Academics
A CSW Education

PACE

Promoting Awareness & Community Engagement

PACE: Promoting Awareness and Community Engagement is a program designed to ensure that all students develop self-awareness, healthy living habits, and a sense of belonging, cultivating skills to create a more just and sustainable world. Classes meet once per week and are graded on a pass/fail basis. 

Promoting Awareness (PA)

The PA (Promoting Awareness) program helps students explore their identities, understand their school community, and promote empathy. 

Community Engagement (CE)

The "CE" (Community Engagement) component introduces students to the pedagogy of service learning and provides them with the opportunity to partner with local organizations to enact meaningful, impactful change. 

Richard Weissbourd, Senior Lecturer on Education; Faculty Director, Human Development and Psychology, Harvard Graduate School of Education

As director of Harvard’s Making Caring Common initiative, it’s exciting for me to see CSW taking sincere, actionable steps to integrate social-emotional learning and human development programming into their educational model.

PACE Programming by Grade

Grade 9 Curriculum

List of 2 items.

  • Mods 1 – 3: We Are Wednesdays

    "We Are Wednesdays" programming is designed to welcome and integrate new 9th graders into the CSW community, fostering feelings of connectedness and belonging. Students develop shared language around diversity, equity, and inclusion; learn community expectations; cultivate academic skills; and build relationships with peers and adults alike.

  • Mods 4 – 6: Service Learning

    Our 9th-grade community engagement program introduces students to the concept of service learning and provides them with the space to build and practice skills for meaningful community engagement by partnering with a local organization to help with an area of need.

Grade 10 Curriculum

List of 2 items.

  • Mods 1 – 3: Mind-Body Connection

    Students build an understanding of mental, physical, and emotional connection, learning how to exercise self-care; make informed decisions in their personal and academic lives; and explore connections between themselves, others, and the environment.

  • Mods 4 – 6: Service Learning

    The 10th and 11th grade community engagement program connects students with meaningful, direct opportunities that align with their interests while fostering collaboration with external organizations. Students engage in hands-on opportunities, in person and from afar, 
    making a tangible impact while gaining valuable skills. 

Grade 11 Curriculum

List of 2 items.

  • Mods 1 – 3: Alliance Building Across Cultural Differences

    In Grade 11, students deepen their understanding of the historical roots of current inequities through study, experience, and reflection. Learning opportunities allow students to gain a more personal understanding of equity and justice, as well as build on their knowledge of individual and shared identities.

  • Mod 4 – 6: Service Learning

    The 10th and 11th grade community engagement program connects students with meaningful, direct opportunities that align with their interests while fostering collaboration with external organizations. Students engage in hands-on opportunities, in person and from afar, 
    making a tangible impact while gaining valuable skills.

Grade 12 Curriculum

List of 1 items.

  • Mods 1 – 6: Senior Capstone

    All seniors are required to complete a Capstone Project that demonstrates the interdisciplinary, critical, and creative thinking skills they have learned at CSW. Students work closely with their capstone advisors to develop and propose a topic to explore in-depth over the course of the year. Students are encouraged to think beyond traditional classroom curricula to choose a topic that is of interest to them and connects to the interests of a wider community.

As part of the PACE Program, CSW students...

  • Foster community and sense of belonging

  • Develop human skills like empathy, creative thinking, and ethical responsibility

  • Build meaningful relationships

  • Practice cultural responsiveness

  • Cultivate confidence, self-awareness, and public speaking skills

Recent Community Partners

45 Georgian Road, Weston, MA 02493
Phone: (781) 642-8600
CSW—a gender-inclusive day and boarding school for grades 9-12—is a national leader in progressive education. We live out our values of inquiry-based learning, student agency, and embracing diverse perspectives in every aspect of our student experience. Young people come to CSW to learn how to learn and then put what they learn into action—essential skills they carry into their futures as doers, makers, innovators, leaders, and exceptional humans who do meaningful work in the world.