Welcome to Chesapeake Academy!
I invite you to explore our website and schedule a visit to our campus, uniquely situated on Carter’s Creek off the Rappahannock River.
Chesapeake Academy is truly a dynamic learning environment, one in which critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration are the hallmarks of the educational experience. Our instructional approach is centered on the philosophy that students best engage in their learning when they have the opportunity to apply their knowledge in a variety of ways, solve authentic problems, and communicate their ideas and strategies. Project based learning (PBL) connects Chesapeake Academy students to real world problems, big ideas, and professionals working in their fields. Learning at Chesapeake Academy is differentiated to best target student skill development and meet individual student’s needs.
Innovative technology applications, as well as classical visual and performing arts encourage self-discovery and creative expression. Athletics develops both personal fitness and sportsmanship through a variety of team and individual sports and after-school activities. Every middle school student chooses to participate on our athletic teams – Osprey spirit is second to none!
We take learning out of the classroom, whether outside on our own nine acre campus, in the Northern Neck community, or beyond. Our campus includes a Certified Schoolyard Habitat with a Nature Trail and an outdoor classroom that spans the wetlands of Carter’s Creek. Our students raise oysters in a nearby area and work with local organizations on solving environmental and economic questions relevant to our area. The Northern Neck is rich in historical significance and students use local resources to understand current issues. Students apply knowledge in larger trips to local waterways, the Chesapeake Bay, the Blue Ridge Mountains, Washington, DC, and the Florida Keys. Chesapeake Academy students are on the road!
The interconnectedness of students, parents, and teachers helps create effective partnerships in which students take more and more responsibility for their own independent learning. Chesapeake Academy is a place where character values are essential to the environment, and nurtured with age appropriate expectations for empathy, responsibility, respect, and consideration of others. Our faculty members know each student and each student knows one another. Leadership opportunities abound as students develop skills to share ideas and listen to others. This is a community where older students help younger ones, where trust among students is a given, and where we share a common purpose of maintaining a safe, supportive, and kind school.
When you visit campus, you will find that Chesapeake Academy offers an engaging and nurturing program led by a top notch faculty who brings joy and curiosity to each classroom every day. It will not surprise you that Chesapeake Academy has been voted the #1 independent school in Eastern Virginia for multiple years. I look forward to seeing you on campus soon! Go Ospreys!
Trip Cogburn
Head of School