Grace Church School

I have been a Grace parent for 3 years and I have had a wonderful experience at the school. I am most impressed by the faculty and staff - it is apparent how dedicated they are to their students and helping them learn, but it is also apparent that they love what they do. They are consistently warm, supportive, and responsive. Another strength of the school is its close-knit community feel. The parents and families of the students are eager to be involved, and the school provides a multitude of opportunities for them to volunteer, gather, and participate in their child's school experience. We have been so happy at Grace these past few years and recommend it highly!

Having been an active volunteer at Grace, I can say that the Parents Association (PA) is amazing. The PA is so welcoming and it is very easy to either just volunteer to help set up or co-chair an event, whatever your time allows. Volunteering is a great way to meet other parents, even from different grades, and really helped me integrate into the Grace community. I was impressed how closely the PA worked with the school and how parents are welcome any time. The school has a dedicated space called the Parents Lounge and it really is that. I've spent many happy hours hanging out in the Parents Lounge with other parent volunteers as we plan events. Parents are welcome into the school every day- not just for an official visiting day. As for the teachers, all the teachers from the JK-4 years (early childhood and lower school) have been great. The school knew which teacher would be the best fit for both of my kids. The curriculum does a good job of integrating various subjects into a project. For example, the end of year project last year utilized art, music, virtual reality, history, english, and science. The parents were blown away by the projects and presentations by the 4th grade students.

I highly recommend Grace Church School as a rigorous academic experience. For more than 10+ years, Grace's teachers have encouraged my kids to explore, be curious and to take risks. They have developed excellent essay writing skills, the French and Latin departments are incredible and their knowledge of math and science has deepened. We were originally drawn to Grace because of the close community and the incredible programming. Also, athletics at the High School and Middle School has been an incredible experience too.

Both of my children started at Grace for Junior Kindergarten, and my daughter is starting her 6th year at Grace and my son his 2nd. My experience with the faculty has been overwhelmingly positive, with one exception (who I think clearly was a good fit for many other students but just wasn't the right fit for my daughter). The heads of the Lower School and Early Childhood are very responsive and engaged in their communities, and are familiar with all of the children. Academics have been very impressive during our time here - children are encouraged and supported at reaching appropriate milestones, and at no point have I personally felt the homework is too much. Class projects are integrated across multiple disciplines and I love to see how music/art/dance gets combined with language/science/math regularly throughout the curriculum. Parents are highly encouraged to participate with the Parent Association and I have formed a number of meaningful relationships through both the parents in my kids' classrooms, as well as those I've met through volunteering.

I am the parent of a second grader at GCS. We chose Grace over other private schools for a few reasons:1) The education the children receive, while keeping up the the times, is rigorous and traditional. The children have educational benchmarks, they get grades, they do homework and develop lifelong study and organizational skills. The lessons are engaging and foster a love of learning.2) Over 1/4 of the school receives some kind of financial aid, which fosters economic diversity. It is important to us that our child not only be surrounded by people who can afford a private school tuition.3) The values of GCS reinforce the work we do at home to raise a child with a deep sense of empathy, who cares about others both inside and outside of their communities.4) GCS is a warm environment where the teachers and administration genuinely care about the students. Our child was accepted into other great schools, but the loving environment at Grace is what ultimately tipped the scales for us.