Children’s Day School provides children with an education that reveals itself not only in how well children write, think mathematically and investigate questions, but also in how much they love school, their classmates and their environment.

Students at Children’s Day School experience:

• A learning environment that is constructed to deliver rigorous academics in a way that makes school fun and interesting. Through project-based learning, students tackle a challenging academic curriculum in ways that are engaging, meaningful, adaptable to a variety of learning styles and fun. “Fun” is a word too rarely used in schools, but it is important at CDS.
• Great teachers. At Children's Day School, we know that great teachers are the heart and soul of a great school. Using methodologies such as Responsive Classroom and Schools Attuned, our teachers foster the best intellectual and social instincts of each student.
• A diverse community and an inclusive culture. We are committed to constructing a school that reflects the racial, ethnic, economic and family diversity of San Francisco. A school culture that supports diversity is the same culture that is necessary for the delivery of excellent education.
• A culture of uniqueness. We believe in the power of each child's own unique gifts and talents. We do not strive for sameness - there is no formulaic "CDS student." Instead, we give each child the support and encouragement to become his or her own unique self.

Can such a school also maximize academic achievement? We are showing the answer is a resounding “yes.” And our students’ standardized test scores and high school placements back up that answer. We are proving that happy children make better learners.

If you are interested in learning more about our philosophical underpinnings, I invite you to read our Children's Day School Weekly, and I recommend several books which our teachers and administrators recently read and discussed, and which inform our teaching.

• Essential Conversations, by Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot, discusses ways to make parent-teacher conferences and conversations more productive and meaningful. This book was read by the entire faculty and staff during the summer of 2006.
• Starting Small is published by Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Read by teachers of our youngest students during the summer of 2005, this educational tool helps teachers construct classrooms where children practice fairness, respect and tolerance.
• All Kinds of Minds (read by our elementary faculty in 2005) and A Mind at a Time (read by our middle school faculty in 2005). Both books are by Dr. Mel Levine, a pediatrician and leading learning expert whose organization, All Kinds of Minds, promotes understanding of the unique and individual ways that each child learns.

At Children’s Day School, academic achievement is only one learning goal. Integrity, love of learning, social competence and commitment to making a difference in the lives of others are equally important. This is our idea of what education is all about.

I look forward to meeting you at one of our school tours.

Rick Ackerly
Head of School