Program Description

Cheshire Academy

Summer Programs
Cheshire, Connecticut


		Program Description Program Overview Visit Web Site Get Free Info See Photos

For More Information, Contact
Marisa Faleri, Director
Summer Programs
Cheshire Academy
10 Main Street
Cheshire, Connecticut 06410
203-272-5396
Fax: 203-250-7209
http://www.cheshireacademy.org
E-mail: summer@cheshireacademy.org

Type of Program: English as a second language (ESL); Writing, Reading, and Study Skills (WRSS); select college-prep courses
Participants: Coeducational, grades 7–12
Enrollment: Approximately 150
Program Dates: Five weeks, from the first week of July until the first week of August
Head of Program: Marisa Faleri, Director

Location

The 120-acre wooded campus is located in the center of an attractive New England town of 30,000 residents. The Academy is 2 hours from New York City and Boston. The surrounding cities, such as the state capital, Hartford (22 miles away), and the home of Yale University, New Haven (14 miles away)—along with Boston and New York City—offer a wide range of cultural opportunities for Summer Programs students.

Background and Philosophy

Founded in 1794, Cheshire Academy is a highly regarded coeducational college-preparatory school with an academic tradition of preparing young men and women for rewarding college experiences, careers, and personal lives. Graduates from around the world include many highly respected and successful people in all fields of endeavor.
Since 1911, Cheshire Academy Summer Programs has been offering a challenging academic program that meets the educational interests of a variety of students. Program success is accomplished in a structured, stimulating, and supportive family-like environment, created by small classes (an average of 7 students) and a close, personal working relationship between teachers and students.
Academic courses are continually monitored by the individual teachers and the Director of the Summer Programs. Each student receives a weekly progress report that, with a comment from the classroom teacher, is sent to the parents or guardian. This allows the teachers, students, and parents to remain informed of the student’s progress throughout the summer.

Program Offerings

Writing, Reading, and Study Skills Program The WRSS Program is designed to help students improve their academic skills, independence, self-confidence, and achievement in a classroom setting. Students learn to develop healthy habits and strategies that support learning and that have a direct bearing on the students’ success in all academic disciplines. Students are placed in the appropriate level of the program after taking diagnostic tests to assess their verbal and study skills.
English as a Second Language Program Cheshire Academy’s English as a Second Language Program has served the Academy since 1911. The program is practically oriented and challenging, providing ESL classes that increase English proficiency for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students. The ESL curriculum stresses writing, vocabulary, grammar, speaking, and reading. Students take a placement test and are assigned according to their levels in each of the basic skills. Small classes and the sensitivity of highly committed, caring, experienced faculty members make it possible for students to develop their new-found English skills and knowledge quite rapidly. In addition to general course work, class groups participate in local and regional field trips that build on the curriculum.
College Prep The College-Prep Program is designed for high school students who are seeking academic enrichment in two specific areas of study. The students can concentrate on one or two courses and really focus on the subject matter for five weeks. It is hoped that the students are able to embrace a subject and be rewarded by a real sense of accomplishment at the end of the summer. Course offerings, subject to enrollment, are algebra I, algebra II, geometry, precalculus, chemistry, biology, physics, Spanish I, and U.S. history. Advanced Placement test preparation courses are also offered in several subjects.

Enrollment

The average enrollment is 150 students, with close to a 1:1 ratio of girls to boys. Most students board, and twenty different countries and ten states are represented in the student body.

Daily Schedule

7:30–8:15
8:30–12:30
12:30–1:30
1:30–4:30
5:30–6:30
7:30–9:00
10:30

Breakfast
Academics
Lunch
Afternoon activities
Dinner
Study hall
Lights out

On Saturday and Sunday, brunch is served from 10:30 to 12. Dinner is served from 5:30 to 6:30. Students are expected to follow all of the rules and regulations outlined in the Student Handbook. Stealing, possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs, visiting the rooms of students of the opposite sex, or any activity that compromises the good name of Cheshire Academy will result in dismissal from Summer Programs.

Extra Opportunities and Activities

Afternoon Activities The Afternoon Activities Program offers a variety of athletic, art, and alternative activities designed to encourage all students. Because each student’s interest in activities varies, they may select from a variety of afternoon activities on a weekly basis. The activities are designed for students of all abilities and levels to participate in, providing fun and a proper foundation to excel to a higher level. Cheshire Academy athletic facilities accommodate swimming in its six-lane pool, basketball on two full-size courts, tennis on eight courts, and soccer on five playing fields. It also has two baseball diamonds; an outdoor track; a weight-training room for strength, endurance, and aerobic conditioning; and one of the best ropes and challenge courses in all of New England. Other Afternoon Activity options include computers, fine arts, crime scene investigation, Dance Dance Phenomenon, Ultimate Frisbee, fencing, rocketry, photography, Discover Connecticut field trips, and creative writing/journalism, with the end product being one or more issues of a Summer Programs newspaper or literary magazine.
Weekend Recreation Program The Weekend Recreation Program is chaperoned by faculty members and designed to involve students in a variety of social and recreational activities on and off campus. On-campus activities typically include student dances, swimming, and recreational sports. Examples of off-campus trips include a three-day discovery trip to Washington, D.C., and Saturday excursions to Boston’s Quincy Market, Broadway plays and other New York City attractions, and major amusement parks.

Facilities

Bowden Hall (1796), the original school building, now houses various administrative offices. Horton Hall (1946) and the New Dorm (2001) are residence halls for girls, and von der Porten Hall (1959) is a residence hall for boys. The Student Health Center is located on campus in the Richmond Building. Two additional houses, Walters and Skilton, are smaller residences. The John J. White Science Center provides science facilities and a lecture hall. Music classes are conducted in the Charles Harwood Student Center (1988). The student center houses recreational rooms and lounges, a snack bar, and the Academy’s bookstore. Art classes are held in the Arthur N. Sheriff Field House, which also provides extensive athletic facilities and additional classrooms. The Gideon Welles Dining Commons provides excellent dining facilities. A humanities building and library were added to the campus in 2003.
The 120-acre campus includes eight athletic fields, eight tennis courts, a quarter-mile track, woodlands, and a stream. The indoor athletic facilities include two basketball courts, an exercise room, and a swimming pool.

Staff

The majority of the Summer Programs teaching staff are members of the Academy’s school year program.

Medical Care

The Student Health Center is a recently renovated state-of-the-art facility. It is located in the Richmond Building in the center of campus. The nursing staff collaborates with a multispecialty physician group within walking distance of campus. The nursing staff is on-site or on call 24 hours a day. The Academy is conveniently located approximately 20 minutes from both Yale–New Haven Hospital and Midstate Medical Center.

Religious Life

Cheshire Academy is not affiliated with any religion, but it is within walking distance of churches of several denominations and a synagogue.

Costs

The boarding tuition for the 2007 five-week program was $5660; day tuition was $3080.

Transportation

Cheshire Academy is 45 minutes from Bradley International Airport in Hartford, 20 minutes from Tweed–New Haven Airport, and 1½ hours from New York City airports. All are easily reached by Connecticut Limousine service, which has a terminal in New Haven. Private limousine service is also available.

Application Timetable

Cheshire Academy’s Summer Programs have a rolling admissions policy. Students are urged to submit their application as early as possible, due to limited boarding space.