Easton Country Day School

My daughter has been at ECDS since preK and has just completed 6th gr with honors. Jill has been embraced by caring and highly intelligent teachers and directors. She has an incredible love of learning and loves being in school - This I attribute to her years at ECDS. Her academics have been on a consistant track for success and she has been in advanced classes for yrs. ECDS prides itself on not holding anyone back for the case of "mainstream" and looks at each individual. WOW.
--Submitted by a parent

My son has been a student at ECDS for 4 years. This school and the directors have been a god-send to my son. Perhaps he was one of the students that the other parent referenced as emotional issued but being different, extremely bright & ignored in public school can create a child with issues. The same way that this school erases them! It is well worth the money we spend.
--Submitted by a parent

I of course, believe that ECDS is an amazing place to educate children. I was asked by a large group of our parents to respond to a parent who posted on Great Schools that there are always 14 children in a class. We base our class sizes on what a particular student/ classroom needs. Class sizes vary from 2 to 14 students. For example: for 6th grade math we have 3 different teachers and classes. One class consists of our highly gifted students who can move exceptionally fast. There are 5 students in that math class. Another class with 12 students moves at a typical pace and a third class consists of 8 students who have time for enhanced curriculum. As you can see class size truly depends on what is best for each individual child. If a child is thinking of returning to public schools following ECDS, we try to expose them to learning in a larger group of children to prepare them. We want to make sure each child who leaves ECDS is prepared for the environment they are moving into. If the child is looking to stay at ECDS we often encourage smaller classes where we can focus on individual interests as well. I hope this helps clear up the issue.
--Submitted by a parent

I have to disagree with the post of "only 14" in a classroom and rarely in a academic. This is not true for my child. I have been an ECDS parent for many years and 14 or more is the normal class size in all of my daughters classes. There may be a paraprofessional at times but not usually. My oldest child graduated from ECDS and attended when the class sizes really were a 6 to 1 ratio. I have seen some positive changes but in large have become very disappointed with the quality of the school as a whole. I do not see much difference from our local public school and ECDS (Fairfield) as I am utilizing both. At this point I would not use the high school, I have to agree with the prior post, it is ripe with vulgar language from many of the unsupervised students that seem to be hanging out more often then in a class or activity. I have to say in defense of the headmasters who really do care about the students, they seem to be in charge of the elementary school and the high school is its own entity with its own headmaster.
--Submitted by a parent

I went to ECDS for 4 years several years ago and had the chance to visit recently. Although it's bigger and now includes a high school (I wish I had that chance!) it is the same friendly and warm place it was when I attended. The 2 principals are the same terrific people, the teachers (most of whom are still there!) are as welcoming and the kids seem as happy and involved as I remember being. My cousin goes there now, and he loves it. Schools should all be like this!

I have been a parent at this school for years and we absolutely love it!! The biggest a class ever gets is 14 and rarely in an academic class. If there is a class this size there is usually more than one teacher in it . The main philosophy of the school is to provide a safe educational environment where a child can learn at their optimum pace and understand their learning style. Many children (including mine) are in gifted classes and are able to take classes at higher levels. Although I almost never see the high school students because the schools are pretty separated, I have never heard of any problems with them. I know that some of the children are taking lessons(extracurricular like voice/dance etc) from the high schoolers because of the diverse skills the high schoolers offer. I have heard great things from other parents about the high school. They also say that the high school Director is experienced and wonderful. We think that ECDS offers the best education around and is a fantastic place!
--Submitted by a parent

What happened to the Phoenix Academy model? What a great loss and disappointment this school has become. Gone are the days of a true 6:1 student/teacher ratio. My children have 14 in a class, the teachers are great but have seem overwhelmed by the amount and the amount of high behavioral needs of the more recent students. This has become the place to go if your child has emotional issues. The highly anticipated high school addition is full of vulgar language that has now spread to the lower grades. No one seems to have a handle on the huge growth. I am sorry to say, if you have an average or above average learner and are looking for the comfort and small feeling the once was Phoenix , this is not the place for you.
--Submitted by a parent

Amazing School!! This is the way education should be. The individual student is taken into consideration and each child matters. The Co-Directors each are wonderful and they 'get it' and what they say will happen does. Their heart felt philosopy on how to educate the child as an individual but also teaching how to be part of a community happens. Bravo!!! They really do what they say!
--Submitted by a parent

Love the school. I have 2 children that have gone through the school. It has a great balance of structure and play. No other school around like it!
--Submitted by a parent

As a graduate, I came back to look at Easton Country Day School's beautiful new facilities. They are terrific. I loved this place - individual attention, interesting school work, nice people. Hope I live near enough to send my own kids.
--Submitted by a student