Roycemore School in Evanston

Review №1

2017-11-20

Roycemore is a truly unique place where my kids are thriving. I have 2 children in Roycemores Lower School, one of whom struggles with learning differences and other of whom is far above grade level. It amazes me that both of them are doing amazingly well. THIS is true differentiation (a word I hear but do not see often). All that, plus they get 40 minutes to eat lunch, 45 minutes at recess and 30 minutes of PE, each of these EVERY DAY!!! Best of all, they LOVE going to school each day. I could not be happier with our experience at this wonderful, loving place.

Review №2

2018-02-19

This place really understands middle schoolers. They give them the autonomy they desire in a supportive environment. They value relationships; student-student and student-teacher. They inspire excellence by giving students opportunities to participate in a larger community (PK-12). Every child should have a school experience like Roycemore delivers!

Review №3

2017-10-04

Roycemore is The School that gets it on the North Shore.This North Shore gem cultivates a strong academic environment while emphasizing the social/emotional development of the children. It is small (one class per grade), which fosters a high degree of responsiveness to kids and parents alike.On the academic front, although Roycemore is not a gifted school, the faculty use a gifted model of education and differentiate the instruction according to kids’ needs with the help of a gifted coordinator.For English, they combine 1st and 2nd graders, and separate them into four (mostly skill-based) groups. This allows kids to focus on what they need most, including phonics for those who benefit from it.In Math 1st to 4th grade, the classes are grouped by skills (after merging 1st with 2nd grade, then 3rd with 4th grade). In addition, the gifted coordinator will spend time as needed to challenge kids 1 to 2 grades ahead while keeping the topic engaging and fun.At the same time, kids’ free time is respected: they are not given tons of homework for the sake of it.For social and emotional development, they use the “7 habits of happy kids” by Sean Covey. Young age is the best time to build lifelong habits of success. They also have Aristotelian virtues painted on the walls.The teachers are amazing. In first grade, Ms. Vanchieri is nurturing and calm, but also firm and structuring. In second grade, Ms. Taylor-Pines is energetic and full of enthusiasm.Ms. Orzoff, the head of lower school, is firm with would-be bullies, but always has kids best interest at heart, and has her door open for parents.In addition, the school just hired a new Principal, Adrianne Finley Odell, who aims to keep the school’s strong values, while injecting new energy.Last year, there was a big improvement with the quality of the food, which is now provided by HandCut foods. It is mostly organic, and the kids love it.The small size allows the school to listen to parents. In our experience, it has been very responsive, and the opposite of the stubborn bureaucracy you will often find at many public (and even private) schools. The motto seems to be: if we can do it, we will. Instead of: we will first say no, wait for our lawyers’ opinion, and make you feel our power.The small size also allows for flexibility in how the school incorporates recent research of what is effective in education. For example, research at Princeton has shown that handwriting helps memorization, and they encourage it including the teaching of cursive. On the other hand, computers help for differentiation and are used for that purpose. They are also careful to provide enough time for sports and outdoor recess, which help kids develop gross motor skills, have fun, and keep better eyesight.As you may have noticed, I am quite detailed oriented. My wife and I visited all the schools of the North Shore and more (Central Elementary, Avoca West, Sears, Baker, Chiaravalle, North Shore Country Day, Lycée Francais etc.), and this is the best by far.

Review №4

2015-02-21

Our son is very happy in the Upper School at Roycemore. Small classes, individualized attention, caring and engaged teachers. Excellent academics, nurturing community. Its a special place, and we recommend it highly!

Review №5

2016-09-17

Beautiful school