Charles River School was founded by parents on the banks of the Charles River

Charles River

The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...

 in Needham, Massachusetts

Needham, Massachusetts

Needham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 28,886 at the 2010 census.- History :...

, USA, in 1911. In 1917, the school moved to Dover, Massachusetts

Dover, Massachusetts

Dover is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,589 at the 2010 census.Located about southwest of downtown Boston, Dover is a residential town nestled on the south banks of the Charles River. Almost all of the residential zoning requires or larger...

. Today the school serves children from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade Eight. The school is accredited by the Association of Independent Schools in New England.

Notable alumni

• Sarah Parsons
  Sarah Parsons
  Sarah Parsons is an American ice hockey player. She won a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She is now a member of Dartmouth College's class of 2010.-High school:...
  
   - Olympian 2006 - US Women's Hockey - youngest member of United States national women's hockey team
  United States national women's hockey team
  The United States women's national ice hockey team is controlled by USA Hockey. The United States has been, by far, one of the top two most dominant women's hockey teams in international play, having won gold or silver in almost every major tournament. The exception where they won neither gold nor...
  
   that competed in Turino, Italy. Won Bronze Medal
• Juliet Thompson Hochman - Olympian 1988 - US Women's Rowing - youngest member of the US Women's Rowing Team that competed in Seoul, Korea.
• J. Rupert Thompson - filmmaker - Co-Executive Producer of Fear Factor
  Fear Factor
  Fear Factor is an American stunt/dare reality game show. The original Dutch version was called Now or Neverland. When Endemol USA and NBC adapted it to the American market in 2001, they changed the name to Fear Factor. The show pits contestants against each other in a variety of stunts for a...
  
  
• Peter Wylde - Olympian 2004 - US Equestrian - Silver medal
• Francis W. Sargent
  Francis W. Sargent
  Francis William Sargent was the 64th Governor of Massachusetts from 1969 to 1975. Born in 1915 in Hamilton, Massachusetts, he was known for his sharp wit and self-deprecating manner...
  
   - former Governor of Massachusetts
• Rosemary Mahoney
  Rosemary Mahoney
  Rosemary Mahoney is an American non-fiction writer.She grew up in Milton, Massachusetts. She graduated from St. Paul's School...
  
   - author "Down the Nile in a Fisherman's Skiff"
• David H.D.S. Greenway - columnist, former foreign affairs editor, The Boston Globe

Charles River Creative Arts Program

The Charles River Creative Arts Program (CRCAP), the summer day program of the school, was founded in 1970 to provide an environment in which young people could pursue an interest in the arts

ARts

aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....

.

Approximately 550 students from around the state, ages eight to fifteen, enroll in the program each year. The summer is split into two four-week sessions attended by 275 participants each. Students pick their own schedule from over 130 classes in art, writing, media, performing arts, gymnastics, textiles, sports, photography, and more.

CRCAP has run for over 40 seasons, and is under the direction of Toby Dewey. Every summer the camp produces two original musical productions, one for each of the two sessions. The productions are usually written by CRCAP alumni or staff members, including Faith Soloway

Faith Soloway

Faith Soloway is a folk-rock musician, comedic performer, and creator of several folk-rock musicals, based in the Boston area. She studied theater at Indiana University and performed improv comedy regularly, along with leaving school to tour with Second City...

.

Programs based on the CRCAP model have been established in 20 states, including six other programs in Massachusetts. CRCAP-inspired programs have also been initiated in Geneva, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. Guest artists to the program have included William Wegman

William Wegman (photographer)

William Wegman is an artist best known for creating series of compositions involving dogs, primarily his own Weimaraners in various costumes and poses.-Life and career:...

, James Taylor

James Taylor

James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....

, Madeleine l'Engle

Madeleine L'Engle

Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer best known for her young-adult fiction, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time...

, Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...

, Mary Chapin Carpenter

Mary Chapin Carpenter

Mary Chapin Carpenter is an American folk and country music artist. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C. clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records, who marketed her as a country singer...

, Noel Stookey

Noel Stookey

Noel Paul Stookey is a singer-songwriter best known as "Paul" in the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. He took the stage name "Paul" as part of the trio Peter, Paul and Mary, but he has been known as Noel otherwise, throughout his life...

, William Hurt

William Hurt

William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...

, Israel Horovitz

Israel Horovitz

Israel Horovitz is an American playwright and screenwriter.-Theatre career:An American dramatist, Horovitz has written more than 70 produced plays, many of which have been translated and performed in more than 30 languages worldwide . The 70/70 Horovitz Project was created by NYC Barefoot Theatre...

, Jane Alexander

Jane Alexander

Jane Alexander is an American actress, author, and former director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Although perhaps best known for playing the female lead in The Great White Hope on both stage and screen, Alexander has played a wide array of roles in both theater and film and has committed...

, Yo Yo Ma, Elizabeth Swados

Elizabeth Swados

Elizabeth Swados is an American writer, composer, musician, and theatre director. While some of her subject matter is humorous, such as her satirical look at Ronald Reagan, Rap Master Ronnie, and Doonesbury - both collaborations with Garry Trudeau - much of her work deals with dark issues such as...

, John Hockenberry

John Hockenberry

John Charles Hockenberry is an American journalist and author. A four-time Emmy Award winner and three-time Peabody Award winner, Hockenberry has worked in media since 1980....

, Julie Harris

Julie Harris

Julia Ann "Julie" Harris is an American stage, screen, and television actress. She has won five Tony Awards, three Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1994, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. She is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame...

, Niia

Niia

Niia Bertino , better known simply by her stage name Niia is an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. As a singer, Niia was recognized at a young age by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts as one of the top jazz singers in the United States.She is best known for her feature on...

, and Matt and Kim

Matt and Kim

Matt & Kim are a dance punk duo residing in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. The group was formed in 2005 and is composed of Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino...

.