Orchard at a Glance

Non-sectarian coeducational preschool through eighth grade day school located in north Indianapolis.

Mission

The Orchard School

Founded in 1922, The Orchard School guides each student to develop the knowledge, confidence and character essential for a life of learning, leadership, and positive contribution to society.

Cornerstones of an Orchard Education

  • Academic Excellence: achieving high standards through critical thinking, application of knowledge, and problem solving.
  • Behavioral Excellence: developing character and personal responsibility
  • Progressive Teaching: focusing on the child and engaging the natural curiosity to learn.
  • Diversity and Multicultural Education: inspiring a diverse student body and faculty to learn from multiple perspectives and understand the world.

Programs

  • Elementary School comprised of preschool 3/4 through grade four.
  • Middle School comprised of grades five through eight.
  • Curriculum includes language arts, literature, math, science, social studies/history, Spanish, fine arts, and physical education.
  • Kids Connect, a before- and afterschool enrichment program.
  • Orchard Summer, an exploration and enrichment camp for the central Indiana community.

Special Curricular Features

The Orchard School

Outdoors as classroom; fine and performing arts integrated into curriculum; character education;

The Dignity Center, which coordinates programs and global partnerships that include schools in Mexico, Ghana, Japan and Cherokee, North Carolina; learning support in every grade; integrated technology support including 2:1 student-to-computer ratio and one-to-one laptop program in fifth through eighth grade; daily P.E. and intramural and team sports; service learning; on-staff speech and language therapist.

Academic Accountability and Accreditation

  • Educational Records Bureau (ERB) scores significantly exceed national norms.
  • Curriculum aligned with state and national standards and proficiencies.
  • Accredited by Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS) and National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC),

Faculty

85 full-time faculty (13 percent faculty are people of color); 46 percent have advanced degrees; 41 percent have 15 years or more experience. Student-faculty ratio of 7:1.

The Orchard School

Students

Approximately 615 students each year (two-thirds elementary students and one-third middle school students).

The student body, one-quarter of whom are children of color, comes from Marion and the surrounding counties.

Graduates

85 percent of Orchard graduates are on honor roll or high honors in high school, many are National Merit Scholarship Finalists; graduates who are known for their success academically and as leaders and ethical young adults.

Campus

Wooded 42.9-acre campus with 153,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility.

Affordability

Applicants are selected without regard to their ability to pay tuition.

Every effort is made to provide financial assistance, with over one million dollars dedicated to ensure Orchard remains socio-economically diverse.