2 Shadow Ln
Larchmont, NY 10538

I have mixed views about Chatsworth. I have multiple children at the school now and I have to say we are looking into alternative districts / private. The good things: a seemingly warm and inviting neighborhood school with engaged parents and an active pta that plans events, after school and lunch clubs and activities. We’ve had some fabulous teachers who have made the effort to know / understand their students. They’re taught mindfulness strategies and are teaching kids about identifying their feelings etc.The bad: we’ve had some teachers who were disappointing, completely lack warmth with the kids (especially one teacher we had for kindergarten), and one who “handled” a bullying situation by basically doing nothing. I am also not sure what they are learning. Have they seen a map of the US? I honestly don’t know. The academics are disappointing. I also find the way they teach reading to be confusing at best. Math as well. To me, it almost feels as if they are trying to reinvent the wheel. If your kids are more academically inclined (as mine are) they may be a bit bored. One of my kids has been asking for more advanced math the last 2 years, to no avail. They just keep moving at a glacial pace, so he can breeze through their worksheets with little to no effort. He recently asked a teacher if he could go to a harder math class and was told that’s not something they have. This last bit is less about the school specifically, and more about the culture. I now know that Larchmont families are really focused on sports. The families are heavily investing in travel sports and that seems to be the focus for many of them. They dedicate their weekends to 7am hockey games and endless practices. I know people who have held kids back to give them an advantage in sports. If a sports-focused culture is your thing, then your kid will fit in splendidly. Especially among the boys. If your kid is not obsessed with football or hockey etc, they will be on the outside looking in. The school does teach kids about their own emotions, but completely falls short when it comes to teaching them about how your actions may impact others. Many of these kids are clearly not being taught such things at home, so bullying is not uncommon and some of these kids are truly atrocious. The entitled parents of these “Larchmonsters” tell them they’re perfect and can do no wrong, and have clearly never set boundaries or taught them about respect and kindness.

This school is horrible. Many teachers won’t answer email questions from students or parents. This school year alone the N word has been written in school bathroom, constant use of homophobic slurs in front of lunch monitors with no action taken. Three different principals in three years, this school is and always has been a mess.

Safe building, nice teachers, heavy workload, awful favoritism in sports. Very clicky students, even click your parents.