Community School's reputation is built on academic excellence. The source of that excellence is the unique way Community School provides learning experiences in which children make discoveries about both their surroundings and themselves. Small class size further supports academic excellence allowing each student to grow and develop at his or her own pace. Going beyond mastering the facts, Community School produces avid readers, curious learners, and independent thinkers.
Community’s focus has never been on test scores. Good test scores are not our goal; they are not what we aspire to be as a school. However, these scores do validate that our philosophy of education – hands-on learning, creativity, group process, collaboration, and emphasis on the Arts – works. Looking at our most recent ERB (Education Record Bureau) scores, Community School classes outscored other independent school classes in 96% of the skill categories tested. In other words, of the 132 skill categories that are tested between Grades 3-6, Community School students outscored independent school averages in 127 (96%) of those skill categories. And in Math, Community School students outscored other independent school averages in 100% of the categories tested.
Not only do Community School classes outscore other independent schools, the gap between Community School and other schools increases over time— meaning as students move through the grades, their work and achievement accelerates or improves relative to their peers in other schools. In other words, Community School students are extremely well-prepared for secondary school and beyond.