Admissions

Visits & Tours

Explore Orchard

SCHEDULED TOURS:
We would love to have you join us on campus for an admissions tour. Private tours give parents and guardians a more detailed look at our 43-acre wooded campus and can help you envision how your child can flourish at Orchard.

Reach out to admissions@orchard.org for more information or to schedule a tour.


VIRTUAL TOUR:
Enjoy this VIRTUAL TOUR of Orchard!
For the safety of our students, please bring your driver's license with you in order to check-in and tour the campus. Tours last approximately one hour. We look forward to seeing you!

  • Video: Experience The Best In Progressive Education



    See what 98 years of successful outcomes looks like. We are a private school in Indianapolis, Indiana with a commitment to advance each student’s academic success, self-confidence, open mindedness, ethical character, leadership, and love of learning. Orchard provides a progressive education with a focus on experiential hands-on learning. Our 43-acre wooded campus provides many outdoor learning spaces letting us stay true to one of our 9 Promises, Nature as Teacher.

  • Video: Elementary School Math



    Hear from Orchard's Director of Early Childhood & Elementary School, one of our fourth grade teachers, and a current parent who is a professor of STEM education research. Math at Orchard is a special thing and we hope you enjoy seeing the progressive process played out in the classroom.

    "Something that sets us apart as an institution as far as math is concerned, is our ability to balance to procedural fluency with conceptual understanding." Hal Schwartz | Director of Early Childhood & Elementary School

  • Video: See Inside An 8th Grade Math Classroom



    In this progressive education moment, Ryan Mossakowski empowers his 8th grade math students in the form of a Test Analysis. Students practiced skills such as collaboration, creativity, flexibility and critical thinking. Progressive education prepares students for a lifetime of learning and leadership.

  • Video: Identity Discovery Starts In Preschool



    Orchard's four preschool classrooms collaborated on a project centered around identity, which is a big part of their curriculum. This work of art encouraged young learners to discover multiple perspectives and a connection to our nature-based approach. A main tenet of progressive education is to produce courageous, compassionate citizens. It starts with work like this.

  • Video: Hands-On Learning



    Progressive education is constructed through play, social interaction and direct experience. When learning about kinetic versus potential energy in fourth grade, our teachers take advantage of our ropes/challenge course. One student at a time is hoisted 20-25 feet into the air. While tethered in place, the group shouts, "Potential! Potential! Potential!" Then, the students shout, "Kinetic!" as they release the rope and swing freely in the air. The goal is for the students to physically feel the difference between the two types of energy they're studying, while gaining confidence and trust in their team.
"I am always impressed by how people in the Orchard community are willing to go that extra bit to help out. Whether it’s parent volunteers, classroom teachers or staff members, in our 9 years at Orchard, when we’ve needed help, there has always been a quick response, sometimes before we have even asked."
- Orchard Parent