Message from the Head of School

Let me welcome you to Helios the same way that the children are welcomed – through morning carline! Every morning the children clamber down from their cars, and I get to say a few words to them before they run off to join their friends on the way to their classroom. I get to chat with other teachers and administrators, too, and maybe exchange a quick, "Hello!" to a parent through the car window. This starts each day the way it should be started, as part of a community that has chosen to be together, sharing small moments of connection and recognition, bonded by the belief that the best education for gifted children is the education we engage in at Helios.

When the children open the door to their classroom, they find a distinctly Helios world waiting for them. It’s an education that focuses on gifted children as themselves, in their world right now, not relentlessly pushing them to the limits of their abilities or placing undue emphasis on what they can achieve.

That focus on the now, not the future, is one of the most important distinctions of the work we do at Helios: Our education is designed to meet the unique needs of gifted students and their families, not to expedite the achievements of advanced learners. We build a strong foundation in the K-8 years, a foundation that ensures our graduates retain that intrinsic urge to learn in high school, college, and beyond. Our alums and their parents come back and tell us it is working and how grateful they are for what the school has done for them. 

That Helios education can look small and quiet – a child being given time to gather their thoughts before asking a question about the novel the class is reading. And it can be boisterous – as during Friday math circles when one group is determined to prove they have the best solution to the problem the class has been working on for the past two weeks. But it always reflects our mission – to provide an "engaging and imaginative education."

I invite you to find out more about what we do, and why we're so proud of what we have grown here at Helios since our founding in 2007. Come visit, we'd love to meet you.

Yours,
Ben Chant
Head of School