The Clariden School

Clariden is a great school. If you are looking for a place that will treat your child as an individual and stimulate their interests, then this is the place. They have recently hired a new head who has a great approach to children's education. The lower school Montessori program is excellent. They are implanting a new upper school program that is similar to the case based learning approach I experienced at Harvard Medical School in the 90's when it was considered a novel approach to higher education. We have been there for 2 years and have seen no favoritism based on donation. The teachers and new head are extremely receptive. There is an open door policy. I get great feedback from his teachers in a variety of ways. Most importantly, my child loves it!!! He is excited about all the projects and the field trips. He is getting an excellent education. We tried a few places before settling at Clariden. We love the multiple age classroom that allows children to explore subjects in detail that interest them while they still cover the basics. I would not take the opinion of 1 disgruntled parent. Check it out. You won't be disappointed.
—Submitted by a parent

While I am sorry that some posters have not had a good experience at Clariden, I cannot say enough wonderful things about this school. This is our first year at Clariden, and we absolutely LOVE it. Our son is so happy and comfortable in his class and is learning at a frighteningly fast pace. We have found both the teachers and administration to be warm, caring and very communicative. We realize that the changes that are forthcoming are a work in progress, and have been very impressed with the administration's effort to be transparent with the parents. We plan on keeping our son at Clariden for some time, as we absolutely believe that it is a much better place for him than our ISD.
—Submitted by a parent

My Son has been in this school for 2 years now and going on his 3rd year and we love it. He loves his teachers and friends. Every evening when i put him to bed he ask me : Mommy what are we going to do tomorrow ? I said : School And says : Yea!!!!!!!!!!!! Well that's says it ALL.
—Submitted by a parent

My child has attended The Clariden School for 5 years. It has not only provided her with excellent academics, but allowed her to grow as a whole person. I would STRONGLY recommend this school!
—Submitted by a parent

Our child is at Clariden. We have found the school to be a caring environment which provides and great environment for the children and have seen our child skills and performance improve here at a very impressive rate. We have known other families at Clariden and they have all been very happy with their experiences also. We are very impressed with the new leadership in Ms Fox and the existing leaderships and team.
—Submitted by a parent

This school is nothing but a glorified daycare. We have made the right decsion to pull our kid out of Clariden. My kid excels academically after leaving Clariden. Your child definitely deserves a much better learning environment than Clariden can offer. I also do not like the fact that they are running this school as a corporation. They will do whatever they can to make other people believe how great they are and yet it turned out to be just a whole bunch of empty promises. How can it be a great school when the leaders of the school do not even care about the best interests of the students and parents?
—Submitted by a parent

Where to begin! My kids love this school - and they've attended Clariden for several years. The Lower School program is true to AMI Montessori: follow the child and respect the child. The teachers are warm, respectful and caring - and the children's love of learning reflects that. The new administration is a breath of fresh air - the vision for the Upper School is what's needed here (and everywhere). The communications are abundant, positive and appropriate. The parent community is one of a kind - it is welcoming, engaging and sets the stage for life-long friendships while providing an example for our children. I would highly recommend Clariden to all parents that want to see their children engaged in learning.
—Submitted by a parent

I just read some of these negative reviews, which clearly seem to be coming from the same disgruntled individual. I'm sorry your experience at Clariden wasn't more positive, because our family has found it to be an amazingly wonderful and positive gift to our children. This is our 6th year at Clariden, and I feel so fortunate that my children have had this educational experience. The warmth and love of the teachers is truly phenomenal. They care for each individual child for that child's beautiful self, just as teachers should. I will always, always treasure the gift my children have received by being at Clariden.
—Submitted by a parent

Clariden is horrible. They run this school as a business. "DieHard" students are leaving to go to ISDs. Your child deserves better than Clariden.
—Submitted by a parent

I find the negative post from yesterday confusing and misleading. The students have not even been in school for 2 or 3 months yet. They have only been in school for 25 days or so. It makes me question the credibility of the claim and the motive of the parent. The new Head of School has implemented many changes. While a few might not like change, I find that the majority of the parents are thrilled with the changes! The teachers are more than just adequate. They are FANTASTIC! The curriculum is AMI Montessori. You can't get better than that!

We are very happy with Clariden this year. The teachers are wonderful and we found the new head of school and the rest of the staff very warm and welcoming. It's also very nice to see so many parents directly involved with the school this year.
—Submitted by a parent

Our children are excited about school! This is our first year at Clariden. Montessori was new to our family so we did months of research before choosing Clariden. We ve found the entire staff to be very accessible, helpful and genuinely interested in the concerns we ve had as parents. This is in sharp contrast to our experience with other public and private schools in the past. The teachers are absolutely wonderful. They re very involved and caring, but most of all, our children are thriving in this wonderful environment. The classrooms are bright, open and very stimulating. Our experience with the new head of school has been very pleasant and she has personally responded to our calls and email messages. The teaching staff has been very responsive as well. Thank you to the entire Clariden staff!
—Submitted by a parent

My three children have been attending Clariden for three years. Academically, they are thriving. They love the school and their teachers. I whole heartedly recommend Clariden without reservation.
—Submitted by a parent

From my perspective, the students at this school seem not that happy. The school is not follow a Montessori school system. The new school head would not make any major changes. I am very dispointed.
—Submitted by a parent

The Clariden School is a place of possibilities and rich opportunity for students and our greater Southlake community. Through its dedication to identifying, developing and supporting students' strengths, the passion and capability that emerges from these kids is amazing. Yes, Clariden has been through transition, but we always want to move forward in serving our students and the commitment to this end couldn't be stronger. All of us are so fortunate to have this leading edge educational opportunity in our own backyard!
—Submitted by a teacher

I am the new Head of School mentioned in the post below about the upper school closing. I'd like to clarify that the upper school did not close. We are re-founding the program, taking it from a traditional approach (traditional approaches that are geared toward taking tests squelch love of learning) to a 21st Century model of excellence. This program will open for grades 7-9 in 2012. In the meantime, the program is still open, operating as a "Bridge Program" for gr. 7-8 and gr. 12. I care very much for children and if you call me, I am more than happy to speak about your child's education. I've been an educator for over 25 years and developed programs and written books about caring for and teaching children. This is a great school and getting better every day. I was hired to make the necessary changes to make the school a national model of excellence. This involves a degree of change and unfortunately such changes cannot make everyone happy, even though we search long and hard for the win-win. I invite you to contact us. Come and see for yourself what a truly caring, challenging and wonderful school we have here.
—Submitted by a teacher

Daughter attended Clariden for 5th and 6th. We pulled out of Keller ISD so she would not be judged or receive bad grades while we were working out her ADHD treatment. She claims she learned nothing at Clariden which is the Montessori way...she went back to Keller ISD and has never earned less than an A. At Clariden she memorized the cardiovascular system and still remembers it almost 3 years later. Something there works! She has maintained her friendships from there as well. The kids and teachers are really nice and accepting. After we left, there was some upheavel in the administration that really upset a lot of parents. The founder of the school as well as her daughter who was the assistant headmaster were ousted. One thing that I will remember this school for is that all of the teachers smiled all the time, you could tell they loved their jobs!
—Submitted by a parent

My children used to attend this school, however having them tested they scored well below that of public school children. I had to have private tutors to catch them up. The people were friendly though the curriculum was of deep concern as my children were ahead when they started and became far behind when we left there. Now my children attend another school and have done well. The concerns here were too many children in a classroom with so many different ages and developmental stages, there was allot of behaviors and little resolve. When you pay allot of money on tuition every parent wants the best for their child. I unfortunately did not find it here. The lunches were fast food brought in, there is no cafe or lunch room, which concerned me as I like my children to eat healthy lunches not fast food all the time. There was no report cards and no homework to validate standards of testing as there is no testing done.
—Submitted by a parent

My 10 and 12 year old are new to this school and look forward to going. Both like the small class setting which allows a lot of interaction with the teachers. The full kitchens allow them to make nutritional lunches. My daughters made salmon this week:)
—Submitted by a parent

My son has attended Clariden for one year. The teacher was fantastic for him and helped him make the transition into 1st grade at his new school. The music, art and Spanish programs were great. They offer many after school activities. The Upper School is working through a transition but the Head of School is very competent and it should all work out well for the school.
—Submitted by a parent