Mead Hall is Aiken’s independent college preparatory school providing excellence in education within a supportive environment grounded in the values of faith and love. At every grade level, students are challenged and encouraged towards academic achievement and personal growth. Students are inspired to be engaged learners from preschool, where play-based learning provides the students with foundational concepts and a love of learning, to senior year, where students take on a university level research project in preparation for their studies in college. We combine a traditional curriculum with inquiry-based learning so that students gain lasting knowledge and develop critical thinking. From math and science/STEM to English comprehension and analysis to social studies and foreign language to the visual and performing fine arts, at Mead Hall we strive to offer a rich and balanced education to our students. For more details, please read the drop down menu for the academics of each division of our school. Through our curriculum and school life, we educate students to be globally informed and connected while locally rooted in a community where they will be known and loved. Mead Hall is defined by a Christian ethos that is practiced in our daily life, welcomes students of all backgrounds, and is expressed in the Anglican tradition of education and worship.

Mead Hall has inherited the rich academic and student life of our three historic schools, Aiken Prep (1916), Aiken Day (1933), and Mead Hall (1955). The academic traditions of Aiken Prep continue in our annual public speaking requirement, Declamation, and the research paper and oral presentation requirement in the Senior Project course. The emphasis on the making of junior gentlemen at Aiken Prep and young ladies at Aiken Day continue in the importance we give to civility and communication skills at Mead Hall today as vital elements in the affective learning that we emphasize alongside academic learning. At Mead Hall, affective learning is integrated into the curriculum in many ways, including the nurture of our students’ spiritual and emotional lives, classroom presentations and discussions, and our fine arts program.

Alongside our core academics, fine arts is an essential component of our curriculum at Mead Hall. Weekly music in Lower School begins in preschool and students from kindergarten to 4th grade have studio art each week. Beginning in middle school, fine arts is expanded to a daily educational experience, with visual art, band, and drama offered. These middle school years provide an intensive and amazing opportunity for our students to develop their skills and creativity as artists, their ability to produce beautiful and inspiring music together as a band of musicians, and their ability to take to the stage with courage and talent to share a compelling story with the audience through the dramatic arts. What begins in middle school continues into upper school, where students can continue their study and experience of the fine arts throughout high school, including the options of Advanced Placement (AP) art courses at Mead Hall and Dual Enrollment music courses at USC Aiken.