Living Well at Chatham Hall is designed to remind you of the multi-dimensional aspects of your life and the holistic nature of overall health.
Living Well is designed to align with our belief and commitment that health, wellness, and balance should be at the center of all we do. This mindset allows us to infuse our nine dimensions of wellness into campus life to develop exciting opportunities in curricula and academic programs, initiatives for afternoon activities, priority points for Advisory chats and themes for our grade-level programs. Living Well grows alongside you as it assists you in learning more about yourself, your communities, and ultimately your world.
Chatham Hall adults will support you during each step of your journey. You will join an Advisory of 3-6 students and a faculty member who will serve as your advocate and primary point of contact for your guardian(s). Advisors know and support you in every aspect of your Chatham Hall experience, including classroom performance, extracurriculars, and community engagement. You will also have access to a Dorm Advisor, the entire Health Care Center team, your teachers, coaches, and every adult member of our community.
Community Life
LINK groups offer structured opportunities throughout the week for you to discuss timely topics with Prefects, Honor Council members, and classmates. Through LINK groups, you’ll work with peers that they might not share classes or dorm spaces with, building and broadening connections and relationships. The Chatham Hall community also meets twice weekly for seated meals with Advisory groups or rotating tables, allowing faculty and students to connect in new ways.
Life Skills
Our goal is to equip you with the skills you need to master the challenges of boarding school and life after high school. During your first fall on campus, you will attend workshops called Chatham 101 to learn how to manage stress and anxiety, study skills, communication, and the overall Chatham Hall experience. Additionally, each grade engages in programming throughout the year, including intensively during our January Term where you’ll deep dive into various aspects of Living Well and what that means for you.
Counseling Services
The mental health of our community is at the forefront of Chatham Hall’s priorities. Our Health Care Center is home to a full-time licensed counselor that works with students individually and oversees campus-wide health and wellness initiatives. This service is available to all students at no cost, and can be structured as weekly meetings or as needed connections to discuss stress, anxiety, challenges with peers, and adapting to life away from home.
Peer Mentorship
At Chatham Hall, you are encouraged to act as a leader through peer mentorship roles. Each new student receives an “Old Girl,” a returning student that helps them navigate the first few weeks on campus. On dorm, Prefects serve as peer support, help students address challenges, and create community within our dorm halls. Additionally, senior Honor Council members help our community live the tenets of the Honor Code, Purple & Golden Rule, White Flag, and School values.
Physical Activity
Physical activity is a key element of overall wellness, and we set aside time each day for you to be active, whether that’s through sports, yoga, or dance. Our campus allows opportunities for students to be active, including using campus trails, playing tennis or basketball recreationally on the weekends, or the Fitness Center. Chatham Hall’s new athletics, health, and wellness center (opening fall 2024) will be integral to our campus community living well.
Director of the Health Care Center Lynne Maddox has been with Chatham Hall since 2005. She became a LPN after studying at Danville Community College and a RN after graduating from Patrick Henry Community College. Her favorite things about working at Chatham Hall are the sense of community and holiday traditions.
Licensed counselor Stephanie Tuttle joined the Chatham Hall community in 2023 as the director of counseling services. She previously provided family counseling, group therapy, and individual counseling at a non-profit counseling agency for 10 years, in addition to three years as their executive director. Stephanie was also a school counselor at the elementary level for three years. She earned a bachelor's degree at Gardner-Webb University, master's degree at Liberty University, and post-master's certificate in School Counseling at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Outside of school, she enjoys camping, walking, reading, and anything water related.
Dimensions of Living Well
Emotional
The active progress of recognizing, understanding, and accepting one’s emotions.
Environmental
An evolving attention to all of our surroundings, natural, constructed, and digital, and the relationships between them.
Financial
Exposure to financial literacy with the goal of a positive mindset toward finances so students and adults have the tools to balance sound financial decisions in an ever-changing personal landscape.
Inclusive
Requires treating individuals, each other, fairly and respectfully for who they are while creating a community where all people can thrive, feel safe, be empowered and have balanced involvement in the life of our School.
Intellectual
A rigorous educational program that encourages balance of intellectual growth, creativity, and personal responsibility.
Occupational
A balance between work and rest for students and adults.
Physical
The ability to maintain a healthy quality of life, which includes the balance of physical activity, nutrition, sleep and mental well-being, and allows us to get the most out of our daily activities without undue physical or mental stress.
Social
Striking a balance between meaningful group and independent time that builds life skills used on and off campus and prepares girls for future networking.
Spiritual
An individual's awareness and balance of their unique search for meaning and purpose in life.
During this year’s Writer in Residence keynote address, novelist Laura Ruby shared her fascination with the “weird and creepy” with the entire School community in the Van Voorhis Lecture Hall on Sept. 18.
Over the summer, Elinor Harrison ‘24 participated in a volunteer sports education program in Argentina through International Volunteer HQ. Read her reflection below:
The annual fall Convocation ceremony took place on Aug. 30, the evening before the first day of classes, and officially kicked off Chatham Hall’s 129th school year.
Elle Reeves ‘25 reflects on the two weeks she spent on the Woodberry in the Galápagos trip, a co-educational opportunity for high school students that introduces them to the islands and focuses on natural history.
Chatham Hall is excited to announce that former Secret Service Special Agent Evy Poumpouras will serve as its 2023-2024 Polly Wheeler Guth ’44 Leader in Residence.
Novelist Laura Ruby has been announced as Chatham Hall’s 2023-2024 Writer in Residence. She will be on campus Sept. 18-19 visiting classes, lunching with students, and delivering a keynote address for the community.
Five Turtles have decided to continue on to women’s colleges on the strength of their education at Chatham Hall. They will be respectively attending Smith College, Wellesley College, Barnard College, and Mt. Holyoke College in the fall.
Chatham Hall 101 was originally designed as a program to not only introduce the School’s New Girls to its history and traditions, but also give them strategies for adjusting to a new environment, managing associated emotions, and more. Like so many things, the program paused during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Imagine having the opportunity to give a talk as a high school senior to your entire school, teachers included. Imagine being able to deliver a message of your choice, something you think is important for others to know about you or is a culmination of your experiences as a high school student.