The Castleton
Chesterfield, MO 63005

Outstanding experience with everyone at the school. The staff and teachers are the best I have ever encountered.

I am so lucky to have had my children be part of such an amazing school. The opportunities offered to them academically, the dedication of the teachers to student success, and the amount of activities they offer are incredible! Everyone can find the group where they belong if the put themselves out there.Both of my children were very prepared for college and life beyond high school!

Overall the school is ok, however we've had some developing concerns over the past year. We moved into the district in the fall of 2020 and our two kids were immediately enrolled in the 7th grade. Now (2022) they are in 8th grade. Overall our kids seemed to be doing just fine, then about 6 months into it we started noticing a general decline in our kids expectations when it came to school work & testing. Full disclosure, our kids went to private school before RVMS and expectations in these two areas were very different at their previous school. Anyways, after talking with our kids, teachers, and meeting with the school counselor, we began to realize that the school has somewhat lowered their expectations for students, specifically when it comes to holding them accountable for testing & homework. Retesting is frequently allowed (granted their are restrictions associated with it), and homework is often allowed to be turned in late. To the point where we feel it can foster bad habits with kids. I've had some parents tell me they like this policy (retesting & late homework) because it allows their child to better grasp material, which further helps the student going forward. And I do realize this policy of retesting and late homework can be found in many school districts, not just ours. But we feel the difference lies in how the school specifically approaches it. We feel that both parents and teachers are responsible for setting expectations for students. Retesting is fine, if clear expectations are set and it's not allowed to be used as a "crutch", and students believe its the norm. I admit, these policies have a different degree of impact on individual students. Meaning, they might be very good for one type of student, however it can foster bad habits and breed low expectations with others. After all, in college & in many professions, constant "do overs" are not allowed. We believe that parents have a LOT of influence & responsibility when it comes to expectations their kids have, so I don't place these responsibilities squarely on the school. Overall, we were surprised at how good of a reputation the Rockwood district had prior to moving to the district. And now that we are here, we have been surprised (in the opposite way) at how these expectations have impacted our kids. I will say that COVID has presented many challenges for the school however we have been told the restesting/homework policies were in place prior to the pandemic.