OHS has been an incredible environment for my middle schooler. It's such a tight knit and supportive community that values each child's individuality and encourages them to share their voice. There is very little social issues/conflicts at Orchard House, and faculty still makes a point to discuss social issues and make it known that the school is a safe place, and a sisterhood. My daughter asked me to add this: "I can't imagine how painful it'll be to leave next year." read more

While I have not attended this school myself, I am confident in saying that it is not a good environment for your children. I have heard through numerous of my friends who have attended this school in the past and present that they have faced intense discrimination and bullying at OHMS. When they have approached the principal about it, she simply told them that they should have come sooner or that they couldn't do anything about it, even when the bullying was explicitly racist and queerphobic. A previous student had suffered homophobic bullying that eventually led to their death by suicide. The news did not report on this death, and the school has taken zero responsibility. My good friend left a review simply stating her experiences at this school, leading the principal to send an email to their parent implying they were mentally unwell just for leaving an honest review. Now, through my own and most recent experience, I attended the 8th grade graduation. When a student went up to speak and mentioned hurtful, discriminatory comments she had experienced in class, she was shushed promptly by a faculty member and told to "Hold." She continued her speech anyway, but whether to her own accord or through permission I am not sure. In addition, OHMS is far too expensive to be having these problems. If you want to pay good money for your child to go to a good school, do not choose this one. I promise it will do more harm than good. I do not doubt that some students have experienced goodness here and have made good memories, my own friends have made lifelong relationships through this school. But that does not excuse the unabashed discrimination. My friends have described their experience at this school as the worst years of their lives. You do not want that for your child. read more

If I had the ability to leave a zero star review I would. This school is clearly selective in the care it puts into its students. While many students of certain demographics and or backgrounds may have a good experience here there is no guarantee if your child is not of the majority. Recently I attended a graduation hosted at the school and was deeply upset by the blatant bullying made clear in multiple speeches. Students mentioned homophobic comments, antisemitism, and racial discrimination. To be more specific things like slurs and aggressive acts happened frequently. Sending your child here is like playing Russian roulette. Except any minority is playing with three bullets in the gun. Even more horrible is the fact that a student committed suicide due to the immense homophobic bullying. The school handled this situation with the care of a demolition team. Barely acknowledging the situation keeping it quiet above all else. They were more focused on covering up the situation than the cause and the latter fallout this had on the students. Going back to what I earlier stated about antisemitic behaviors one of the girls in her speech this year spoke about this. It was so disheartening to know that a young person specifically was subjugated to such horrific events. On top of this upon reaching this point in the speech a member of faculty attempted to shush said student. Many students have come to faculty about the bullying affecting their everyday life. Laura Haskins remember that name because if you one day no longer see her listed as principal perhaps the school is proper care. This woman in particular seems to be a nurturer of social cruelty. Based on her inability to address a situation. However this only seems to apply when the student asking for help is a minority. She has a habit of keeping face in front of parents but do you really want your child going to a school of someone who wears kindness like a mask. Also she should avoid such tacky purple colors bad personality and fashion sense isnt a good mix. Another student spoke of how events at the school negatively impacted their mental health on severe levels. It breaks my heart to know that these children are going through these events with no trusted faculty to confidently speak to about this. Overall I don't recommend this school to any child. Parents if you care for your childs mental state please fully consider the weight of deciding to send your student here. The price of a hurt child and an injured bank account is much to great of a chance to take. read more

hi. recent alum here. my best friend and i attended this school. the teachers and education were pretty good, but the bullying and exclusion of my best friend and i was not helped at all. i remember students were called homophobic slurs here and i had many racial microaggresions directed at me, but every time i tried to bring this up to the head of school there, i was promptly dismissed and it felt like nothing changed at all. i take note of this because a student there was so easily expelled when a white student complained about her sending a death threat, but when my queer friend and i complained to the school multiple times about the bullying we experienced, there was little to no punishment to the bullies. i also should mention there was no school counselor for a majority of the time i was there. skip forward to my eighth grade year, my best friend committed suicide. while i do admit there were probably other factors contributing to this awful event, bullying was one of the main issues as they had told me before their tragic passing. the bullying was mainly due to the fact that they were queer. orchard house never really brought their attention to this obvious discrimination in their school. after their passing, i had to leave for a week or two for my mental health, and the head of school there told my class the details of what happened with me without my or my family's permission. this school is okay if your child is white and cishet, but otherwise, please save your money. read more

Now in our second year at OHS, I can't imagine a better place for our daughter. More importantly, she is happy with the school and is proud of her accomplishments there. At a time when most girls struggle with personal and physical development, Orchard House has guided our daughter through this period in her life. The school is academically challenging and does an exceptional job of helping girls find their own individual voice. We are looking forward to the next few years at OHS. read more

Amazing school truly focused on the intellectual, emotional and social well-being of young developing girls. I cannot say enough about the thought and concern the staff and educators put into their mission of supporting and enabling these girls to succeed in being the best "them" they can be. They do a fantastic job of helping young girls figure themselves out and learn what it is that makes them special and unique in this world. Academics are great and utilize creative techniques that create interest and are engaging. I could go on... It will not disappoint and is certainly a school one should look at when reviewing middle schools. read more

This school was an amazing experience but a very painful one to. There is bulling here and no teacher involvement. The people who get in trouble are the people who are asking for help. The school is great academically but not so good socially. read more