We have had a great experience at Open Classroom. Before finding the OC, my daughter attended a Montessori, and I loved the hands-on, child-directed atmosphere that the Montessori offered. I found myself wishing we could find a similar atmosphere in the public school setting, and was concerned that my daughter would have a difficult time succeeding if we didn't. After doing months of research, I found the Open Classroom. I went to an open house and was very impressed by what I saw. The teachers there loved teaching, the parents loved the way their kids were taught, and the kids loved going to school. I loved that the kids didn't sit at desks, but at tables of four or five. I appreciated that parents could volunteer once a week in their child's classroom and were therefore more directly involved with their child's education. I also liked that fact that kids could learn with other kids their own level for each subject, and that they wouldn't be held back by other kids who might not be at their level, or expected to perform as well as other children who excelled more than most in a particular subject. The combined grade classrooms are innovative, and allow the children to succeed.
The Open Classroom has been around since 1977, and so as a charter school, has had a few years to work out the kinks--to figure out what works and what doesn't. We have had a wonderful experience there. OC kids are articulate, they love to learn, they interact well with their teachers and other adults, and the co-oping done weekly by parents in each classroom makes it so each child gets more one-on-one attention, something they are unable to get in a normal classroom. I can't imagine my daughter going to school anywhere else. read more