[13]
A further round of construction began in May 2015.[14][15][16] The new Lower Level Dining Room, a dining space for classes K-5 and multipurpose room, was completed in 2016.[17] When the entire project is completed, Chapin will have grown from 8 to 11 stories and will have a top-floor regulation-size gymnasium to complement its four current gyms, a rooftop turf practice field and fitness center, expanded performing arts facilities, much larger dining facilities, and additional classrooms to provide more flexibility and experiential learning.[18][6][19] Chapin's construction project has drawn opposition from neighbors, who have objected to its scale, its length, and the noise level, among other issues.[20]
College placement and rankings
Chapin is typically ranked among the top private schools in the United States.[21][22] An article in The Wall Street Journal ranked Chapin's college placement as third best in the country.[23] Another organization ranked private high schools from around the world based on matriculation to Ivy League colleges, plus MIT, Stanford, Oxford, and Cambridge; they bundled groups of schools, and the top 5 schools were all in NYC (Chapin was joined by Brearley, Collegiate, Saint Ann's School, and Trinity).[24] A different 2024 survey ranked Chapin as the #1 best girls school in the country, and the 4th best K-12 private school in the country.[25]
During the last five years (2015–2019), the approximately 250 graduates have matriculated to over 60 colleges and universities. The most commonly-attended universities: Cornell (15), Duke (12), Georgetown (12), University of Pennsylvania (12), University of Chicago (11), Harvard (10), Brown (9), Princeton (9), and New York University (8).[26]
Notable alumnae
For students who left Chapin early, the year below refers to the anticipated graduation year.
Frances Sergeant Childs, 1919. Historian. Founding faculty member, Brooklyn College. Author, French Refugee Life in the United States, 1790–1800: An American Chapter of the French Revolution (1940).[35]
Virginia Gilder, 1976. Entrepreneur, writer. Co-owner, WNBA's Seattle Storm. Olympic silver medalist in rowing.[43] Author, Course Correction: A Story of Rowing and Resilience in the Wake of Title IX
Neva Goodwin Rockefeller, 1962. Economist. Series editor, Evolving Values for a Capitalist World. Philanthropist.[44]
Isabella Greenway, 1904. Rancher, businesswoman, politician. First Arizona congresswoman.[45]
Nancy Tuckerman, 1947. Social secretary for Jackie Bouvier Kennedy, 1963–1994. Co-author, revised edition of Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Book of Etiquette.
Anne Walker, 1991. Architectural historian. Co-author, The Architecture of Delano & Aldrich and The Finest Rooms in America.
Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is a member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. Smith is also a member of the Five College Consortium with four other institutions in the Pioneer Valley: Mount Holyoke College, Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst; students of each college are allowed to attend classes at any other member institution. On campus are Smith's Museum of Art and Botanic Garden, the latter designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.
Hunter College High School is a public academic magnet secondary school located in the Carnegie Hill section of the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It is administered and funded by Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) and no tuition is charged. According to Hunter, its 1,200 “students represent the top one-quarter of 1% of students in New York City, based on test scores."
The Spence School is an American all-girls private school in New York City, founded in 1892 by Clara B. Spence.
Holton-Arms is an independent college-preparatory school for girls in grades 3–12, located in Bethesda, Maryland. As of the 2021–22 school year, there were 667 students and 94 faculty. Since 2023, Penny B. Evins has been Head of School.
Dwight School is a private independent for-profit college preparatory school located on Manhattan's Upper West Side in New York City. Dwight offers the International Baccalaureate curriculum to students ages two through grade twelve.
The Brearley School is an all-girls private school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It educates approximately 770 girls in grades K–12, with approximately 50 to 65 students per grade. Starting in 2025, students with household incomes of $100,000 or below attend Brearley for free.
Foxcroft School, founded in 1914 by Charlotte Haxall Noland, is a college-preparatory boarding and day school for girls in grades 9-12 & PG, located near Middleburg, Virginia, United States. Foxcroft’s mission is to help every girl explore her unique voice and to develop the skills, confidence, and courage to share it with the world. In its century of existence, Foxcroft has educated the daughters of corporate titans and congressmen, including women from the Rockefeller, Carnegie, Roosevelt, Mellon, du Pont, Auchincloss and Astor families. It is accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools and the National Association of Independent Schools, and is a founding member of the International Coalition of Girls' Schools.
The Philadelphia High School for Girls, also known as Girls' High, is a public college preparatory magnet high school for girls in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
St Paul's Girls' School is a private day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England.
The Ethel Walker School, also commonly referred to as "Walker's", is a private, college preparatory, boarding and day school for girls in grades 6 through 12 plus postgraduate located in Simsbury, Connecticut.
The Madeira School is an elite, private, day and boarding college-preparatory school for girls in McLean, Virginia, United States. It was established in 1906 by Lucy Madeira Wing.
Marlborough School is an independent college-preparatory secondary school for girls in grades 7 through 12 at 250 South Rossmore Avenue in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Marlborough was founded in 1889 by New England educator Mary Caswell and is the oldest independent girls' school in Southern California. In 2016, Town & Country magazine ranked Marlborough as the "best girls' school in America."
Emma Willard School, originally called Troy Female Seminary and often referred to simply as Emma, is an independent university-preparatory day and boarding school for young women located in Troy, New York. Located on Mount Ida, it offers grades 9–12 and postgraduate coursework.
Convent of the Sacred Heart is an independent Catholic all-girls' school in Manhattan, New York City. Teaching from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, it is located on the Upper East Side at East 91st Street and Fifth Avenue.
The Nightingale-Bamford School is an independent all-female university-preparatory school founded in 1920 by Frances Nicolau Nightingale and Maya Stevens Bamford. Located in Manhattan on the Upper East Side, Nightingale-Bamford is a member of the New York Interschool consortium.
The New Lincoln School was a private experimental coeducational school in New York City enrolling students from kindergarten through grade 12.
Saint Mary's School is a private independent Episcopal college-preparatory, boarding and day school for girls in grades 9–12. Located in Raleigh, North Carolina, Saint Mary's School operates as an independent school with a historic association with the Episcopal Church including an Episcopal chapel, St. Mary's Chapel, on the school's grounds. The school formerly operated as Saint Mary's College and for many decades educated young women in grades 11–12 and their freshman and sophomore years in college. The school changed to a four year high school in 1998, at which point the name reverted to Saint Mary's School, the original name of the institution when it was founded in 1842.
↑ bartlett, apple (2000). sister the life of legendary American interior decorator Mrs. Henry Prish II. new york: st. martin's press. pp.114–133, 134–158. ISBN978-0-312-24240-4.
↑ Hall, Lee (1991). Betty Parsons: artist, dealer, collector. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated. ISBN978-0-8109-3712-3.
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