What’s Possible?
What’s possible... when girls collaborate, innovate, and engage in thoughtful conversations in a setting that values diverse life experiences and the playful exchange of ideas?
At Castilleja, we believe the world needs more women leaders, and drawing from over a century of experience educating girls, we build them. In a supportive and inspiring environment, our students explore bold questions with intelligence, curiosity, and a sense of purpose. Around the Circle, the hub of campus, each student develops lifelong friendships while learning skills that will allow her to discover what’s possible for her. Then, having gained confidence and insight, our alums lead for good in a diverse and complex world.
In the Company of Girls
It happens for every Castilleja student. At some point fairly soon after she arrives on the Circle, she looks up to realize she’s become completely engrossed—in robotics, in primary research, or in an improv scene. Whatever it is she’s doing at that moment, as she stops to recognize the depth of her engagement, she also understands she’s truly at home.
This happens because at Castilleja, we put girls at the center of everything we do.
The success of our girls’ environment has never been about the absence of boys; it has always been about the steadying and inspiring presence of girls. At Castilleja, girls thrive socially, intellectually, emotionally, and physically, and in this unique setting, they are able to explore challenging subjects with boundless enthusiasm while developing sustaining friendships.
These strong connections, formed across grades and divisions, prepare girls to seek out mentors and step into leadership roles, both proven to be critical for women in the workplace and beyond. We also know graduates of girls’ schools learn how to advocate for themselves, and decades of research prove this environment breaks down barriers for students to pursue careers in STEM.
But the moment we are talking about isn’t about data or glass ceilings. It comes before all that, and it marks an internal shift. It’s the joy that comes when our students discover that at Castilleja, they can really be their full and authentic selves: funny and focused, determined and direct, courageous and compassionate. This moment is what defines a Castilleja education, but even more importantly, it’s what makes our students special.
OUR MISSION
Castilleja School educates motivated young women to become confident thinkers and compassionate leaders with a sense of purpose to effect change in the world.
Relationships are at the heart of everything we do at Castilleja, which allows our students to share the full extent of their courage, curiosity, and joy with the people around them—and then with the world.
OUR MOTTO
Women Learning, Women Leading.
At Castilleja, every leadership role is filled by a girl who was mentored by a girl. Full stop.
Throughout Middle School and Upper School, older students serve as mentors to younger students while gaining a fuller understanding of their unique strengths and redefining leadership on their own terms. There are curious investigators, thoughtful observers, confident public speakers, and strategic thinkers, and Castilleja students realize all of these qualities are essential to effective leadership. Our Leadership Competencies—Curiosity, Empathy, Collaboration, Problem Strategizing, Purposeful Reflection, and Embracing Ambiguity—are linked to our Antiracist Teaching and Learning Program, so learning to lead at Castilleja always involves actively working to create an inclusive community where every voice matters.
Castilleja values and nurtures every kind of leader.
Transformative Leadership
At Castilleja, we prepare students to lead in a diverse and ever-changing world.
From the day students step onto campus, they are immersed in an intentional arc toward inclusive leadership. Our programming is scaffolded and integrated, nurturing students inside and outside the classroom as they foster the capacities necessary to lead with a focus on equity and social justice.
Students appreciate the power of learning to ask questions, the importance of humility as they wonder why others may experience the world differently, and the agency that underpins their confidence as they proudly step into roles where they have not only a vision to lead but also the capacity to bring others along.
Specific identity-related programming for students (and parents/guardians) can be found through affinity spaces. As students become invested in cocreating our #ComeAsYouAre community, they may choose to join the DEILC (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Leadership Council). And the entire family is invited to join Castilleja employees at our annual #ComeAsYouAre event—a signature learning opportunity that keeps us all moving forward with a bold vision for a more inclusive community and future.
Castilleja students celebrate each other.
Faculty Who Inspire
Building from a long legacy, our teachers rely on both timetested and cutting-edge approaches to set a new standard for educating girls.
With meaningful experiential applications, interdisciplinary connections, and steady attention, our faculty employ strategies that are specific to how girls learn best to ensure every student’s voice is heard and amplified.
Above all else, our intentional program is founded on the understanding that deep learning begins with strong relationships and an emphasis on social and emotional well-being. Every day, our educators invite students to become intellectual partners through interactive hands-on projects, critical analysis, and creative problem solving. An Upper School class may be visiting Angel Island to gain a deeper understanding of the immigrant experience while a group of Middle School students is bringing their research to life by designing monuments to people, events, and groups they feel are not well represented on our National Mall in Washington, D.C. Our teachers offer the space for students to ask big questions, some may even take years to answer them.
Castilleja students become intellectual partners.
Experiential Learning and Engagement
We know hands-on learning experiences actively prepare girls for leadership. Because of this, we’ve prioritized experiential engagement in our program.
All students—and girls in particular—learn and lead best when they can integrate new information and skills through direct engagement and thoughtful inquiry. Therefore, our program provides opportunities for deep-dive learning and leading through design thinking, community partnerships, and applied learning on and off campus. These foundational experiences prepare our students for lifelong learning and sustained leadership.
The Awareness, Compassion, and Engagement (ACE) Center urges Castilleja students to explore concepts that reach beyond their immediate experiences, fostering empathy, activism, and a global perspective. Two key touch points in our global experiential learning programs include Global Investigator Trips and our annual Global Week, when students attend workshops and presentations about pressing issues, such as Inclusive Journalism: Moving Beyond Headlines and The Promise and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence. Through exploration, research, and engagement, Castilleja students make relevant connections across communities and disciplines while developing an informed and nuanced global mindset.
Social-Emotional Learning & Well-Being
At Castilleja, we support our students throughout this pivotal and powerful time in their lives.
Our social-emotional learning team—composed of grade-level deans, advisors, wellness teachers, a learning specialist, and counselors—is highly attuned to learning each student’s individual needs. Our developmentally appropriate curriculum allows different learners to safely challenge themselves to find balance, take risks, and explore new ideas and activities. Wellness classes focus on developing solid study habits, navigating transitions in friendship, and learning how to advocate for oneself. On annual class retreats we help students practice healthy risk-taking, build trust, and, of course, enjoy lots of fun activities, like creating skits and singing around a campfire.
We model and instill compassion for self and others and a commitment to mindfulness and lifelong learning.
Castilleja provides safe spaces to take risks and grow.
Athletics
At Castilleja, girls win.
The girls’ teams aren’t just part of what we do—they are everything we do. Our coaches understand what our student-athletes need to build mental strength and perform at their highest level by teaching leadership, self-confidence, well-being, collaboration, and resilience. Mentorship begins in Middle School, with Upper School students assisting the coaches. Our younger student-athletes see the future ahead of them as competitors and leaders. Our entire community comes out strong to support our student-athletes, whether they are just starting a new sport in 6th grade or getting recruited at the collegiate level. With twelve sports offered each year and more than three-quarters of our students participating in at least one season, there is a place for every athlete to thrive within our comprehensive and competitive program.
Visual and Performing Arts
By developing and expressing their creativity, Castilleja students gain confidence in their own perspectives.
The Middle School musical is a rite of passage, with the vast majority of students participating at some point. Plus, each year, the Upper School presents a play and a musical, chosen by the student-run advisory board, giving students a powerful sense of agency. The dance department offers classes in 6th–12th grades, and all students are invited to participate in the yearly dance production. All students learn to play guitar and sing as a shared experience in Middle School, which provides foundational confidence as musicians at Castilleja and throughout life. Visual artists can rise through advanced 2-D and 3-D classes and explore various media with the support of our faculty. At Castilleja, we feel the arts are a way to discover who you are and how you want to live in the world by taking rewarding risks and learning to enjoy the creative process.
Maker Spaces and Robotics
Leadership now creates inroads later.
Castilleja’s maker spaces provide countless opportunities for students to explore, innovate, and engage in hands-on problem solving. Classroom teachers collaborate with the Maker Space team to incorporate engineering and experiential learning into their programs. Gatorbotics, one of the first girls’ robotics teams in the Bay Area, takes on new programming and design challenges each year, with older students filling all leadership roles and teaching newer students skills and strategy. Girls who never would have imagined finding a space to thrive on co-ed teams dive in at Castilleja and rise through the ranks with the support and encouragement of their peers and industry mentors. Many use this exposure and foundation to pursue STEM fields in college and beyond.
Community, Enrichment, and Interest Clubs
At all grade levels, students have the opportunity to pursue new passions within the Castilleja community and engage with the world beyond Castilleja.
Through Middle School Exploratories our students have time to make discoveries through the visual and performing arts, creative writing, computer science, and making and design curricula. Exploratories are envisioned, planned, and led by our own 8th graders for our 6th and 7th graders. Examples of student-led exploratories are DIY Room Decor, Clayopolis, Exploring Writing and Self-Care, Photography, and more. In the Upper School, the ACE Center houses our student-led organizations, clubs, and interest groups, many of which provide avenues for both local and global activism and outreach with groups like Human Rights Watch and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Other activities, like the student newspaper or STEM club, enable students to apply what they’re learning in the classroom in new ways.
Beloved Traditions
While traditions have evolved at Castilleja, the sentiment and excitement surrounding them remain the same. Celebrations such as the Tie Ceremony on the first day of school, Junior-Senior Banquet and Rivalry, Spirit Week, and Founder’s Day all serve to strengthen the bond between students. As our students experience these rites of passage, they learn they belong to a community of students and alumnae who are united by these traditions. Whether decked out in a silly costume or participating in a time-honored ceremony, Castilleja students across divisions relish the joy of developing memories and friendships that last a lifetime and connect them to generations of alums.
