Interview with The Country Day School PARENT, Jennifer O'Neill
Jason and Jennifer have one son and two daughters who attended the Country Day School. They were surprised at how well the teachers knew their children and knew when and how to challenge them to be the best they can be. Their children were encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and to engage critical thinking skills that they still use in their lives. They were very impressed with the staff and how well the school is administered.
Highlights from the interview
When choosing Country Day, it was really about the facility, the community, the teachers, and the fact that it's also coed. Our children were a big part of the selection of the school as well, and they felt that they were treated as adults and that they were held accountable. They were looking for an opportunity where they could realize their greatest potential for the future. And when you ask our children about that, they wanted to make sure that they were incredibly well prepared for university. They were getting very good marks in the public system, but they were concerned that they may not be learning as much as they were able to learn.
I think that the fact that the school is well balanced and also offers so many different sports as well as academics and drama allowed our son to meet many people, not just in class, but also out on the sports fields or in different classes or different programs that were being offered by the school.
I think the teachers at the school are absolutely first class, and they're very aware of individuals, each student as an individual and each student as a person. So that made it a lot easier for our children to adapt because I'd say one of the biggest strengths of Country Day is how much the teachers care. And they care about challenging the children or the young adults and challenging them to be the best that they can be. That may be in academics, or building their character, or building whatever it is they're into.
I know our kids would say that the teachers made the biggest difference in their time in high school. The teachers are invested, they care, they want to make sure the students are learning. And as much as friends and being social are important, the teachers have a great understanding of your child, how they learn best, and what help they may need. Teachers are very in tune with the student's personality and needs. But they don't jump in and take over. The teachers know our kids really, really well and know when to push and when to challenge.
The school is very well set up to help the students prepare for the best opportunity for them in the future. When you look at all three of our children, they're all leaders in their own way. And they've learned those leadership skills through their time in the community of Country Day. And I think they look back at that with great fondness.
The school gives many opportunities to highlight and celebrate achievement. If your child is doing something that is exceptional or they've worked really hard, there are many opportunities throughout the whole year to recognize those successes in that hard work in front of their peers and the faculty as well. I think that sense of accomplishment and achievement is something that they then strive for. It's interesting to watch how success then breeds more success based on their own achievements.
The other bigger piece that we appreciated was the sense of community from the parents and the teachers and the faculty. Everyone really cares about one thing: the success and the growth of the character and the education of these young adults.
I think the thing that surprised me was the first parent-teacher interview. I thought, ‘This school really knows my kid and they're paying attention,’ because that was an opportunity for him to look back and look in the mirror and see how he was behaving and decide how to move forward.
Some of the courses that they took were unique to the school, and a lot of them really challenged them from a critical thinking standpoint. It wasn't just a straight line. They had to really consider lots of different ways of thinking about whatever the issue or the subject was. And I think that's translated into them being more prepared for life and also for their courses in university.
Our son had an incredible learning experience about stepping out of his comfort zone, trying things differently, and had tremendous success in doing that. One of his teachers challenged him to step out of his comfort zone and get into track and field. At first blush, that wasn't something he was interested in. But the teacher saw the potential and worked with our son. I would say he learned a lot more about character and himself than he did about track through that teacher.
The school gave our daughters the opportunity to shine and to step up and try new things and do their best work. And they did that. It's showing now since they've graduated and those habits and the way they've been taught to consider things will carry them through the rest of their career.
I think the teachers are unbelievably committed to the success of the children, and that comes through in spades. They greet the whole person. They want to know who the whole person is, and they want to challenge them to be the best they can be and to realize their full potential. And that's not just talk. They really do walk the talk and really get to know the students and also get to know the parents. The teachers understand the students, but they also talk to the parents, and they want to make sure that there's an open dialogue and that there's a shared understanding of where your children should be able to get to and to be really accountable for getting the children there.
It's an investment in your child that will be an investment for life. They'll be challenged and they'll be able to see the results of hard work.
Country Day offers the potential for your children to build their greatest character and leadership ability, while also preparing them for the future. I think that we're living in a very dynamic time, and there's a lot of things going on in the world and in our children's world. Country Day allowed them to build resiliency and also prepared them for a bright future and one where they can handle what the world brings to them.
There were times when we would drop into the school to drop something off or just happened to pop in, and the consistency was always the same. The school runs with a very upbeat, positive attitude, very professional. There's a big sense of community. And there's a real consistency and love for Country Day.
The teachers and the administration of the school are excellent. They run a very organized school. The way they were able to pivot when COVID-19 hit was unbelievable. They were online teaching in four days, I think. A strength of a school that size is the ability for decision-making to happen quickly.
