Chestnut Hill Academy

I’m thankful for my son’s school, Chestnut Hill Academy, for their teachers and staff. I read how the onset of the pandemic caught some schools hard pressed to support online learning. Luckily, his school was able to transition to online classes with short notice.nnUpper grade students took their Surfaces home and teachers started online lessons the very next week. Learning switched to using Microsoft Teams to be the central app for video lessons, assignments, messaging and class scheduling. It was a quick change, with many parents and teachers both having to provide childcare and working from home. Kudos to the school for taking feedback and rapidly learning to adopt a flexible and streamlined schedule for students. And adding a side chat channel for the students to use for socializing.nnEach week, students had a concise one-sheet overview of all their core class assignments. Live homeroom meet ups in the morning helped students start the day in a learning mode, but also provided them a daily connection with their classmates. Live video lessons were held in the mornings and recorded, allowing more time for students work on assignments while remaining flexible. The Teams assignments feature provided an easy way to link lesson articles and to upload homework to turn in. Specialists used their own channel and adapted their lessons for online as well.nnThe school also set up parents with separate accounts that we used the first week to hold parent-teacher video-conferences. It is an easy way to keep communication channels open, ask questions and check in on student progress. Of course there was some early hiccups with forgetting to mute microphones and uploading to different directories. It was a big transition, but it got easier as time went on. Completing three months of online learning is an accomplishment for student and teachers alike.

Chestnut Hill Academy is a wonderful school. We have a Kindergartner and a 4th grader who has been there since Kindergarten. We are extremely happy with the education our kids are getting both in terms of academics and social development. The teachers and staff go above and beyond to help kids learn and grow. There are plenty of opportunities and support to try different things. The leadership team and administrative staff are also very helpful and responsive. We feel lucky to have found such a great community for us and our kids.

Excellent school. Teachers are great and the Head of School is wonderful. We have had an excellent experience this year. The academics are rigorous. Teachers are very caring and bring out the best in their students. Parents are kind and welcoming as well.

My son has attended this school 1-5th grade and my daughter k-3. We have enjoyed the open communication and group effort to grow children into successful young adults.nnWhile this school has a strong focus on academics, they also care about the child as a person. They teach respect, responsibility and kindness as being equally important to being successful and a leader in life. My son is very sad to be graduating but will be well prepared for what lies ahead.

This school is fantastic. Not only are the academics top notch but they also focus on leadership skills and teach the kids to be well rounded individuals. They spend a lot of time learning about different cultures and traditions. I love that the older students practice leadership skills by helping the younger students. The school has a great math, science, engineering, language arts and social studies curriculum. All students get gym, art, Spanish, technology and music as well. The principal, Holly Senaga, is the best.