A dangerous and damaging school if your child doesn't fit into the perfect cookie-cutter student mold.
We brought our daughter to the school because we thought it would be the answer to her prayers, a safe school where she wouldn't get bullied. It ended up being the worst experience we could've ever imagined. My daughters problems are academic with the school. She hated the school and begged me not to send her. She did not feel supported or loved there. She felt judged and she felt like the teachers thought there was something extremely wrong with her. No child should ever feel this way, especially in school.
Academically, the school has very high course load, think IB and Ivy league. Even though both of my daughters passed the placement assessment they were given when we first joined the school, they struggled hard with the academics and immense course workload.
The school's approach to education seems rigid and unresponsive, often blaming students and their families instead of engaging students with an interactive curriculum.
We spent thousands of extra dollars on an afterschool tutor to help our daughters catch up on their daily missing schoolwork and it still wasn't enough. There were hours of homework after school every day (and LOTS of tears) and it still wasn't enough to keep them on track. Our daughters are very smart and brilliant. This left them feeling defeated and "stupid".
We as parents often thought "why aren't the kids being taught this information in school", as they came home often not having a clue what the homework was about.
Supportively, Country Day is extremely dedicated to misunderstanding the needs of our children and how to properly teach them. Many of the teachers, the head of school Mrs. Brown and guidance counselor Mrs. Southern absolutely lack knowledge or understanding on how to teach and/or help neurodiverse children. If your child doesn't fit the perfect mold of what a perfect academic student is, I would run, (don't walk) away from the school. I wish we ran.
My daughter gets bored easily and puts her head down or wants to fidget. She's also sensitive to loud noises and needs accommodations of quietly listening to music on her earbuds. Most teachers who have an understanding of children like this will gladly collaborate with the parents and come up with a plan of action to help your child. Not Country Day.
Country Day only cares about covering their asses and they love to call in 7 AM emergency meetings with all the teachers present who express how "extremely concerned" they are for my daughters well-being and will not allow her to return to school until she's seen by doctor. Of course, hearing this from a school is extremely alarming to any parent and always left me feeling scared and terrified for my child. This caused lots of of unnecessary stressors in our life. What could have been nice collaborative chats were instead hysterics and emergencies.
They needlessly raised the alarm like this at least a dozen times and pointed the finger to me as her parent, instead of adapting to my daughter's learning style and teaching her the way she learns.
On top of this, the school required I get my daughter professionally academically tested, solely because she didn't fit their narrow definition of the 'perfect student'. I complied and after nine months on the waitlist, the psychologist administering the test literally rolled her eyes at the notion that Country Day required this and she gave my daughter a clean bill of mental and physical health, as did every doctor they demanded she see in order for her to return.
Now, let's discuss the school counselor, Mrs.Southern. Mrs. Southern portrays herself as a caring counselor, but in my opinion, she has her own agenda as she was trying to convince my daughter that she needs inpatient psychiatric care at a mental facility. Multiple doctors and my daughters therapists thought this was absurd, far from necessary and completely out of line.
In a nutshell; we've experienced various schools and appreciate the importance of collaboration between parents and teachers. Unfortunately, Country Day fell short, focusing more on assigning blame than on adjusting their teaching methods or considering how their demanding curriculum may overwhelm certain students.
If your child does not excel under heavy academic pressure or if you value a school that partners with you to support your child's education, Country Day may not be the right fit. Our hope for a safe, supportive educational environment was met with judgment and an unwelcoming attitude, making it an extremely disheartening experience. read more