Warning: This school requests removal of uncomplimentary reviews. They previously removed 2 negative/mixed reviews from other former members. I know this because I was contacted by those former members.
We also had a mixed experience at this school. Academics are weak, but outdoor play/work time was nice and plentiful and the community of families was supportive. We wanted this school to be a success, but over time we we observed more and more troubling disconnects between the school's stated ideals and the reality in the classroom. This would normally be fixable, but unfortunately we also found transparency and openness to constructive feedback to be an issue. Just two of these disconnects are detailed below:
1.) Although I was repeatedly assured by the director and the Kindergarten teacher that Kindergarteners and 1st graders are provided with consistent phonics instruction, it turned out that balanced literacy was actually implemented i the K and 1st grade classrooms. Had the school leadership been transparent about their approach ahead of time, we would have been able to have made an informed decision (and would not have enrolled our kindergartener.)
I would encourage all parents of Kindergarten and 1st grade students to research literacy education and in particular the differences between systematic phonics instruction and balanced literacy. Here are some references which may be a good starting point:
https://www.apmreports.org/story/2018/09/10/hard-words-why-american-kids-arent-being-taught-to-read
https://www.apmreports.org/story/2019/08/22/whats-wrong-how-schools-teach-reading
https://mobile.edweek.org/c.jsp?cid=25919951&bcid=25919951&rssid=25919941&item=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.edweek.org%2Fv1%2Few%2Findex.html%3Fuuid%3DE973330E-E51D-11E9-9B3A-8AF258D98AAA
2.) Although Silver Oaks presented itself to us as embracing each child's unique character and developmental trajectory, this attitude was missing in our interactions with her teacher. At our mid-year conference we were informed (to our surprise) that our kindergartener's behavior was so outside the norm that a pediatric visit was urgently called for. We were surprised at the teacher's lack of curiosity about school-factors that could be influencing our normally well-behaved child, her emphasis on intrinsic pathology, and her decision to wait so long to communicate what she described as a several months-long pattern.
Our experience was not unique. Some children appear to do well, and others don't. Our curiosities about this include:
- Are the behavioral expectations at Silver Oaks Cooperative School reasonable for all 5-year olds? Is there some normal variation which is not being permitted?
- Are the academic expectations reasonable given the choices of curriculum materials (or lack thereof), the emphasis on independent or small-group work, and the somewhat limited daily academic time (as much of the day is spent outdoors, in free-choice, or in electives). Perhaps it is not possible to do and be all things simultaneously.
- Are there too many transitions in a Silver Oaks day (most children struggle with frequent transitions / interruptions from their learning and play)?
- Are there too many different teachers/caregivers/coopers with different behavioral expectations and do some children struggle with having so many of those transitions?
- Are some children bored or otherwise not being fully engaged academically?
We were sorry to part ways with the many lovely families we met, but eventually these and other issues were too big for us to ignore. read more