Brattle

I saw a kid running around with no shoes or shirt on absolutely ridiculous

Fayerweather has been an engaging, exciting, challenging experience for our kids, giving them a strong sense of ownership and agency over their own educations. We see in them the self-awareness to work effectively in teams and connect with others (even or especially those that don't think or identify as they do!) - and that's a direct result of the focus on social and emotional development in the classroom and more broadly in the school. They're curious to root out patterns and systems that impact our world and the people in it, because they've been exposed to Fayerweather's rich curriculum and the critical thinking lens the teachers apply to it.Now situated in a competitive and academically challenging high school, our older child is academically ambitious, eager to partner with peers and teachers, and comfortable in their own skin. Our younger child is making the most of their last years at Fayerweather, finding voice and collaboration through creative ventures like the Unit Play, and digging into complex curricula like Shakespeare's Macbeth, Orwell's Animal Farm, and an interdisciplinary study of the history and science of regional cuisines. We're grateful we chose Fayerweather and are excited to see where this learning foundation takes our kids next!

I'm a parent of a current 1st grader who's been there since Kindergarten. We do not speak French at home, but our child took to it very quickly and has an excellent pronunciation. Within the first year she was fully comprehending the teacher's lessons and communicating in short sentences. In addition to the bilingual classroom, I credit this to the excellent FSL teachers who support new students and help their fluency develop. Another thing that drew us to the school was the introduction of a third language at a young age; in addition to French she has decided to focus on Mandarin and is excited about that as well. ISB cultivated a joy of learning and going to school in our child. She likes to show off what she's learned, particularly writing, reading, and math. It's been inspiring to see the first grade teachers build on this love of learning, and already I can see her making further gains in those areas. We have not yet experienced many extracurricular activities at ISB, but they do have clubs you can sign your child up for (things like cooking, karate, math games and many others) which the children enjoy, and also a very flexible a-la-carte afterschool care which we make liberal use of. We see ourselves staying at ISB for a long time to come!