Our family has been at Eastside Prep for 6 years now - our oldest is a junior, our youngest is in 8th grade. Both are very happy at the school, challenged academically, welcomed socially, and known and cared for by all the teachers. Class sizes are small, which allows for individualized attention, emphasis on class participation and critical thinking by the kids, and interdisciplinary hands-on experiences. There's a variety of extracurriculars, all of which are open to all kids no matter their background or experience (my older daughter was welcomed onto the tennis team, even though she'd never actually held a racket before); both my kids do theater - about a third of the kids at the school have been in a play - pretty much all who are interested. The teachers really know and care about each kid as an individual, nurturing their strengths, and watching out for when they're struggling, and keeping in close communication with the families. One thing we appreciate about the school is that all the faculty are really passionate about teaching and about learning.... at another local private school, when we asked what made their academic program in the high school special, all they had to say was ""we're a great college preparatory school""; when we asked about their middle school program, they said ""it does a great job of preparing kids for our high school..."" At Eastside Prep, they say 'of course when your kid is done here they'll be ready for college - but we also care about what their experience is in the moment. We want them to be excited about learning every day, with hands-on 'a-ha' moments that are cool now, not just useful in preparing for the future.'
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