Sequoia Park

I graduated from DCA a few years ago & my experience was interesting, to say the least. While I had some great teachers, there were also many who were either underqualified, unpleasant, or both. Many of the teachers didn't have teaching degrees/certifications & were just following the school-approved curriculum, making it incredibly difficult if you were struggling in their classes. I also had many teachers who did very little to hide their favoritism toward certain students. One positive about this school is it prepared me for some aspects of college. From 5th grade (the year I began attending DCA) to 8th grade the writing curriculum was good & I had great experiences with my English teachers. This strong foundation in writing helped me get through high school & has even helped me in college. The M/W/F classes helped me become more academically independent (but, unfortunately, this is largely because I had to teach myself a lot of the subjects due to having so many underqualified teachers). My sister & I first came to DCA in search of a better academic environment for my younger sister who is severely dyslexic. They presented DCA as a good alternative because of the homeschool days & promised proper accommodations for my sister, but homeschooling was definitely detrimental to her education. They also did not always follow through on their promises of accommodations. My sister & I both had to get private tutoring outside of school because of inadequate teaching & my sister frequently had to fight for the accommodations that she was entitled to under the ADA laws. When DCA got a new headmaster, she switched schools because DCA made many policy changes that made learning even harder for students with disabilities.Another issue was the very clear double standard in the dress code & the way it was enforced. The dress codes for the uniforms, as well as school dances, were extensive for the female students & minimal for the male students. DCA was incredibly strict about the length of our skirts, even going as far as to send a staff member into our classrooms with tape measures several times a year. It was incredibly degrading having female students be called out in front of the entire class if our skirts were half an inch too short. The female students would be reprimanded & even sometimes fined if our skirts were too short, while the male students would wear shorts that were too tight & rolled to their mid-thighs & the staff wouldn't bat an eye at it.