Global Reach

Since 2000, the 8th grade class has participated in a cultural/educational exchange with St. Bede’s School in Redhill, Surrey, England. Selected students spend the school year researching various aspects of their experience before departing for England in March. During their ten-day stay, the students stay with their exchange partner, attend classes and tour a number of historical sites. The British students visit Chaminade a few weeks later.

Oeiras International School in Lisbon, Portugal, joined Chaminade as a global partner in 2016. OIS is an English speaking International Baccalaureate World School in Oeiras, Portugal (just outside of Lisbon). The school campus is located on the grounds of a 17th century palace, the Quinta de Nossa Senhora da Conceição. This exchange takes students from all high school years.

Trinity Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia, became a CCP global partner in 2018. Each year in August/September, students from Trinity spend five weeks in St. Louis. They attend classes at Chaminade and stay with a host family. In June, Chaminade sophomores represent our school in Australia. They spend 4 weeks with their host families, attending classes, travelling to Sydney and participating in the schools active extracurricular and athletic life.

Abingdon School became a CCP global partner in 2013. The junior participants will stay with their host families, attend classes, travel during the week with the CCP staff to various locations, and participate in school and family events on the weekends.

The French Exchange is a unique opportunity available to those high school students who choose to study French at Chaminade. Students are selected through an application process. Once chosen, they are paired up with a pen pal from Institution Notre-Dame, a Catholic co-ed school in Chartes, France. The Chaminade student’s family hosts the pen pal for two weeks at the end of October. In June, participants travel to France to live with their pen pals’ family in Chartres. During the two-week homestay, the Chaminade students get to experience attending classes at Institution Notre-Dame, as well as seeing the sights of Chartres and the surrounding area. At the end of the two weeks with the family, we spend 3-5 days in Paris.

• San Salvador, El Salvador – Chaminade is partnering with an organization, called Project FIAT, which is run by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to reach out to families in need in El Salvador. The Chaminade group will participate in service projects such as playing with children at the Sonsonate Orphanage and building new homes/clinics in rural areas in San Salvador.
• Click here for other domestic service immersion trip information.

• Costa Rica - For 10 days students visted the cities of San José, Isla Tortuga, Monteverde, La Fortuna and Tirimbina.
• Galapagos, Ecuador - This student tour to the Galapagos allowed students to explore the islands as naturalists, to gain a deeper understanding of Darwin's research and to understand the theories of beginnings. Students explored the geology, ecology, and marine environments around the islands. We analyzed the flora and fauna in both terrestrial and marine environments via guided hikes, mountain bikes, boat, kayaks, snorkeling, and scuba.
• Wilderness Expedition - Explore beautiful national parks taking Chaminade’s Wilderness Experience course. Enjoy a seven day course with two of Chaminade's Faculty in an environmental field course. Wilderness Expedition Course spent seven days hiking, exploring, observing and learning about Rocky Mountain National Park. Each student became a subject matter expert in certain ecological/geological areas and we all learned a wealth of information about and appreciation for one of the most beautiful spots on earth. Making this a real life environmental summer field course in the Rocky Mountains. They also earned half credit hour for their experience, which includes research, presentations and study. Parks explored: Rocky Mountain National Park – Colorado, Olympic National Park - Washington State, Yellowstone National Park - Wyoming

• 6th GRADE TRIP – Explore scenery and science while educating the “whole boy” with Chaminade’s Outdoor Education Program. In collaboration with the Teton Science Schools in Jackson, Wyoming, sixth graders at Chaminade embark on a world-class learning experience as they live, work and play in the ecologically diverse Grand Teton National Park and Snake River for an entire week! Teachers at Chaminade team up with graduate students from the Teton Science Schools to guide students through lessons that explore the worlds of ecology, bio-diversity, geology and sustainability. The boys will also gain greater senses of responsibility, independence, teamwork and accountability as they spend a week away from home in the late spring. The Outdoor Education Program engages the boys in an unparalleled education outside the boundaries of the classroom, fostering growth of their minds, bodies, and spirits. The Teton area scenery provides an incredible background as the boys participate in authentic, hands-on experiences and physical activities, such as hiking, animal tracking, field ecology experiments, wildlife observation, conducting ecological field research, field journaling and sketching, practicing “leave-no-trace” guidelines, alpine ecology and GIS/GPS orienteering. The Teton Science Schools’ new Jackson Campus allows the boys to live, work and play in an ecologically-centered environment. Just completed in 2006, the Jackson Campus offers the perfect accommodations for the Chaminade’s Outdoor Education Program.

• 7th GRADE TRIP - The boys at Chaminade explore an urban playground and discover the ideas and innovations that have revolutionized America over the last century during Chaminade’s four-day Urban Experience Trip to Chicago, Illinois. Chicago is a bustling Midwestern metropolis that nearly three million people call home. A multitude of museums, dynamic attractions and landmarks, and plenty sports, arts and culture to experience make this city a standout option for Chaminade’s boys to learn, explore and become inspired. With endless opportunities for work and play, the boys have a schedule of activities that is nearly as packed and busy as the city of Chicago itself, including The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Chicago Art Institute, Soldier Field, Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain and the John Hancock Building.

• 8th GRADE OPTIONAL TRIP - Agricultural Experience – To enhance the American agriculture focus of their science and social studies courses, Chaminade eighth graders have the opportunity to explore one of our country’s most important agricultural centers. Guided by their teachers and local farmers, the students gain an understanding of the significance of farms and farm communities on the cultural and economic growth of our country. By visiting during the harvest, students are exposed to all aspects of a modern farm.

• 8th GRADE TRIP - During the second semester, Chaminade eighth graders have the exciting opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. for an intense, four-day tour of our nation’s capital. Some of the attractions that the boys visit include the U.S. Capitol Building, Arlington National Cemetery, Mount Vernon, The Smithsonian Institute, The Jefferson Memorial & Tidal Basin, The Lincoln Memorial, The Vietnam & Korean War Memorials, World War II Memorial, The Washington Monument, the Martin Luther King Memorial, Old Towne Alexandria, and Washington, D.C. Union Station.

• FRESHMAN TRIP – The 9th graders will be heading to Nashville, Tennessee, for their experiential ed trip. At Camp Marymount in nearby Fairview, the students and teachers will explore exciting ways to learn new material with the focus being on some core classes as well as outdoor-related activities. The rustic summer camp provides opportunities to canoe and fish, participate in hands-on activities led by their teachers, and celebrate the new school year with their classmates.

• SOPHOMORE TRIP - The Road to Freedom trip gives sophomores the opportunity to experience the struggle for freedom and justice as they travel to Little Rock, AK, and then on to Memphis, TN, to visit a number of sites associated with our struggle for civil rights. While on the trip, stops are made at many historic sites including Central High School, the National Civil Rights Museum, Slave Haven and the Mason Temple, Church of God in Christ.

Multicultural and Diversity Office

Mission: The Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion educates in Family Spirit and strives to foster an inclusive environment across the Chaminade community in order to make all students feel seen, heard, and valued.

Vision: Aiming to provide an integral, quality education in an inclusive environment, by offering equitable opportunities to students, and further cultivating all five characteristics of Marianist education in all areas of the school operations, being: Academic, Student Services, and Administrative.

The Multicultural and Diversity Office:

The duties of the Diversity Office include, but are not limited to:

• Providing learning opportunities for students and staff to become more culturally competent and promote diversity. 
• Partnering with organizations and community members to improve the learning experience at Chaminade for all students.
• Moderating extracurricular activities and leadership opportunities for students to broaden their views of the world, foster leadership, aid diversity efforts, and reinforce our Catholic Marianist traditions.