First and foremost, Carden Hall falls short in Mathematics and Technology, and their French curriculum will not produce a fluent speaker in French. If you want your child to be fluent, they will have to take courses outside of CH.
"My daughters both started attending Carden in 4th grade and at first, they thought it was a positive change from public school. However, things began to change when Ms. Dablow resigned from Carden Hall. We noticed that the lower and upper-grade directors were changing often, and the directors showed less compassion. There was also inconsistency in how other kids were treated. Even if your child was kind, generous, and caring, showing respect to others, respect was not always returned. My oldest daughter was constantly harassed by middle-school boys and treated poorly by the few girls in her grade. Middle school became very cliquey, and my daughter was treated like an outcast among the small group of girls in her grade during middle school. During middle school, instances of sexism and objectification of girls become more prevalent. For example, during a trip to France, my daughter and her friends were excited to take cute photos on top of rooftop in Paris, wearing matching "Skort Jumpers" when they entered an elevator with a male teacher and some male classmates. The teacher made inappropriate comments about their outfits not complying with the Carden Hall dress code and showing too much leg. The girls were shocked and embarrassed and ended up retreating to their hotel room in tears.
Carden does not have an enclosed auditorium, so all performances were outside in the open courtyard. In the past, girls were mandated to wear skirts and thin jackets even in freezing weather during assemblies or performances. One year, a concerned adult arrived at the school and pointed out that this policy of girls only wearing skirts, including the female staff, was discriminatory and could lead to legal consequences. In response, the school quickly revised the dress code to allow female students to wear "boys" cargo trousers if they wished to do so. However, despite this change, none of the girls were interested in wearing boy cargo pants, resulting in them having to stand outside in bad weather during fall and winter, which ultimately led to them getting sick.
The teachers and front desk staff reprimanded my daughters if their skirts were not the standard three inches above their kneecaps. Despite my ongoing efforts to do alterations for my growing girls who had small waistlines and long legs, other girls would have very short skirts and wear full makeup, which clearly showed their inconsistency with their dress code or what I would consider favoritism.
The teachers frequently praised my daughter for her sweet and kind demeanor. However, they failed to take any action when others were cruel to her. This led to my daughter developing anxiety, which was caused by the behavior of both the staff and students. When I spoke to the director about this, she shifted the blame onto my daughter's supposed lack of social skills, suggesting that it was the reason why she was unable to form connections with others. A teacher commented to my daughter for her nonparticipation in 8th grade parties held outside of school premises in front of classmates causing her distress. On her last day of 8th grade parents paid for an elaborate graduation party in which we did not participate instead we celebrated with family. Later that day when all 8th graders were supposedly enjoying a party Ms. Peters's son phoned my daughter and said mean things that I will not repeat. I later called CH because she was a teacher at their school who never apologized nor her son for what he said. My request fell on deaf ears at Carden Hall.
On the day of my oldest daughter's 8th-grade graduation ceremony, I received a call from front desk staff. She informed me that my second daughter had a "gel French manicure," which was not allowed per the school's policy on nail polish. Although the girls were allowed to wear light/natural nail polish, the gel was not permitted. I was instructed at 3 pm, graduation starts at 6 pm, to remove my 7th-grade daughter's gel, or she would not be allowed to attend her sister's graduation.
If you are wondering why we continued at this school, I gave my oldest the option to leave, but she truly believed she was receiving a good education, and despite all the drawbacks and no friendships, she stayed. However, later, we found out that some students from her new public high school had already taken advanced math courses or AVID during middle school and were ahead of her in some ways. But, with additional tutoring, she was able to excel in her Honor course and AP course. She is thriving with more advanced courses, no more anxiety, and many friendships at her High School.
My second daughter did not remain at Carden Hall for 8th grade. I hope more parents speak out about Carden Hall. read more
