REVIEW OF Fieldstone School BY parent, Cameron Dow

(5) Student Experience

Fieldstone has provided a positive, supportive, yet rigorous environment that has challenged our son to continually improve in all areas- socially, academically, and as a leader. The Cambridge Curriculum is challenging, engaging, and well-structured, which helps us as parents support our son’s academic journey. Small class sizes allow students to receive more personalized attention from teachers. Fieldstone offers a caring environment that sets high expectations while also providing a safe and calm space where students can do their best. Our son is relatively new to the school but quickly settled into the routines at Fieldstone. Students are expected to take greater responsibility for their work, and regular homework is assigned (at least in Grade 6). Our son appreciates the consistent feedback from tests, assignments, writing tasks, presentations, and other work. There is a regular cadence of evaluation, so hardly a week goes by without him receiving direct feedback on his learning.

Why Fieldstone School?

We chose Fieldstone School for our son primarily because of the richness of the Cambridge Curriculum, the smaller class sizes, and the school’s commitment to academics as a priority. We felt that this combination is so important to preparing students for further academic work after high school. Fieldstone offers a more traditional educational experience and, as a smaller school, is very intentional about the areas they work hard to excel in. The school’s founder’s philosophy around the idea of core knowledge combined with the Cambridge International Curriculum is a breath of fresh air if you have a child who is struggling in a more progressive school environment.

Expectations vs. Reality

The school leadership was very honest about what the school could deliver and the areas that they focus on. We were looking for a more rigorous academic environment and a more traditional academic experience for our son, and Fieldstone both promised and delivered on this.

Your Advice

Fieldstone is an amazing school if your child excels in a more structured environment, with an academically rigorous and structured curriculum and prefers to be in smaller classes with like-minded students. Fieldstone would not be a good school if your child is neurodiverse or has more urgent needs for support, as the school is relatively small and would not have the additional staff to provide for this. If your child is bright, curious and really wants to learn, then Fieldstone is a great option.

(4.5) School Leadership

School leadership is very open to feedback and has reached out proactively to gain insight into how our son is doing and how we see the school supporting the learning journey. There is very open communication with senior leadership, and we appreciate that we can always reach out if we need to, and they will be there.

(5) Teaching

The teachers are highly committed and work hard to ensure that students achieve their best results. Feedback is constructive and ongoing; most weeks include quizzes, tests, assignments, presentations, and other graded work, providing a constant stream of immediate feedback. Our son is receiving the support he needs from the teachers. They are truly amazing! School leadership is clearly selective in hiring, seeking teachers with highly relevant backgrounds for the subjects they teach. For example, in the junior school, math and science teachers hold advanced degrees in their respective fields, rather than being generalists. There is a strong level of trust between students and teachers, creating a positive and respectful learning environment.

(5) Academics

Most of the courses are based on the Cambridge International Curriculum, so by default, the curriculum is quite rigorous, academically rich, and challenging. The curriculum is delivered in a very structured manner following the Cambridge standards, and this makes it easier for both the students and the parents to understand. There is no modification of the curriculum, and it is clear that all students are expected to achieve at a high level against a challenging set of course material. At the same time, there is a lot of extra help and tutoring available to support the children in doing their best.

(3.5) Extracurriculars

Fieldstone does offer extracurriculars in areas like athletics, robotics, science, etc. Fieldstone is a small school, so the extracurricular opportunities are a little more limited compared to larger schools, but this is a trade-off for having smaller class sizes and more personalized attention from teachers.

(4.5) Students

The students in general at Fieldstone are polite, smart, eager to learn, and curious. There is a wonderful sense of community at the school, and many activities involve the entire school (Junior and High School). As a smaller school, one of the benefits is the integration of the various grade cohorts with each other, both in some specialty classes but also in house games competitions, field trips, assemblies, and school concerts. Students are very respectful with each other, and we have not seen any issues with the school spirit.

(4.5) School Life

Fieldstone offers a safe, positive and academically rich environment for children. Our son really enjoys the school and comes home most days wanting to talk about what he has learned in class. He likes his classmates, and there is a healthy camaraderie between the students, which is great.

(3) Community

We are new to the school, so we don't know much about the parent community at this point. There are events throughout the course of the year where we can be involved, and there is a group chat for the different grades, which is really helpful.

(2.5) School Location

I think the benefit of the school location depends on where you live. We are quite far from the school and have no connections to the local neighbourhood, so we cannot speak to that aspect. Younger students are not allowed off campus, so I think most of the school activity takes place on the school grounds, except for course field trips.

(4.5) Admissions

The admissions process is straightforward, and Fieldstone has a rolling admissions approach, so you don't necessarily need to wait for a certain day to find out if your child is accepted to the school. It was not stressful at all. School tours are easy, and typically, your child will spend a day at the school so they have a good sense of what the school is all about. My only advice is to be very honest throughout the application process so that you ensure that the school is the right fit for your child and your family.