I can best summarize the sentiment of this school by a single comment I've heard made time and time again from parents, myself included: "I wish I had gone here." This school is a truly incredible place. We've been a part of Cascades Academy now for 3 years and have two boys going here in the lower school. From the moment you arrive on the beautiful campus, you feel right at home and like you belong. There is such a strong emphasis on mission and purpose, so much engagement from students and faculty, so much to be a part of! I remember during our tour some years ago we came on a Tuesday late afternoon, after school had been released for the day, yet still the classrooms were bustling with kids who had chosen to stay later and work on projects with teachers and classmates. Kids who wanted to be at school!! I grew up going to a small school with intimate class sizes and I so badly wanted this for my own kids. Having that personal relationship with your teachers and classmates is so important and seems hard to find today in many school settings. I also value the learning approach here: kids learn by doing, with hands-on experiences, not by staring at a screen all day. There is so much intention set towards ensuring kids get the most out of their education in every capacity, and beyond just classroom education there is emphasis on emotional growth and intelligence. Teaching kids self and social awareness, helping equip them not just to be better students and pupils but better humans in our world. The community is top-notch, for parents and kids alike. The school wants to create an environment that everyone can be a part of, and this has a ripple effect on the kids in the best way. The parents have created a special bond with each other and it feels like there is such a strong support system and feeling of being a part of a "village", raising our kids and doing life together. I wouldn't trade our time here so far for anything, and I'm looking forward to having our boys continue their journey all the way through 12th grade. read more

Sometimes it's health to leave. On hearing how vile the rumors were on our leaving, and the pecking order established that relied on our being at the bottom, I am glad we were spared the worst of some of the other things we have learned have happened at Cascades Academy. We started out with 4 new families. Of those, at least 3, maybe all 4, left due to severe bullying. (One new child bullied to fit in.) We didn't get the worst of it. We were allowed to leave as the school was not prepared to make accommodations for my son's heart condition. My child was being bullied and I had asked about it and been told it wasn't happening. I am very grateful to a teacher there, for writing me a hand-written note letting me know how severe the hazing was there for the newer students in his class. It was only first grade but still, lines were drawn from Kindergarten. We saw this teacher again, the following semester as we left to an alternate school and he was there. The teacher told us he had been reprimanded for "not having boundaries" by Cascade Academy -- for writing us a letter and expressing concern, for saying in the letter the bullying wasn't an accurate reflection of who someone is and to stay strong, to know oneself despite the hazing. I told the teacher how much my child had loved his classes, and how much the letter had meant to us at a hard time. It hadn't been a lapse of boundaries. It had been a moment of humanity. It allowed me to believe what I knew was true, and to believe myself enough to take action and leave when other solutions couldn't be found. A student had tried to lead my child to a trail and told him "We are playing a game called 'get lost.'" This student waited for 15 minutes until recess was over, for him to literally "get lost"... based on comments the child's parents said, about our family's car not being nice enough, a Nissan Sentra and then a Subaru Outback. I knew the family didn't like us as they had made other comments along these lines. I also knew the director, Julie, felt protective of them, as though we were bothering their sensibilities for existing. It was enough for me to introduce myself and say something the group didn't know about me, an opener... that I had sang in Prague once on stage, for Julie to identify me as suspect, a narcissist, and to feel protective of the Mom who wanted us to get lost... as though I was pushing this other Mom too far for existing. Over the years, since leaving, other parents have told us some of the things said about us, undermining our character in vicious ways. I can understand why other new families did not speak up, or why they waited out the end of the school year despite harsh treatment/ hazing. I am sure that being locked into a contract went into this, as well. My child's teachers didn't take seriously when my child's backpack was thrown in the pond... or address it or even notice it was sopping wet. My child saw another student who was new have his pants pulled down at Halloween... and other boundary violations against this other student from the class. Sometimes witnessing harm can feel profound. The student who was causing the harm (against the other new student) had a teacher as a parent... much went unaddressed. The school suggested my child, a first grader, go outside on his own for air breaks for his heart. He couldn't feel temperature at the time (after his surgery) and there was snow on the ground and chill in the air. He often didn't wear boots, or a coat, without being prompted after surgery (due to not feeling the cold temperature.) I brought up that the doors automatically locked on closing. If he was locked out, not dressed for winter, the only way back into the building would be to circle the school and use the intercom to try to get the front desk staff to open the door for him. I knew it was not a solution for us. There had been times I had used the intercom and no one had come. The school was unconcerned and said he could wrap on the windows of an adjacent building. I had many meetings about accommodations with the nurse and Lower Ed. Assistant Director. I proved my child had a medical condition. Staff saw his epi-pen as contra the pandemic, as though we were bringing it in due to being conservative, which we are not. When communication didn't extend to teachers, I asked for more. The school used our parent-teacher conference to ask if we had guns at home, (nothing else,) as though we were suspect due to my advocacy for medical needs. I found out other parents of color or other parents from the country had had this same meeting, and were made suspect as we were. I said we didn't have guns at home but it is often an issue of country vs. city for some and we understand folks are different. Cascades Academy wouldn't address problems of abuse, emotional violence, damage to personal property (and being.) We said 'no' and we left, on realizing health was not possible and witnessing the worst. read more

It was fantastic at first, but the culture shifted drastically. The curriculum (especially Spanish, where they watched youtube daily instead of learning, taught by a realtor) declined, children from wealthy families were treated drastically better than those on scholarship, my children were genuinely terrified of the lower school head, neurodivergent children were not given the opportunity to succeed, and it really just turned into a "how much money can we get while doing less" situation. The board appears to be "pay to play" and is comprised of wealthy community members who happen to be friends with the right people, in addition to having money to buy a seat. Bigoted behavior is allowed, as long as your parents are the right people. My child experienced homophobic attacks, which the school wrote off despite multiple witnesses to the incidents. Additionally, their middle school does not keep track of students-- you would think an 11-year-old skipping an entire semester of a class and going unaccounted for would be noticed, but somehow they were able to leave the building daily without the teacher being aware. I witnessed my then 5-year-old being screamed at, loud enough that it was heard from across a soccer field, by the head of the lower school. Outside of school hours, while correcting my own childs behavior, I was cut off so that very same "educator" could loudly reprimand my child. I was informed of another situation where my daughter was reprimanded to the point of hyperventilating, while in kindergarten, for taking a food item that had been paid for. She, at 5, was told that no one would ever trust her again. Absolutely inexcusable. My children were regularly physically harmed and threatened by other students, the same students other families had complained about as well, and the school allowed it to continue. At one point my child was hit so hard in the face by another student that it split his skin- the school did not care until I made it clear that if my child continued to be harmed I would involve authorities. My daughter packed her own band-aids because she was so afraid of the head of the lower school that she was too scared to walk past her office if she needed one. The final straw was the school refusing to meet regarding an ADHD diagnosis and available support, leading to my child being afraid to come to school because she would get in trouble daily for things outside of her control and they refused to help support her. She came home daily in tears because she "just wanted to be like the other kids". She would tell us regularly that certain staff "hated" her. It got so bad that our family felt like this poor kid could hardly breathe too loud without getting in trouble, while other students were permitted to walk around in pee-soaked clothing, hit, kick, spit on, threaten, choke, and verbally assault students. They are VERY good at selling an image they want to portray, but fall short of actually delivering. I think one of the most telling things is the number of students featured in photos and videos on their website who no longer go there. A lot of turnover of students, and staff don't speak highly of the school if you encounter them anywhere outside of the campus. read more

This school is very focused on children's wellbeing along with providing excellent education. All the teachers are extremely caring and attentive to needs, and the community is amazingly supportive. All the trips and available experiences teach students valuable life lessons, and helps guide their education further, by relating to units they are currently working on. Though there aren't as many students as at other schools, this grants kids with a close knit class and wonderful friends. The school does a phenomenal job of balancing education, experiences, the social aspect of school, mental and physical wellbeing, and a kind and excepting environment beautifully. I recommend! read more

Initially, my child really liked this school. Unfortunately as the year progressed it became apparent that this school puts more emphasis on filling seats than the students' welfare. I saw this, not only with my own child but with several of her friends. Additionally, there was significantly less supervision on co-ed school (overnight) trips than is appropriate. read more