Student Activities

The Phelps Student Government Association helps boys learn about servant-leadership. Elected class officers participate in self-government, plan and coordinate activities and special events, build closer relationships and school spirit, and constantly strive to recognize and encourage the best in each Phelps student.

The Studio Art program allows boys to express themselves through various artistic mediums including clay, collage, painting, and more.

Film Appreciation exposes boys to movies beyond popular, modern films. This group views films then discusses their reactions and the meanings behind the works. Theme weeks pull together movies from similar genres.  “Student choice week” gives boys a chance to screen titles they enjoy.

Tucked away on the outskirts of the fields and forest that surround Phelps, the greenhouse boasts four irrigated planting rows and adjoins an open-air garden.

Here boys garden in the fall, harvesting the summer crop tended by resident faculty and administration during the summer. Boys re-plant a seasonal crop and when the activity returns in the spring, they prepare for the growing season. The trimester ends just as plants burst into bloom.

Fresh produce from the greenhouse and garden goes directly into the school’s dining hall and onto the plates of the students in various dishes prepared by the Culinart chefs. Students also donate yield from the garden to local charities and food banks.

“We had a riot of peppers this year,” notes Ms. Rupp, who works in school administration but also supervises the gardening activity. “And you should have seen the kale!”

A rock band? Yes, boys with an interest in and basic instrument proficiency play together in a rock band at Phelps. They play for fun and perform at the school’s annual Holiday Program.

But what about classical studies? In the winter and spring, interested students study classical music and beginning students have an opportunity to study an instrument.

Graphic design and photography skills are honed on the Phelps yearbook staff.

Boys with an interest in graphic design can help design the school’s yearbook, which is given to each student. Those enjoy photography take photos around campus using professional cameras or iPhones.

Phelps’ amateur photographers learn composition, lighting, framing, shutter speed, and other principles of photography.

A dark room allows boys to learn to work with film and develop their own pictures