Legacy of Excellence

Devoted to cultivating hearts and minds since 1963, the Jones Family continues to lead the second oldest private school in Newport Beach and one of Southern California’s premier learner-centered, independent, private schools.  The story of the founding of Carden Hall is a remarkable one. Two young mothers, Jane Jones and Patricia Gilbert, met in a Newport Beach grocery store in 1961 and discovered that they had a shared interest in education. A friendship grew as they joined forces in search of a school that would be suitable for their own children.

In early 1963, after hearing renowned educator Miss Mae Carden speak about her philosophy of education, Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Gilbert were smitten with her clear, sequential curriculum and her vision of “life triumphant” as the birthright of every child. With inspiration and encouragement from Mae Carden, they recruited their devoted husbands and began renovating an old medical building on Superior Avenue, the original site of Carden Hall. Together, they looked beyond the horizon and imagined a school that would uphold an unfailing standard of excellence in the art and science of teaching and learning. 

With a Masters Degree in Education from Stanford University and several years of teaching experience, Mrs. Jones rolled up her sleeves and dived into the Carden curriculum and the teacher training process.  Mrs. Gilbert, with her strong communication and organizational skills, shared the vision, attracted families, hired teachers, and admitted the original 57 students in Kindergarten through sixth grade. 

Miss Carden visited regularly, teaching in every classroom and personally training teachers after school. By Thanksgiving of that first year, the school was already at full capacity with 89 students. Propelled by its powerful mission and vision, Carden Hall continued to grow, moving to its present campus in the fall of 1965. 

In 1977, Mrs. Gilbert Cullinane retired, and Mr. Albert Jones, a decorated United States Navy Seal, stepped into the role as Executive Director, a position that he proudly held until his passing in 2014. His vision, integrity, and powerful teaching touched so many lives, and his legacy continues through the strong leadership of his daughter, Mrs. Christy Jones Kalthoff, who serves today as Carden Hall’s Executive Director.

Each year, Carden Hall rededicates itself to its mission of educating the whole child through character development and the highest standards of academic excellence anchored in timeless truths and treasured values. From its modest beginnings in makeshift rooms of a renovated medical building to today’s proud campus on a majestic bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Carden Hall faithfully continues to educate over 500 students each year, equipping them for honorable and courageous lives of purpose, service, and leadership. 

“This is very personal for me because I am well aware that Carden Hall was founded long, long ago, so that my brother and I could have a Carden Hall education.”

– Christy Jones Kalthoff, Executive Director

Carden Hall is fondly known as the “Island of Good,” a place where goodness, gratitude, and respect shape a joyful, purpose-driven learning environment. Guided by our Honor Code and symbolized in the Carden Hall Handshake, we live out five interwoven pairs of complementary virtues—timeless truths and treasured values that define and sustain our Carden Strong way of life.