The Orchard School

The Orchard School has been an amazing experience for our family. I have 2 children here--tried it out one year for our oldest child and after that year, was so impressed, enrolled my younger child as well. Their progressive approach to education taps into every aspect of what a well rounded child needs: math, science, technology, literature and current events in addition to foreign language, physical and outdoor education, travel, and character. The teachers and administrators truly get to care for each child and are free to do what they love. The staff excels at their work and the students respond with excellence. Every morning my kids look forward to school and often want to stay longer! What a magnificent place--every child should have the opportunity for such a well rounded and excellent education.

We love Orchard so much that we enrolled all 3 of our kids there. We have experienced another private school as well as a public elementary and middle school and found that Orchard more than meets the needs of our family. All three of my children are very different, they have different learning styles, different strengths and weaknesses, different levels of motivation, and very different personalities. Orchard works for all of them. I am constantly amazed at how well the teachers know my children. The first report card we got (my son had just started in 3rd grade) was 10 pages long! I know that Orchard will prepare my kids academically, but what I really love is all the other stuff. My kids now have an understanding of how they fit in the the world, not just their small community. They are learning to be confident, responsible, thoughtful, kind, creative, persistent, collaborative, well balanced individuals. I also love it for me. They have great parent education like classes on how to deal with your teenager, collaborative talks, thoughtful articles sent out, and so much more. I also love how the administration listens and it collaborative with the parent body. They are always moving the school forward while growing and changing with the students' needs as the primary goal.

We recently joined the Orchard School this winter from Florida. Everyone at Orchard has made us feel as though we joined a family. My twins, age 5, wake up everyday thrilled to go to school. Orchard is giving them the platform to enjoy learning, grow from their mistakes, discover their passions, and develop confidence in their abilities. It is truly a wonderful school. We love Orchard!

The Orchard School is a very special place led by an extraordinary group of teachers, faculty, staff and parent community who all understand and embody the importance of child-centered academic excellence in everything they do. We feel grateful to be a part of such a warm and loving place for our children to learn and thrive and become confident, kind, global-minded citizens. We love it and encourage anyone who has high expectations for their children's education to take a tour.

I teach and work in a high school, so when my wife and I were first expecting our daughter, I spent a lot of time thinking of who she might become when she became a high school student. I thought of all the students I was teaching, or had taught in the past, and tried to envision which of them I would want her to be like. Who were the most intellectually confident? The most comfortable? The most curious and kind? Many of the students I thought of most were Orchard graduates. From then on, Orchard would be our school.nnNow, what makes Orchard 'worth it' to me is joy of learning it brings to my daughter. It is the moment when she asks a question about something she's learned in school because she's seen something in the real world that relates to it. So when we walk by budding plants in the spring and she is able to compare those sprouts to the observations she's making about a mystery plant in the greenhouse, that's when I know she's developing the skills of a life-long learner and steward of the world that will serve her well in the future.