Carolina Day: A Community of Honor

Members of the Carolina Day community—students, faculty, and staff—join together in committing to a code of honor. Each division participates in an annual ceremony of signing the Honor Code and taking the Honor Pledge. The principles expressed in the code and pledge are fundamental to our CDS community; publicly committing to the code and pledge is our opportunity to rededicate ourselves to these values and to the work of holding each other accountable.

In spring 2020, an initiative was launched to update the language of our honor code and pledge to create a unified set of statements that binds the whole school PK-12, that is distilled to simple ideas, and that is clear, positive, and universal. Upper School Honor Council students (Grace McKee, Peyton Jenkins, Thomas McCollough, Julia Matin, Kirina Shah, Katie Rudins, Caroline Koon, Ellsworth Sullivan, Claire Brown) led the way in this effort, providing essential insights, perspectives, experience, feedback, and language that became the text you will read below. Several of the students made a short video to introduce the new honor code and pledge, which Carolina Day School began using across all divisions in the 2020-21 academic year. 


Honor Code

Carolina Day School is a community of honor. We are bound together by a shared commitment to uphold the values of compassion, integrity, and scholarship.

Honor Pledge

In my commitment to be a member of the Carolina Day community, I pledge to:

  • treat all individuals, personal property, and physical spaces with care and respect.

  • be honest and honorable at all times with my words and actions.

  • practice integrity in my relationships and academic work.

  • hold members of the community to our high standards of honor.

  • accept full responsibility if my actions do not meet these community standards.


Our Wildcats in the Lower and Key Lower School have an Honor Pledge that is age-appropriate for younger students.

Honor Pledge for Lower & Key Lower School Students

As a member of the Carolina Day Key School community, I promise to:

  • Take care of myself

  • Take care of others
  • Take care of our school