Why Stanley?

What is your favorite Stanley tradition or moment? The 2nd Grade afternoon tea was a truly special moment. The children’s heartfelt wishes for their teachers, bittersweet moments of the excitement of 3rd grade arriving, and moving on from their current classroom and rituals. Their grace and courtesy to each other around the afternoon tea experience. It was a beautiful moment.

What drew you to Stanley: We are both Stanley alumni! While we are a few years apart, we have similar fond memories, and we wanted our kids to enjoy the same education that we had. Paige also graduated from the Stanley Teacher Training Program and taught middle school science at Stanley, so it’s been a big part of our lives. 

What keeps you at Stanley? One thing that stands out about Stanley is everyone's - parents, faculty, staff, volunteers - commitment to the community and especially the students. Stanley's amazing diversity is one of the reasons we felt it was a unique opportunity for our daughter.  Diverse learning environments is what the world is all about, and having a place to teach that to your child is amazing.

What keeps you at Stanley? What keeps us at Stanley is the strong sense of belonging our kids feel. They know about all the big and small milestones they’ll reach at each stage—like the 2nd grade bowling trip, the 5th grade musical, or the various overnight trips from 3rd grade leading up to the 8th grade England trip. They talk about “when it’s our turn” with excitement and eagerly look forward to these experiences.

What makes Stanley special and unique? We feel so connected here-- to the other parents, to the teachers, to the administration-- and it has been a gift to send our daughter to a school that we feel truly excited about. I love that Stanley emphasizes less traditional school things that might get put aside in other schools: Stanley Arts Fest, Musical Morning (a Room 4 Tradition), the alphabet parade, yearly student self-portraits, and even the tooth necklace.

Special connection your child has made: Our 7th grader has made a wonderful connection with her 6th grade language arts and social studies teachers. Both took the time to listen to her and allowed her to explore her passions. Meanwhile, our 4th grader loves his teachers in 3, 4, 5, and he is delighted to have the addition of science and technology in his curriculum.