5 Laurel St, Arlington, MA 02476

Our kid started here during the peak of the pandemic, and it turned out way better than I could have ever hoped for! Mrs Kollaard was absolutely phenomenal! Despite it being full remote, she was able to develop a strong class room community and our kid made great progress. With initial misgivings about remote learning - we were pleasantly surprised by how engaged our kid was throughout the year. She would be in her room, online by herself through the full school hours, and would later have SO much to say about all the activities and their discussions. It was way more enriching for her than I could have imagined with an on-line setting. She genuinely developed strong relations with her classmates and her teacher - so much so that towards the last day, they were a lot of emotions/tears all around that it was over!We have since moved, but the effect of the boost from that one year at Stratton is still visible a year later in (relatively) normal class room setting. The lesson plans, the daily online interactions, the occasional in-person meet at the playground - you could see the all round effort in making the best of a really tough situation. Principal Hannah was always visible and made it a point to interact with parents when we would go to get our weekly supplies. The communications from the office was prompt, clear and transparent. Couldnt have asked for more. We had a great year at Stratton despite it being the most challenging year for any school!