Arlington Country Day School

The school campus is not up to par with any other high school in the area.The hallways are outdoor and are extremely dirty and the campus is run down with no maintenance done at all. The school itself is barely holding on. I only attend this school because of the athletics.
—Submitted by a student

The school has great, high quality teachers rarely met at other schools. They care about their students, curriculum & students' achievements. My child attended this school for 10 years and currently attends top magnet school where is very successful. Although in higher grade now - some subjects (science/literature/english) are just a review of the material already learned at ACDS.
—Submitted by a parent

ACD has always stood for success in their students. ACD today backs that up with the principal they have hired, Mr. Della Crosse who welcomes the students each day as they drive up to the school. He listens to students and parents and has made very constructive changes that will guarantee success for my three children. I watched our school fall apart and I am thankful that I waited to be around to watch it rise. Mr. Horne has shown his love a pride by cleaning up the school physical and internally. Today we stand as a new family ready whatever the future may hold. Coach SIms has stood behind the school from day one and has rallied the parents and students to keep our heads up and put our trust in our new leaders, Mr. Horne and Mr. Della Crosse. ELizabeth Harris mother of Herb, Hillary and Holly Harris
—Submitted by a parent

Both my children attend ACD - last year was very difficult with the head administrator really not caring about the school. BUT, this year is going to be fabulous. There is a lot of work to do on the outside, but the teachers are great. This will be our seventh year at the school and I believe my children will go to and excel in college. The teachers care tremendously and keep in close contact with the parents that want to be involved. There are some parents and students that are not involved with the school and I'll bet they are the negative comments posted. Looking forward to a wonderful year.
—Submitted by a parent

With money hungry owners the school has NOTHING to offer the kids. Get new and caring owners and maybe in time the school will offer the students something more than football, basketball, broken out dated computers and out of date books. The have no science or technology programs. The poor elementary kids have absolutely nothing to play with, The owner doesn't care.

I graduated from ACDS in 2007. The campus was always very dirty. The bathrooms in the classrooms were very filthy and about the size of a closet. The school website says that there are three computer labs. This is not true. There is one computer lab in the library. Two of the classrooms have several computers in them, but were not used. The library did not have a librarian and was extremely unorganized. Some of the teachers are very good at their job. Students in honor courses usually had homework and learned a lot. But in many of the classrooms, nothing happened. In one of my English classes we spent around 80 percent of the time watching movies, or just sitting there. I did not learn at all in that class, I had similar scenarios in other classes. In other classes I learned a lot. I would not recommend ACDS.
—Submitted by a student

I was a student at ACD. (I went from 2006-2008.) There are very few teachers who will do their job with no problem but some other teachers do not do anything. Sometimes I feel like if I had never had the good teachers that I have had, I would not be prepared for my future. A lot of my friends left because of graduation feeling unprepared. It is pretty sad because a lot of the teachers do their best without thank yous. There are hopefully going to be new owners in the future but until then, I will not go.
—Submitted by a student

My son entered this school in the middle of first grade. He has been attending for 2 1/2 years. H ewill not be going back next year. While I believe the teachers are very good and try their best with the rescources they have, they don't have enough to be succesfull. All of the available funds are put into the sports program and little to no funds are given to elementary. the communication with administration is absolutely horrible. I once made 7 calls in 2 days to Mrs. Lichtward without a call back. In the end I never did receive a call back. There is no PE for elementary (they had PE 6 times the entire year), no playground, no cafeteria, no computer class etc. I was so frusstrated once I figured out that I was paying to give my child a second rate education.
—Submitted by a parent

I have been going to ACDS for Two years(2006-2007:2007-2008) For 6th and 7th grade. It is the best school for a middle-high schooler to attend. They provide a great outdoor inviorment for the children and have great teachers. Although the school has no indoor hallways, it is a great school all together.
—Submitted by a student

filthy!! Elementary has caring teachers who do their best with no resources. Textbooks not ordered, no library, music, drama, art, computers are broken, no internet, no cafeteria, no playground. Children dig in dirt for fun. No formal PE classes. Just a teacher to watch the students play in the gym. Cancelled most of the time. Don't waste you money on this dump. It will probably lose its accreditation after this year. Noone seems to be in charge. Middle and HS students receive nothing but A's and B's for doing no work. Most can't go anywhere else. School has enrolled students who have been kicked out of other schools. Makes lots of promises, then does nothing. A crime it can call itself a school.
—Submitted by a parent

My son attends kindergarten and we will not be coming back for 1st. I've never been so disappointed. There have been incidents where my son has been hurt or in a situation no kindergartener should ever be put through with no reprimand to the other students. I am constantly replacing clothes because their play yard is dirt and a basketball goal and the kids just get to dig and roam around. My son literally comes home with dirt in his eyes, ears, and nose. There is a library...but no librarian. P.E. consists of the kids running around in a gym and falling off of bleachers. This school lacks structure and is money hungry. I believe that the teachers are good qualified people but the higher administration needs to take a long hard look at the reputation the school has given itself.
—Submitted by a parent

I believe there are some very good teachers at ACDS but they are continually undersupported by the Administration. Calls are not returned to parents and problem children are not dealt with. My child will not return next year.
—Submitted by a parent

My son has attended this school for 2 years now and everything that he learned in Kindergarten was stuff that he had already learned in PK-4 so it was a waste of money. But i decied to keep him there against my better judgement and his 1st grade teacher has turned out to be a very good teacher and i'm thankful for that because she cares about the students in her class and also communicates very well with us on his progress. I do however think that i'm going to have to have him tutored because he will be going into 2nd grade not knowing how to read. The grounds and classrooms need some work and the Elementary kids need a playground He will not be attending the school for 2nd grade i'm going to put him in public where i feel he has a better chance at learning.
—Submitted by a parent

The facalty does not communicate with the parents. I also am very disappointed with the sports program for the middle school kids, they do not get the attention that the high school sports programs get. Overall I am very disappointed with the scool.
—Submitted by a parent

Arlington Country Day School does not do a good job preparing students for life after school,whether it be going to college or joining the work force.The curriculum and discipline at the school is very lax.
—Submitted by a parent

This is my son's first year attending ACDS and so far his grades have exceeded and remained as an A and B student. I wish the school could show some kind of appreciation to the students as other schools do. The school grounds and classrooms could use some work. I do like that the classrooms are not over crowded which gives the students for one on one with their teachers.
—Submitted by a parent

overall Arlington country day school is not that bad.
—Submitted by a parent

My experience has not been a good one. My calls were continually ignored, and when I did get on campus I was shocked at the condition of the grounds. A teacher was showing us around, and he was almost gossiping about the situation at the school. It makes me wonder how this school got accredited.
—Submitted by a parent

We have had a very good experience with this school. The teachers are dedicated and connected with my daughter. The grounds could use some attention, but the classrooms were cheerful and the environment was as promised.
—Submitted by a parent

I am a patron of this school for over 15 years and so far, have had a good experience with this school. One of my children who attended this school had no problem in getting into a college where he is very successful. My other child who attends the school is also doing very well academically. I never had a problem reaching anybody at the school. I could always reach headmaster, office or any teacher on a short or even no notice. Teachers give even their cell phone numbers for keeping in touch with parents. However, I am disappointed with parents as many of them don't want to get involved with school and many of them don't even attend parent-teacher conferences. Extracurricular activities could also be improved.
—Submitted by a parent