Chapin School, NYC: A Parent Guide for Fall 2027 Entry

A raw egg and a twenty-dollar budget

This September, an Upper School physics class at Chapin got a pretend twenty-dollar budget and a raw egg.

Each pair had to build a vessel that would protect the egg in a drop, no parachutes allowed, and their teacher made testing and revising part of the job, so the first idea could not be the last.

Pairs tried their designs from a ladder, then headed to Carl Schurz Park for the much longer fall from a pedestrian bridge. Chapin reports that every egg survived the first bridge drop and that a handful of designs lasted six or more.

The practical frame

Chapin does not anticipate openings in grades 1–3, but send the inquiry form; the school says it will reach out directly if space opens.

Chapin considers applicants who identify as girls. It says a student who later realizes they do not identify as a girl will not be asked to leave for that reason.

Families should not send ISEE or SSAT scores; from fourth grade up, they are not part of the process. Chapin does not require personal or first-choice letters.

Some applicants end the cycle in a wait pool and may be admitted if seats open.

The steps by entry grade

Several pieces, including the school reports and teacher forms, come from ISAAGNY, the regional independent-school admissions association whose decision calendar its member schools share.

Appointments open only after Chapin processes your application, so submit early. Kindergarten and fourth- and fifth-grade families must book by 5:00 p.m. on December 9.

The sixth- through tenth-grade pages post no such deadline, so ask admissions what applies. The questionnaire for those grades is the student's own work, so the family editorial board can stand down.

What students make, test, and explain

Kindergarten pairs phonics and sight words with the girls' own stories, told in drawings and full sentences, and with how-to pieces whose steps run in order. The science lab is set up as a makerspace; by second grade the study of New York includes bridges, and in third grade students build and test simple machines.

In fourth grade, after researching brook trout, students design a home for the classroom trout tank and write an argument, built on claim, evidence and reasoning, for a panel of judges.

Fifth-grade science opens with a unit on forces and motion that ends in an engineering design challenge, and sixth-grade math students designed their own number systems and presented them.

Taken together with the egg drop, these projects share a habit: students make something, then explain the choices behind it, and the physics class adds testing and revision.

Speaking and listening

Two Chapin teachers spent July 2026 in England studying oracy, a word for speaking and listening skills that parallels literacy: listening closely, putting ideas into words, responding, and building on what others say.

They are now pointing out where oracy already appears in kindergarten through twelfth-grade teaching and encouraging new practices, which is faculty development rather than a single new program.

Advanced courses and AP exams

Chapin's Upper School replaced its AP courses in 2019–20 with advanced courses its own teachers designed, such as Molecular Genetics and Principles of Engineering, and the school does not run AP exams.

A transition FAQ from that period acknowledges that universities abroad may have different needs and points families to college guidance, which takes up the question in ninth-grade talks. If overseas study is on your list, ask for current guidance.

Learning support

At the Middle School, learning specialists work alongside students in class from fourth through sixth grade, in a push-in model open to everyone. In seventh grade, students with documented needs take a class called the Academic Workshop, which builds a set of strategies, and the team also trains faculty.

Lower School students have a school counselor for social-emotional growth, with classroom lessons, individual meetings, and small groups as needs arise. How support works in other grades is best learned in a conversation about your child specifically.

The tuition page counts school-recommended educational support among extra costs aid may help with.

Decisions and replies

For applications completed by January 8, 2027, the shared calendar sets the earliest time a school may release decisions and the latest date families may reply. Those are earliest times, not promised ones.

Eighth grade (Class 8) belongs to Chapin's Upper School but follows the Grades 1–8 timeline.

Siblings of enrolled students and daughters of alumnae who attended three years or graduated can qualify for earlier Kindergarten notification. Their complete file, aid materials included, must be in by December 1.

Notices come no earlier than noon on December 9. The FAQ named spring or early September for first contact; a family that has not yet reached out can ask the Lower School office what comes next.

Tuition and aid

Students entering sixth grade or above have a laptop charge. Ask what it covers and how it is spread across the years.

Aid is need-based at every grade and does not affect the admission decision. Applicants request it through Clarity, the need-assessment platform, by December 1, 2026; an incomplete file may receive no aid.

In two-household families both parents apply; if only one is listed, a second-parent form goes to admissions, and the other parent's non-involvement may need documentation.

Skipping aid at admission means a three-year wait to apply, unless circumstances change significantly and the application explains what changed. Chapin supports only two children per family, with rare exceptions.

It presumes both parents work and counts assumed income for a stay-at-home parent, including one caring for young children; medical reasons may be considered. Families reapply every year.

Hours and getting there

Clubhouse, the after-school enrichment program, runs through fourth grade according to the admissions FAQ; the Lower School and Middle School pages carry it through fifth grade. For a child entering fifth grade, that difference matters.

Extended day runs to 5:45 p.m. after Clubhouse, and in sixth and seventh grade the supervised Night Owl study hall lets students stay until 6:00 p.m. The FAQ also gives subway, bus, ferry and driving directions.

Chapin on support, Clubhouse hours and 2027–28 tuition

Ask what support looks like in your child's entering grade, whether Clubhouse serves fifth graders, and when tuition and the laptop fee will be set.