My daughter is a second grader at Kirby Hall School-this is her third year at the school. My husband and I have been very happy with the school in many ways, and I believe many other parents feel in the same way. The instruction is solid. They have wonderful teachers who know how to facilitate the development of young learners' academic skills. The test results show that they easily perform at least two (often three or more!) grade levels above their actual grade levels on average. The reading and math instruction is very strong, but science and social studies are really inspiring too. My daughter wants to become a scientist in the future, and she begs us to take her to see Ancient Egypt exhibitions at museums: clearly her young mind has been inspired. Additionally, Spanish language is taught from Kindergarten, PE has a lot of heath inspiring fun activities (including Yoga), and music/drama is also an important part of the curriculum. It is through and through a solid curriculum for raising well-rounded students. The graduates of the school are doing very well. My son goes to St. Stephens and he told us that students from Kirby Hall are ""ten times smarter""! In fact, our neighbor's daughter who went to Kirby Hall and then St. Stephens was a top student at St. Stephens, and currently studying Engineering at Stanford graduate school. I hear that students who stay at Kirby until they graduate high-school are doing great. For example, I heard a student got a full-ride to the University of Chicago.\r
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We have been also happy with the non-academic aspects of the school. The student body is diverse: while the majority is white, there are many other ethnic group students, and they do not make ethnic group pockets. My daughter is a half-Asian, and she is proud of her heritage, and others respect it. She is very good friends with all girls in her class and in fact, all boys too (only 12 kids in her class). The school feels like a friendly community. I feel very at ease with other parents too, because they know us and my kid very well. The teachers have been very responsive to individual non-academic issues, from conflicts with friends, to being slow finishing homework. If you are thinking of a private school, I highly recommend Kirby Hall.
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