3280 Ormond Rd
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118

My child has been at Fairfax since K, and he is receiving an excellent education, even testing as gifted in several subjects. He also is receiving wonderful instruction in art and music. He can actually read a little music, just from his music class, where he has also learned to play a recorder. What amazes me is how skilled his teachers are. They are able to meet the needs of such a variety of skill levels. My son is in a class with children whose needs are more remedial than his, but he is not bored; he receives instruction that challenges him and keeps him growing and learning. I am also grateful that the school is so diverse, racially and economically.

Both of my daughters attended school in the CHUH school district. These are excellent schools. Not good. Excellent. My children were given the opportunity to excel academically, and did so: both went on to attended universities with strong national reputations. They took many AP credits with them. In addition to the excellence in the usual academic subjects, the CHUH schools excel in the arts. There is a vocal music program that puts on an annual show that you actually want to go see, not merely suffer through because your kid is in it. The instrumental music department inspired my first daughter to become a music teacher herself. Again, the concert performances are genuinely good, not something to be suffered through. First time parents always express surprise that the concerts were pleasant to listen to. My younger daughter excelled in the visual arts department, with many of her pieces placed in public exhibits where they won a variety of awards. Many of these successes are directly attributable to the high quality of education my children received. I can only wish that I had attended such high quality schools myself as a child. More generally, now speaking as a college professor rather than as a parent, graduates of CHUH are well prepared for college. They do as well or better as students from many private schools. Locally, CHUH is equal or superior to most private schools (e.g., Hathaway Brown). Only Laurel is clearly superior. If you cannot afford that, you would be wasting money to send your children to any other private school in the area. The numerical rating on this website is generated from statistical information that is known to be inherently racist. It basically measures the socio-economic status of the community. CHUH is a mixed community, with both rich and poor residents. Many of the richer residents fear the misleading numerical score and send their children to private school, thus making it a self-fulfilling prophecy. If they all sent their children to the public schools, the score would jump from 2 to 8. This is entirely predictable based on socio-economics. To reiterate: the numerical score measures the socio-economic status of the students it serves. It does not reflect the quality of what the schools do in any meaningful way. (Lies, damned lies, and statistics.) The schools themselves offer an excellent education.

Terrible overall. There have been many good teachers that are now gone. The school is basically left with over-qualified babysitters and substitutes that are hired through an Uber/Instacart style app. It’s super dangerous, metal detectors, constant drills and lockdowns..my daughter recently had nightmares about lockdowns. Students with disabilities are receiving improper care and placed into regular classrooms with no support. The principal is non-existent, inexperienced and can’t spell if her life depended on it. Her shortcomings as leader of the school are why it’s currently failing the children, their educational needs and the parents. Trying to wait one last year so my daughter can apply to the Cleveland School of Art but honestly I’d rather homeschool than to send her into what basically sounds like a prison from her daily updates and the principal’s excessive error-filled emails.