Our philosophy informs all that we do. Through its lens we strive to create the conditions that nurture lifelong learning, leadership, and service. The design and implementation of our program reflect our best efforts to build in students a deepened understanding of themselves and the world in which they live, enabling them to recognize that even one person can make a difference in it. To see how we implement our philosophies in each unit at CFS, please click a unit within each Value and Aspiration below.

   At CFS we believe that curriculum at its best:

• builds on the primacy and the integrity of relationships; - Early School, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School;

• addresses the "whole child", with attention to developmentally appropriate cognitive, creative, social, emotional, spiritual, and physical needs and opportunity; - Early School, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School;

• recognizes and nurtures a variety of modes of learning within a rich academic context; - Early School, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School;

• encourages active engagement in a process of exploration that develops skills, values, and confidence; - Early School, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School;

• emphasizes connections between disciplines, fields of study, and units; - Early School, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School;

• empowers students gradually to make choices related to their own learning, to experiment, and to develop more fully the habits and skills necessary for lifelong learning; - Early School, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School;

• reflects, even highlights, the diversity of our society and our global community; - Early School, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School;

• incorporates service in to the daily experience of students; - Early School, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School;

• affords opportunities for quiet reflection, individually and collectively, and for responsible stewardship; - Early School, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School;

• integrates the deliberate interaction with the natural environment which our setting provides into the academic program; - Early School, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School;

• includes assessment and feedback mechanisms that are specific, detailed, varied, individualized, and authentic explications of our expectations for our students; - Early School, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School;

• is dynamic and is continually reviewed, a direct reflection of our dynamic student body and ever-evolving experience with them; - Early School, Lower School, Middle School, Upper School;

April 2003