Madison Heights

I have had 2 kids go through this school. Every teacher has been excellent. However, our experience with the school was generally poor. Class sizes are large (ie 24 kids in a single teacher taught Kindergarten class, even more in later grades), and appear to be much larger than neighboring districts. Every year, my kids had multiple seriously disruptive kids in their class. Sometimes the kids had a shared aide who tried to handle them, sometimes they didn't and the single teacher was left to handle the chaos, which often resulted in the teacher focusing on disciplining the misbehaving kids instead of actually teaching the class. My kids would regale me nightly with tales of their outrageously behaved classmates, who apparently have just as much of a right to be in class disrupting the class as my kids have a right to learn. I would have appreciated smaller class sizes and a more robust special ed program to deal with kids with major behavioral issues.

The academics, personal attention to your child, and community at Chatham Day School are top-notch. In recent months, when many have felt isolated, the school has created an extremely warm and tight community.

This is a fantastic, all-around Catholic school, partnered with one of the strongest parishes in the state. The students are well-prepared for High School (most continue their academic careers at the more advanced private schools in the area), and are given a strong social and support network of friends and families as a result of attending. The athletic and enrichment programs also continue to expand and offer more to accommodate the families. In short, Madison is known for it's excellent public school system, so the fact that there is often a waitlist to get your kids in here should tell you all you need to know.

It is a great school to learn at.