Marshall Elementary School

We are so fortunate to have been a part of the Children's Day School community for the last two years. We had the most amazing experience in preschool with such loving, experienced and dedicated teachers who guided my introverted daughter through learning to be in a school environment. The preschool teachers are receptive to student led inquiry which engages the children on a daily basis. My older daughter loved her Kindergarten year and the teachers are particularly great at teaching the students to read using phonics based methods. The community of families is down to earth and our school values are present every day in every initiative we undertake. We are unique among the independent schools in that we have a cutting edge learner competency framework which guides all aspects our students' learning.

We chose La Scuola three years ago for its combination of warmth and strong academics. I toured a lot of K-8 schools and the warmth and personality of La Scuola stood out. Dig a little further and I was impressed by the International Baccalaureate program and language immersion. I have to say we haven't been disappointed. Our child loves the school and is always happy. I have been hugely impressed by the teaching standards and communication. Just fyi, we have no Italian at home and love that our child is learning the language and will take on Spanish in the coming years. Great enrichment program and aftercare for all (if desired). I can't recommend the school enough.

We have been at the school for several years since preschool and our kids are thriving. They genuinely look forward to going to school and learning. The school fosters an environment of curiosity and problem solving, growth mindset and social emotional awareness in the children which really shows. Preschool teachers especially are incredibly attuned to the children, warm and caring. You could not ask for better teachers. Elementary school teachers are solid, with some experienced teachers better than others. The curriculum is engaging. More recently, more efforts at differentiation in the classroom has been made, which has been welcome.The community is down to earth and unpretentious even though families are generally privileged. People are kind, non- competitive and easy to get along with.

This school is not academically challenging. They claim that they have their own custom curriculum - it’s a joke. There is no text book - instead, they get poorly photocopied worksheets from other text books that other schools use. They don’t teach history, they don’t give grades, there are no consequences for being late, disruptive, and not doing homework or doing poorly on an asssessment. If you want your child to be academically prepared for middle school or high school, don’t go here. We left a few years ago and have not looked back! I still stay in contact with some of the families and all I hear are complaints even though on social media, they post about how wonderful the parent community is (which it is) and how great that their kids get to go on an exchange program to Taipei. The parents never complain publicly about the school, but behind closed doors, they definitely do.