We have two children at Carden Day School of San Jose (CDSSJ) and we highly recommend this school. The Director of the school is entirely welcoming and 100% genuine. We continue to be impressed by the level of communication between teachers, administrators and parents and we have always felt that our questions were not only welcomed at every level - teachers, principal and director - but attended to quickly. We also appreciate the smaller size of the school and the fact that the school is committed to growing its enrollment slowly and thoughtfully. The growth is in the lower grades ( for example, eight of the 15 2nd graders have or will have younger siblings attend Carden, while only 2 have older siblings) but it is impressive to know that of the nine current 8th graders, six of them have been with the school since it opened (with 50 students) in 2002. The length of service and experience among the teaching staff is also notable: 15 teachers with an average of 13.6 years teaching experience, who have specifically taught the Carden method for an average of 8 years, and who have been with CDSSJ for an average of 4.5 years (the school is just 5.5 years old). The teachers who have left did so very entirely understandable personal reasons - to start a family, to care for an ailing parent, to move out of state and to return to school full time to pursue an advance degree.
Pros: Small classes, Education of the Whole Child; French, Music, Fine Arts instruction; Attentive to the individual students.
Cons: Would love to have an enormous playing field but the play area at the lower campus is beautiful and the kids love it.
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