CHADWICK SCHOOL

Chadwick School was founded in 1935 and has developed into an outdoors focussed boarding school, representing an American manifestation of a global trend towards open air and experiential learning. Chadwick occupies a beautiful, hilltop campus on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, south of Los Angeles and attracts day pupils from the wealthy neighbourhoods that surround the school and from across Southern California. It has long-been a preferred choice for Hollywood’s dynastic families and for the offspring of Californian business and political leaders. Indeed, the school has been one of California’s most successful and prestigious schools since its foundation, with a reputation for a rigorous academic programme enhanced by its carefully curated experiential and service-oriented programmes. The Chadwick schools are members of the Round Square association, the Independent Schools Experiential Education Network (ISEEN), and the Global Education Benchmark Group (GEBG).

The renowned Californian school was one of the first Western schools to explore the satellite college model, opening its first overseas branch in Korea in 2010. The school was approached by an international partner, keen to bring an elite school brand to South Korea. The school was the third candidate in the selection process but has proven to be a wise choice. The Songdo school, which is only admits day students, is highly rated. Following the success of the Chadwick brand in Korea, the school established Chadwick Global Enterprises to identify and manage further international opportunities. The first new schools under the Chadwick brand being established through local partners in Vietnam, with the first satellite campus opening in Hanoi, in the Ecopark district, and the second in Ho Chi Minh City.

The schools are operated by the Roessler Chadwick Foundation (RCF), a charitable foundation established in California. The Chadwick family were the founders of the school with Margaret Lee Chadwick being the head of the school for its first three decades. At the school’s foundation, it operated as an open-air home school with its first pupils being the Chadwick’s two children and the two children of the Roessler family, both families being amongst the early first residents of the newly developed Palos Verdes estates.

Chadwick works hard to ensure both campuses operate in accordance with the same guiding principles and to the same educational ethos. Students and staff are encouraged to cooperate and engage across campuses on common projects, coursework and initiatives. The schools utilise telepresence technology to facilitate these efforts and to promote the idea of one school across two campuses.

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