BUILT ON relationships

Taft is a place that is built on relationships; at our core, we are all connected. Our students live and learn with a common purpose and a spirit of cooperation. They work collaboratively, and care deeply. They value kindness.

All new Taft students are welcomed to campus by a peer mentor and guide, who becomes a trusted resource, a helpful navigator, and an early link in the chain of support and relationships that develop over time. In our dormitories, students get to know resident faculty—and often their families and pets—through dorm meetings, “feeds” (a Taft term for a fun food gathering), one-on-one chats, and daily campus life. Student leaders, who are selected by faculty and administration and known as monitors or “mons,” help resident faculty make the dorms feel like home. They are role models, cheerleaders, cruise directors, tour guides, communicators, empowerers, and friends. They, along with roommates, teammates, and classmates, all strengthen the relationship chain at Taft.

Our community also includes a vast network of adult role models and supporters. Our teachers are coaches and dorm heads. They are club advisors, academic advisors, and class deans. They wear many hats, and get to know students in all aspects of their lives. New students are assigned an advisor; they may select a new advisor as they build relationships through classes, athletics, clubs, activities, or residential life. Students also work closely with our class deans, who oversee student progress in each grade, and the academic dean, who helps students select courses and set goals. They may also rely on our head of school, assistant head of school, dean of students, associate dean of students, director of residential life, and counselors for support and guidance. All work to model and instill Taft’s values, and reflect the depth and importance of relationships in our community.