Easton Country Day School

I am incredibly impressed by this school. My son was alternately bored and overwhelmed by the "one size fits all" education and large classrooms he was getting in public school. He is thriving at ECDS. What a lovely community -- the high school students often come in to tutor the elementary school children. And there is zero bullying. In fact, my son asked me why he doesn't "have a bully" (he sees them in movies/TV all the time). A kind, lovely school that is focused on bringing out the best of every student -- academically and socially. We are thrilled that we found this school for our son.
—Submitted by a parent

This school delivers. They are serious about each child mattering, they adjust and readjust to make things work for each child. My son has bloomed, and lost some bad habits as well. I have heard a couple of parents (who have left) complain, but it was obvious that they simply would not let anyone tell their kid no, and got annoyed when their kid was not allowed to bully others.
—Submitted by a parent

Both of my children attended ECDS for two years and they were magical years. The public school system was responding to my son's academic giftedness with challenge work (more class work and homework) instead of helping him advance at his accelerated pace. We looked at every private school in Fairfield Co, and literally exhaled with relief when we met with Suellen at ECDS. They have a vertical learning program where children learn at their own pace. My son began taking classes two years above his age level and finally found a fit. In addition, the nurturing hands-on environment has the children smiling in the halls and teachers hugging the students. It may not be the fanciest looking private school, but if you want your child to learn at their own pace, in a supportive environment (ZERO bullying), then ECDS is the school for you.
—Submitted by a parent

I'm glad the bathrooms are now "inspirational". I am a former student and think they are trying very hard to improve their image. There are some pretty dedicated teachers. I have only one complaint. The age of text books, maps and lab equipment. Some of the books I used were from the 1980's and older. When I entered high school I felt I was at a huge disadvantage. I feel that if you are paying the tuition my parents paid, I should have had the best and newest materials available. I hope this helps. Keeps up the good work ECDS!

Great news to all those who are concerned about the bathrooms! The bathrooms have received a face lift and have been transformed into creative, bright and inspirational rooms! They include hand painted stalls, inspirational quotes and follow the schools nurturing environment. The building may not be state of the art but the walls are filled with work, art and poetry from this countries next leaders... OUR CHILDREN! That is what this school is focusing on and what makes this institution so incredible.
—Submitted by a parent

The building is in disrepair along with the bill of goods they are selling. My kids attended this program a few years back and I very early on learned what they offer before September is not what you see by November. I was never so happy to see the last day of school (made the error in paying tuition upfront). Do your research, ask questions and get it in writing!
—Submitted by a parent

This school is a lot less than it makes it self out to be. The school says that it helps students learn independently. It does this to a certain extent only aiding those who desperately need it. Although this is good, all children need help developing, this to me is where the school is lacking. From what I have heard the teachers aren't as "individualized" as the school promises. For me this is what I was looking for in a school, a more individualized environment. With broken promises and an extremely high tuition, I would steer clear of this place. Also from what I have seen the bathrooms are filthy. This may seem like a petty complaint, but little things like that really can ruin a school.
—Submitted by a parent

Great school. My 4 children have attended ECDS for years. We actually moved quite far away for a job relocation and continued to send our children despite the long commute. Excellent staff, fantastic academics...and a kind caring environment. What more could a parent ask for..
—Submitted by a parent

I am not sure who reads these posts but when I read the negative reviews I felt compelled to share my experience. My son spent ten years at ECDS and is now excelling at The Hopkins School. He received a first rate education in a warm an nurturing environment. He still comes back once a week to engage in an ongoing dialogue about the "purpose of education" with the head of the high school. The first thing he notices each time he comes back is how safe and welcomed he feels at ECDS. The importance of that feeling to learning should not be underestimated, in my opinion. At ECDS, fostering a love of learning is the top priority exactly as it should be. For the people who have expressed dissatisfaction I can only think they did not make the effort to work with the administration to solve the problems that came up, or they are under the false impression that there is such a thing as a perfect school where there are no problems and everyone gets along all the time.
—Submitted by a parent

My son was bored and so unhappy in school. This is a wonderful place, kind teachers, interesting and fun teaching, individualization (my kid is 2 years ahead in math, and he is placed there) and nice children. So glad we found it!
—Submitted by a parent

Strange to see these recent reviews as I was coming on to rave about what an amazing find this school was for my child. I have a daughter who is gifted and was bored and miserable in public school. We felt that we would never find the right place for her as everything looked so similar. Then we came to ECDS!! The teachers are amazing, the administration is caring and attentive to every bit of feedback you have as a parent, and the kids are delightful. My daughter gets to be challenged at her level academically and maintain a same age peer group socially. THANK YOU ECDS, there is no ther place I know that does what you do for kids and families.
—Submitted by a parent

I visited this school recently, and found it to be a very unique and loving environment for children. They have the ability to provide many things for children, such as programming for children with gifted tendencies, programming for special interests (music, science, business, etc.). I am especially impressed with the diversity of the school environment, which most private schools in the area do not provide. The children are taught to be respectful and supportive of each other, which was clearly evident when I saw the children interacting in the halls between class periods. I am very impressed with the achievements attained by the graduates of previous years. Clearly a top-notch education is being provided. Kindness, consideration, and respect is something you rarely find in a school environment. I highly recommend Easton Country Day School.
—Submitted by a parent

This school is a gem! My child has been attending for several years now and the quality of education he is receiving is amazing. My son's sucess has everything to do with the staff, his peers and more importantly the values instilled into him. I am confident that someday he will have his pick of schools for college because of the foundation he received at Easton Country Day School.
—Submitted by a parent

ECDS is the place to be! Both of my children are fortunate enough to attend Easton Country Day School and High School. They came from public school which was extremely high pressured and left both of them feeling miserable. From problems socially to pressured academics and lack of compassion, it was definitely not the way school should be. I was hoping for the right environment to come along and ECDS is it. I find the administrators and faculty go WAY above the call of duty in helping my children succeed. Both of my girls have created such a strong bond between all of their teachers, they can't wait to go to school. I have read some negative reviews on this page and I think people have gotten the wrong perspective on what ECDS is about. This school has not only changed my kids lives, but has guided them to be who ever they aspire to be.
—Submitted by a parent

My wife and I recently viewed the school and it is not a place we were interested in sending our child to. It is on a lovely property but it stops there. We drove up and noticed students in the parking lot smoking. Although the student were polite and helped us find our way in, we thought this was inappropriate to allow minors that privilege since its illegal. The principal that gave the tour seemed very warm and knowledgable but the building was very depressed. The entire tour we saw a run down building that was in great need of a cleaning. Filthy.

I have had my children at ECDS for the past two years and are now leaving. We were totally misled on what this school is about. I have read the reviews and we to have had had some good experiences. I have enjoyed some of the staff and parents. The problem is the school has chosen a direction and now has a reputation for being a place for children with learning disabilities and emotional issues. When you are paying almost 17k per child a year, you expect a higher level of instruction. You might as well save your money and use your public school system.
—Submitted by a parent

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