About

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at CFS

At Church Farm School, our student body reflects many different cultural identities. Church Farm School students represent the heritages and backgrounds of the world’s population, from Puerto Rico to Ghana to Philadelphia to South Korea.

With such a diverse student body, our campus culture, curriculum and community emphasize empathy, understanding and inclusion. Our core values include respect, integrity, responsibility and brotherhood, and these apply to every person on our campus, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion or socio-economic status.
Church Farm School is a community of belonging, a place of diverse cultures, backgrounds and interests, where each individual is valued, seen and heard.

We share responsibility to support and challenge each other, seeking to understand our differences and commonalities, and we commit ourselves to being critical thinkers and agents of justice.

We empower change makers who are culturally competent and prepared to lead in a global society.
Giving voice and witness to God’s intentions allows us to confront and soberly address a cultural past that has neither given full value to every human being nor respect for their God-given dignity. - The Reverend Edmund K. Sherrill II, Head of School 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — On & Off Campus

Active Learning 
Classroom projects explore diversity, equity and inclusion, many of which are showcased where students can discuss their work with the Church Farm School community. Our students and faculty attend regional and national events, including the People of Color Conference and the Student Diversity Leadership Conference, that build awareness of varying perspectives, issues facing the world and how we can work together.

Global Responsibility
Service to others is an annual requirement for Church Farm School students. Whether they’re growing food in our community garden to donate to a food bank, mentoring younger students at other schools or community centers or helping acclimate pets to the adoption process at the local SPCA, making a social impact is central to their student experience.
Community Support 
One of the most popular student clubs on our campus is the Multicultural Club, or M Club. Members sponsor different events each month in celebration of different cultures. Weekly chapel service includes prayers in both Spanish and English. Biweekly assemblies often feature student and adult speakers sharing their cultures — their cuisine, languages and history. Our Gay Straight Diversity Alliance club offers programming throughout the year that engage students and faculty in important discussions. 

Teaching Empathy 
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process through which we acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions. Church Farm School’s SEL program is dedicated to educating our students’ character, habits and emotional needs and is integrated into our curricular work. We meet them where they are, providing them with a variety of lessons and experiences.  
Connecting to our Episcopal Identity
The Episcopal Tradition at CFS is committed to the principles of good practice for equity and justice established by the National Association of Episcopal Schools. Through our core values of respect, responsibility, integrity and brotherhood, we hold and foster a spiritual commitment to equity and humanity, and seek to learn from others across the world’s faith traditions. 

Continuing Our Mission  
The goal of Church Farm School is to see our graduates go on to college and earn their bachelor’s degree in four years. For many of our students, they are the first in their family to go to college. With that in mind, we launched our Alumni Success Program in 2016 with seed funding from the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation, the Hamilton Family Foundation, the Church of the Redeemer and the Charter Foundation as a way to engage and support recent graduates, ensuring they graduate from college. The program maintains connections with 200 Church Farm School graduates, and provides support, mentorship and guidance to help keep them on track.


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  • Chet Blair

    Chet is the Director of Student Life and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at Church Farm School. He joined the community in June 2019.

    Chet has more than 25 years of experience working with youth and has found a home at Church Farm School. He believes in community, standing up for others and being a good person.

    When asked what he likes most about his  job, Chet says, “Being an educator is a responsibility to serve others and to impact lives. It is not a job; it is a part of my life. I am appreciative of CFS, who we serve and what we represent. Every day I walk on our campus and I have a deep feeling of love and pride for our scholars, their families and our colleagues. You cannot put that feeling into words, but I will say this — when you walk on our campus and engage with our scholars, I guarantee you will feel it.”

    Chet enjoys working out, cheering on all the Philadelphia teams and spending time with his wife, Dawn, and their three children, Kayla, Brianna and Trey.
News & Information
The Church Farm School community's commitment to DEI and our core values of respect, responsibility, integrity and brotherhood are central to each scholar's experience, and will prepare them to lead lives of fulfillment and purpose. If you have any questions about DEI at Church Farm School, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Which high school experience is right for your son?
Church Farm School | 1001 E. Lincoln Hwy. | Exton, Pennsylvania 19341
Phone: 610.363.7500 | Fax: 610.363.5367 | Admissions: admissions@gocfs.net
The Church Farm School is an independent boarding and day school for boys in grades 9-12 located in Exton, PA. Founded in 1918 to provide an excellent education to young men from limited means, Church Farm School now serves boys from a range of socio-economic circumstances who are seeking an extraordinary educational opportunity. The school offers a challenging college preparatory curriculum and an exceptional level of personal attention, with class sizes averaging between just 7 and 12 students.