Leadership
Because Canterbury is a small PreK-8 school where every student is known and supported, our students benefit from exceptional leadership development opportunities.
Chapel buddies
Each 6th grade student at Canterbury is paired with a kindergarten chapel buddy. These older students help our youngest ones adjust to school life and act as a “security blanket” and familiar face. Chapel buddies walk hand in hand to chapel, where they sit together throughout the year.
Environmental awareness
Fifth grade students are responsible for helping our community become more environmentally “green.” Students educate parents, staff, and students by sharing recycling tips and environmental facts, organizing school-wide recycling efforts, and taking the lead on Earth Day activities.
Eighth grade leadership trip
Every fall, the students who will lead our school take a journey to explore, discuss, and experience what team building and leadership really mean. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the Wilderness Adventure facilities at Eagle Landing offer the perfect seclusion, solitude, and natural beauty to undertake this task.
Families
Each 8th grade student leads a “family,” which is a cluster of approximately nine students, one from each grade level. Designed to build a strong bond between students of all ages, families meet once a month to socialize, perform outreach projects, beautify the campus, and build lasting bonds of friendship.
Leadership classes
Seventh and 8th graders take a leadership class where they spend classroom time discussing ethical issues and leadership principles and have sessions outside of the classroom practicing what they’ve learned. Leadership education at Canterbury is very intentional, and is defined as promoting learning about self and others, loving across all boundaries, and seeking opportunities to serve. Ultimately, students build a sense of community and confidence in collaborating with each other.
Public performance
From participating in grade-level productions in grades K-4 and by taking advantage of countless opportunities in grades 5-8, including reading in chapel, presenting projects, performing in the spring musical, and serving as acolytes, Canterbury students learn to be comfortable in front of an audience. In this safe, supportive environment, students take many risks, and because they start very young, they learn to do so with tremendous confidence and ease.
Service learning
Service learning projects expose students to the needs of others. This program helps each student develop a sense of responsibility to give time and assistance within the community. Students give, but they also receive important life lessons about themselves and others. Each grade level within the lower school participates in a service learning project for the school year. Projects include working with pre-school children, collecting for special causes, adopting elderly residents at a nursing home, collecting food for a local food pantry, and strengthening recycling efforts. The middle school does service learning as a whole, and completed more than a dozen service projects during the last school year to make a difference in the lives of young children, senior citizens, and animals in need, and to care for the environment.
Student council
From orchestrating fundraisers, to planning dances, to researching charitable organizations for contributions, our student council seeks to serve the school and larger community. Student council members give a speech to the student body and are voted into office.
Venture Out
With the help of certified outdoor educators, students in grades K-8 use Canterbury’s Venture Out program to learn to identify and master skill sets such as cooperation, collaboration, teamwork, listening, self-awareness, goal setting, and fun. Canterbury is the only independent school in Greensboro to have a high and low ropes course, a climbing wall, a pond, and a nature and fitness trail.