Academics

Character & Values

Character | Recast

At Peck, we teach composure and conscientiousness - not because polite behavior is an end in itself, but because it is one way to express our deep and genuine regard for others. Steadied by a sense of shared safety, Peck students form intentional, inspiring relationship across the full spectrum of the Peck family.

Peck's warm environment incubates a sense of self-confidence and a deeply felt duty to others. Peck students are brave but tactful communicators, bold but supportive collaborators, and engaged local and global citizens.

Ultimately, our layered, thoughtful approach to character education nurtures a dynamic empathy that stretches well past Peck - and fosters not just good comportment, but great depth of character.

Character & Service at the Core

List of 2 items.

  • InDeCoRe: Individual Development and Community Responsibility

    Our nationally-recognized Individual Development and Community Responsibility (InDeCoRe) program guides our efforts to promote positive character development throughout our community.

    In partnership with parents, we teach, model, and discuss the moral values that fortify character. Every trimester, we focus on one of our six core values: care, gratitude, resilience, courage, respect and one rotating value that is decided upon by the rising eighth-grade class each year.

    For our younger students, we place these values in the context of self, family, and school. What, for example, does respect look like at the lunch table? For our older students, we consider these values in the local and global communities.  How is respect part of heated political debate?

    In addition to teaching about values, we expect to see those values in action, in developmentally appropriate social behaviors. Report cards reflect a student’s progress on the “Consideration of Others” rubric. In all situations we encourage students to reflect upon and take responsibility for their actions and choices.

  • Service Learning

    Instilling and reinforcing a sense of social awareness in your son or daughter is a fundamental aspect of our educational experience. Beginning in Kindergarten and extending throughout their years at Peck, students devote time and energy to serving the local and global communities through meaningful—and fun—hands-on activities. Some of these include:

    • Food Drive & Hunger Walk - helping the Community Soup Kitchen of Morristown.
    • Candy Drive - donating individually wrapped candy to charitable organizations serving children, and our American troops and veterans at home and overseas.
    • Maggie Doyne - making life better for Nepalese children at the Kopila Valley Children’s Home.
    • Earth Day - helping out with environmental conservation initiatives.
    • PG Chambers School - working with developmentally disabled children across the country.
    • Community Soup Kitchen - helping the hungry in and around Morristown.
    • Operation Holiday - collecting and organizing Christmas gifts for those in need.
    Each grade is paired with a specific organization for a year-long service learning project, aligning with each grade's specific service learning theme.  Themes range fromCompassion and Caring, to Kids Helping Kids, to Environmental Stewardship, and more.  In the Eighth Grade, students choose their own theme and partner organization.

Getting Together

Character is about communities as well as individuals, so we create opportunities for our community to develop character. During Table Talk Tuesdays, every lunch table discusses a relevant topic that highlights a moral dilemma and helps children in different grades articulate how they see a situation. The Reach Across Program brings Lower School and Upper School students together and every grade’s curriculum includes community service projects. We schedule a Kairos Family Night each trimester; “kairos” is a Greek word meaning a time when routine is suspended and meaningful memories are formed from simple events. Kairos Nights encourage families to take a break from their busy schedules, power-down the electronics, connect, interact, and make memories.

Our Shared Values

Getting Spirit

At Peck, sports are an additional means to build a strong moral character in our students and in our community. The Department of Athletics consistently emphasizes teamwork and good sportsmanship. Whether learning skills, competing in intramurals, cheering from the sidelines, or competing interscholastically, Peck students practice respect, loyalty, perseverance, empathy, responsibility, and honesty on and off the field.

Peck spirit comes through in other activities as well. Through the Peck InDeCoRe Club, students identify their own leaders and leaders throughout the world who embody our core values and serve as role models.

 

THE PECK SCHOOL

247 South Street  |  Morristown, NJ  07960
973-539-8660
Northern New Jersey's timeless and transformative co-ed independent elementary and middle school education for grades K-8.

 

 
The Peck School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.