Caravel Academy

We chose this school because we felt that our two children would be safe and get a good education. After 8 years at this school, I feel as though the academic standards have been lowered. The teachers are nice people, but for the most part they are not people who intended careers as teachers. They are young recent grads or parents who work there to get massive tuition breaks. We are very dissapointed with the athletic programs this year. Caravel used to be known for great coaches and programs. For the most part it the athletic programs have been very disappointing over the last two years. Further, numerous athletes have gotten into trouble with partying. We are dissapointed at the decline of the school.
--Submitted by a parent

My kids have attended Caravel Academy for the last 4 years. We are very pleased with the Lower School. It's a very family friendly enviornment and the parent and teacher involvement is fantastic. My kids love going to school every day.
--Submitted by a parent

Caravel Academy is the pure definition of a black hole with high standards for students but low teacher and workforce capabilities to meet them for example 30 students=1 teacher.
--Submitted by a parent

We have 2 children attending Caravel, in 6th and 9th grades. The complainers on this site have me confused. If you think there is something wrong with Caravel, why are your kids there? For a small (~1100 children in Pre-K through 12th grade) school, Caravel has an incredible amount of extra-cirricular activites for the students, some of which you won't even find at the big public schools. A new Science Wing this year, a new Cafeteria last year, a best in the state athletic stadium, I can keep going if you want me to. A superb administration, secure facilities, and a great attitude towards children and their education. There ARE a few old fashioned teachers, but they are few and far between. There are very few discipline problems, and we have seen children expelled who can't, or won't follow the rules of decent society. The kids are free to excel in an environment where learning, sportsmanship, mutual support between the students and staff are all evident every day. If you want to just "dump" your kids at school every day and not participate in the education, then you're better off somewhere else. We Caravel parents LIKE being involved in our childrens education!!!
--Submitted by a parent

The school facilities need to be upgraded. The enrollment has swelled over the years and the buildings are no longer able to accommodate the students in a productive manner. Storage areas(with no windows) have been converted to classroom space and decrepit old "modular" trailer classrooms have been on site for nearly a decade. They are not secure and have been broken into repeatedly. The staff is dedicated but the school has not invested in technology upgrades in many years and are far behind the public school system in that area. They are not safe. There are some teachers who are not up to date on 21st century methodologies. These are the teachers who continue to offer instruction in the manner in which instruction was offered 30 years ago. Text/test oriented with very little regard for or understanding of distributed learning approaches. Most of the staff members appear to be dedicated to student success but are limited in the resources they have available to meet these goals.often, High schoolers are unable to use their own library because the middle school children are in there. Some staff members are downright rude to students. Not a good pick. Very disappointed.

I currently am going to this school. They offer many academic activities for everyone to do! There are so many sports and clubs you can join that most other schools do not offer. The principle and teachers are very nice. You are challenged but you can have help if you need it.

caravel is a great school .. the kids are great and respectfull and the teachers are very good at teaching the children ,and to the other person that has said it has went down hill is wrong .this is a great school
--Submitted by a teacher

Former Caravel family. School has gone way way downhill in recent years. Overcrowded and outdated are the things that come to mind. Most teachers try but can't compete with the resources available in the better public schools. Everyone slams De public schools but we have not had that experience. Guess it just depends on the district. I would not recommend Caravel.

My daughter attended there from 2 thru 6 grades. Her 2nd - 4th grade experience was pretty good and she seemed fairly happy, but once she hit the middle grades things took a nose dive. I too felt that teachers were not entirely competent in their subjects, and I felt that the academic quality of the school was average at best. For example, my daughter's 6th grade science book was 10 years old. She is an almost straight "A" student, but that is because the bar is set very low. In summary, Caravel is not really like a private school - it's more like a public school that you pay for. It's just that in DE the public schools are so bad, you don't have good alternatives.
--Submitted by a parent

My children attend Caravev. The only reason they attend Caravel is because the public schools in Delaware are quite simply put very poor. Both of my children have and are doing very well. My biggest complaint with Caravel is the High School. There are many teachers that are teaching subjects they do not know a thing about or how to teach a subject. A certain freshman history teacher should be teaching ancient history. After two children having her for a class I can truly say she does not know the subject material or how to teach--both kids enede up with a 4.0 in her class--but neither of my children learned anything about ancient history; the basis for history to follow. This can be followed up by a freshman science teacher. Science teacher?? this woman does not know science or how to teach it--again both 4.0's but very little knowledge.
--Submitted by a parent