Newfield

MIDDLE SCHOOL: Our daughter entered this school as a friendly, athletic seventh grader. The biggest issue we discovered is how extremely small the middle school is. With only about 20 girls in the grade, cliques become rigid and exclusionary, and there is very little meaningful supervision. Instead of recognizing that such a tiny environment requires more support, the school provides almost none.A large portion of the grade consists of children of employees or students on significant aid. The school promotes this as diversity, yet in practice it forms a protected inner circle of long-term families. Students who come from outside towns and pay full tuition are quickly treated as outsiders. Our daughter was excluded and targeted socially simply because she wasn’t part of this insulated group.When boys in the grade became friends with her, that alone triggered hostility. Instead of addressing the behavior, the school ignored it. Even worse, some parents became directly involved — gossiping about students, influencing friendships, and fueling conflict among 12-year-olds. Any school that allows adults to participate in bullying is failing at its most basic responsibility.When we raised concerns, the response was alarming. We were told our only option was to send our daughter to the middle school counselor, who was not only unqualified but was also the parent of students involved in the conflict. The school was essentially recommending that our daughter confide in the mother of the girls contributing to the problem. This is a serious conflict of interest and shows a complete lack of professional standards.Families are paying nearly $55,000 a year to be offered no neutral counselor, no plan for resolving bullying, no accountability, and no alternative support. The school protects its internal circle instead of the students who come from the outside.Fortunately, we live in a neighboring town with excellent public schools — a place where an athletic, outgoing, kind student can actually flourish. For families who don’t have that option, look closely before choosing a private school this small, and make sure it draws from a broader community than concentrated Stamford.