Chatsworth Hills Academy (CHA) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...

located in

Chatsworth, California Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...

, United States. CHA students are enrolled in Grades K through Eight and

Preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

. CHA is accredited by the

California Association of Independent Schools California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

(CAIS) and the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) was an organization providing School accreditation, accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary school, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, ...

(WASC). CHA is a member of

National Association of Independent Schools The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1962, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, boar ...

(NAIS).

History

Chatsworth Hills Academy was founded in 1977 by a group of public school parents led by Liz Stillwell Shapiro. Following a

co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

model, parents volunteered their time in their areas of expertise to clear the land, pour concrete, install buildings, run wiring, develop curriculum, buy books, and hire instructors. The Chatsworth campus opened in the fall of 1978 with grades 4-8, and a second site in

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...

held grades 1-3. The school was originally named the Neighborhood School and organized as a non-profit, public benefit corporation. In 1980, the

location was closed, and students in grades 1-3 were moved to the Chatsworth campus and the ninth grade was added. In 1981, the name of the school was changed to Chatsworth Hills Academy. Towards the end of the '80s, enrollment at the middle school level decreased, grades 7-9 were eliminated, and Chatsworth Hills Academy became Preschool through grade 6 from 1988-1996. By 1998,

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

enrollment had grown again and grades 7 and 8 were returned permanently to the School. CHA started a

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...

for students

through 8th grade was started in June 2000. Chatsworth Hills Academy has evolved over the years and is no longer a "parent-run" co-op school. The Board of Trustees is composed of fourteen individuals, mostly current and former school parents. The Board is responsible, with the Head of School, to strategically plan for the future of Chatsworth Hills Academy.

Educational Program

Chatsworth Hills Academy employs a spiral curriculum, which continually introduces new material while reinforcing previous skills and content. Character Education is an essential aspect of an independent school education and a special focus of Chatsworth Hills Academy. CHA's program seeks to explain and practice values in the context of everyday school life. The school has a strong athletic program and a notable drama program.

Athletic Program

Chatsworth Hills Academy participates in a full range of interscholastic athletics as a member of the San Fernando Valley Private School League (SFVPSL). Beginning in fourth grade, boys' teams include

Flag Football Flag football is a variant of American football where, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier ("deflagging") to end a Down (gridiron football), down. The sport has a ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and/or

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

during the school year. Girls have the opportunity to compete in soccer, basketball, and volleyball. Team practices take place during school hours and after school. Games are played both home and away. Over the past several years, many CHA school teams have made play-off berths and have won league championships. CHA teams have won sixteen SFVPSL titles. CHA coaches support the school's character education program by modeling and developing within each student character, teamwork, participation and sportsmanship. The athletic philosophy seeks to have all the CHA teams succeed yet premise the sports program on the belief that every member of the team must play.

Campus Facts

Chatsworth is an inland part of the coastal region of southern California that was the historic homeland of the

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California See also * Chumash traditional ...

Indians. CHA is believed to be located on land once used by Chumash Indians for villages, campgrounds and/or burial sites. There was at least one large, ancient Chumash village located at the foot of nearby

Santa Susana Pass The Santa Susana Pass, originally Simi Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Simi Hills of Southern California, connecting the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles neighborhood of Chatsworth, to the city of Simi Valley and eponymous valley. It ha ...

. The area is now known as the Chatsworth

Cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

Site. The site was used for ceremonial purposes. A short distance from the Chatsworth Cairn Site, the Chumash established numerous settlements over extended periods of time. Regularly flowing water supported these settlements. CHA's campus has several rock formations containing Chumash pictographs. CHA also has a natural sulphur spring that surfaces on its lower campus. It is thought that the sulphur spring attracted Chumash and other Native American tribes to the area. According to one source, "a local sulfur spring percolated to the surface with water that was considered to contain important medicinal qualities. People from all of the neighboring villages, Chumash or

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...

were welcome to partake in the healing powers of these waters."

References

External links

Official WebsiteGoogle MapAnnual Charity Golf TournamentCalifornia Association of Independent SchoolsNational Association of Independent SchoolsWestern Association of Schools and Colleges
{{authority control Private middle schools in California Private elementary schools in California Educational institutions established in 1977 1977 establishments in California Chatsworth, Los Angeles