Educator Spotlight -- Oct 29, 2006 -- By Will Hobson
Educator: Chris Chirieleison.
School: The Phelps School in Malvern.
What it is: Phelps is a private boarding school for boys in grades seven through 12. Its specialized education programs attract students from all over the world.
Achievement: Chirieleison, 40, took over as headmaster in June. He is the fourth headmaster in the school's 60 years, and only the second whose last name isn't Phelps.
Experience: A graduate of Johns Hopkins, he worked previously in administration at the Hill School, his alma mater. He left in 1997 to pursue opportunities in the financial world. Chirieleison returned to education in 2003 as director of admissions at Phelps. He is working toward his master's in education at Penn State's Great Valley campus. He is married with three boys, ages 7, 5, and 4.
Question: Is there a certain demographic that Phelps is designed for?
Answer: Phelps is a school that serves boys who have college aspirations, but need a smaller setting to achieve this. We have an academic support program to accommodate learning differences. The common denominator among all of our boys is that they do better in smaller classrooms.
Q: Why did you come back to education?
A: I never had the same sense of purpose or mission working elsewhere that I do now.
Q: What is your top priority for the school as new headmaster at Phelps?
A: To enhance our delivery of education. We have begun accelerated professional-development opportunities - workshops, basically. We have brought in faculty from local universities and worked with the Chester County Intermediate Unit, to increase the level of expertise among our faculty.
Q: What is the ratio of boarding students to day students? Among faculty?
A: There is no boarding requirement at Phelps, but most do stay here. Of our 150 boys, about 120 of them live on campus. Of our 26 full-time faculty members, 20 live here.
Q: Explain the advantages of a boarding high school versus a day school.
A: It has to do with our ability to supervise, support, and inculcate the study habits of our students. In the evenings, we have the more traditional study hall in the dorms, and we also have, for those who need more supervision, a proctored study hall. Our residential faculty members are also available at night to lend support.
Q: What role does Greylyn Farm (the equestrian center at Phelps) play in your educational programs?
A: Phelps was a working farm when it started, and until the early 1980s, that was a fairly large part of what went on here. Gradually, the farm aspect diminished, and the school moved more in the direction of focusing on academics. Greylyn Farm has become, over the past 10 years, essentially a separate entity from the school. While we could arrange riding if one of our boys expressed interest, we really don't have any boys riding anymore.
Q: Why should a family spend as much, if not more ($17,500 for tuition, $28,500 including room and board at Phelps) on a high school education as they would for college? And why Phelps and not one of the other private schools in the area?
A: For the families looking at Phelps, this is a rare academic program that is difficult to find elsewhere. Most of our boys really aren't candidates for those schools, which tend to move at a pace that most of them couldn't match. We do have some students who could handle it, but most of our boys do better in the smaller, individualized setting. We are more flexible in our admissions because we are here to serve those who could be A and B students if they had more time to devote to the subject matter.