Vision & Values

For more than 100 years, St. Anne's-Belfield School has fostered an educational community that nurtures the development of advanced skills, abilities, and knowledge, supports high personal aspirations, and develops exemplary, ethical, and engaged citizens who positively impact the world.

Just as we push our students to strive for their best, we believe that as an institution we must always adapt, grow, and change to fulfill this vision.

We continuously evaluate our standards to find ways to exceed them, and today we are building upon our century of success to provide even more innovative academic programs, world-class facilities, and diverse, supportive community life.

Integrity

Cultivating responsible, honorable, ethical behavior

Curiosity

Fulfilling our desire to question, to know, and to learn for a lifetime

Diversity

Seeking to know, learn from, and value one another

Creativity

Expecting imaginative, critical, and divergent thinking

Agency

Empowering students to own their learning

Impact

Accomplishing meaningful, significant work for the greater good.

Our Core Purpose

Our Philosophy

We at St. Anne’s-Belfield School believe that our students will become exemplary citizens and visionary leaders because of the inspiration of exceptional teachers and the nourishment of every child’s innate curiosity. Our mission is to feed this curiosity through exceptional, innovative teaching and learning in an intentional Pre-School through Grade 12 community in which close relationships provide the foundation for achievement and where every child is known well. Curiosity—that desire to grow, know, ask, create, and solve—is both the fuel of learning and an essential ingredient to success in an ever-changing world; it must be encouraged from the earliest years and throughout life. Our goal is to nourish our students’ curiosity about themselves, their world, and the diverse people around them, in an educational experience that inspires, challenges, and stimulates innovative, empathetic, and creative thought. We pose compelling questions and seek answers through inquiry, application of core skills, development of essential habits, thoughtful reflection, collaboration with others, and the appropriate use of technology. The questions we ask and the answers we seek reflect our commitment to the cultivation of responsible, honorable behavior and to a mindfulness of the needs of others.

We strive to equip our students with the knowledge, skills, habits, and attitudes that will allow them to pursue their dreams in a rapidly changing and increasingly technological world, and to be exemplary citizens in life and work. Ours is a challenging yet charitable community distinguished by superior instruction that is cutting edge and student driven; by exceptionally knowledgeable and highly-trained teachers who are the most supportive and dedicated educators in their field; and by an environment that exalts growth over grades by providing a culture of intellectual candor and rich feedback. Our community strives for excellence in all aspects of School life and encourages students to discover and develop empathy, diversity of perspective, adaptability, flexibility, resilience, agency, self-efficacy, and inventiveness. We embrace uncompromisingly high expectations for ethical, selfless behavior and hold firmly our commitment to inclusion, civility, and kindness.

Our Honor Code

Our Chapel Tradition

Dating back to our founding in 1910, our weekly Chapel services are a treasured time in the life of the School during which students and faculty gather around a common experience; that is, a personal story from a community member that offers a moral lesson, inspires self-reflection, sparks thoughtful dialogue, and opens a window into the diverse perspectives and experiences of others. Our Chapel tradition embodies the heartbeat of our community, providing a shared time and place where we celebrate student and faculty voices and attend to the spiritual dimension of our lives. The School has not been affiliated with a specific church or religion in over 30 years, and ours is a community of students, teachers, and families of all faiths, backgrounds, and beliefs.