WHY PEABODY?

Since the first graduating class in 2000, Peabody has graduated nearly 300 students. We recently asked the parents of those students about their child’s experience at Peabody, and specifically, what they liked best about the school. Here are just a few of their responses – we agree!

What Did You Like Best about the Peabody Experience?

  • Small classes, interdisciplinary study, teachers and the individualized experience.
  • Teachers that learned each child’s strengths and weaknesses and could differentiate learning when needed. They also pushed my child to be her best.
  • The close relationships that they developed with their teachers, along with the ability to self-advocate.
  • Peabody challenged kids but didn’t push them.
  • The positive peer reinforcement about working hard, enjoying learning, and being supportive of one another.
  • The camaraderie and kindness of the entire group of kids was something that I don’t think exists in all places; the passion of teachers for their subjects (particularly science and social studies) is something that has stayed with him into high school. Peabody kept the love of learning alive all the way through middle school – again, something that doesn’t hold true for many middle schoolers at other places. Peabody builds a true sense of community and lasting friendships while providing academic challenge and nurturance of each child’s individual interests and strengths.
  • My son LOVED learning at Peabody. His experience was both rigorous and full of kind and caring kids and teachers. What incredible teachers he had. He really enjoyed going to school.
  • My daughter loved all the learning opportunities at Peabody. She enjoyed the work and enjoyed learning. The work was seldom rote or boring. Also, there were these terrific experiences like the girls’ volleyball team that were surprisingly fun. Both of my kids fondly recall the ski trips and even the Fri/Sun ski days at Wintergreen. Looking back, she remembers how great her Spanish class was. She has pointed out that her AP World History class is much easier because of her fourth and fifth grade world history classes. She looks back at her social studies and realizes how much she learned! One interesting problem was that when she got to high school, some of the classes (like English) were really boring because she had learned so much at Peabody. I’m not sure what the best thing would be to fix this problem but she appreciated having one relatively easy course. The sense of community at Peabody was wonderful. Thank you.
  • The teachers really knew my daughter and her strengths and weaknesses. She wasn’t one of hundreds of students that teachers are just trying to move through the system.
  • The quality academics, small size, and personal attention in the classroom.
  • Peabody teachers were consistent over the 9 years that my son attended Peabody in their insistence that he do his best and in their support of his efforts.
  • The small class size that allowed him to develop close friendships with his peers, close working relationships with his teachers and the opportunity to learn beyond the “requirements,” delving into topics or depths they might not otherwise have had the chance to study.
  • My son benefited very much from the small class sizes–he was on the awkward side socially in middle school, and would have found public school to be very challenging. Over the course of middle school, he grew confidence in himself and who he is.
  • What Peabody excelled at was engaging students, making them participants in the educational experience…My son graduated from Peabody really feeling that he owned his educational experience because Peabody classrooms were such an exciting place of learning, projects, give and take…this gave him incredible tools for learning moving forward.
  • The very individualized attention and academic challenges were ideal. With the small class size, teachers knew the children well – their personalities, drives, anxieties, strengths and weaknesses. This allowed them to push each student just enough to reach for excellence but not so much that they would be discouraged.
  • Peabody offered a warm and comforting environment that my daughter referred to as her second home. She was challenged academically in all subjects and discovered strengths in areas outside of her comfort zone. She was thus able to identify and embrace a wider set of goals for her future, and she went to high school with a forward-looking perspective that enabled her to remain committed to her long-term goals.

 

 

  • Peabody provided a warm and comforting environment that allowed my son to express his unique self both academically and socially. He was challenged academically in all subjects and discovered strengths in areas outside of his comfort zone. His interests were nurtured by inspiring and caring teachers who continue to serve as valued role models, and his Peabody experience is enabling him to pursue advanced coursework with great depth and speed in high school.
  • The other kids– our child’s class was just a dream, all the kids were so nice. It was really magical.
  • The academic challenge, close attention from teachers who didn’t let my student slide by with poor performance, close circle of friendships.
  • I loved that Peabody offered a smaller, more close-knit community where it was easier for students and parents to get to know each other beyond classroom and throughout the school. I also loved that the curriculum was flexible to respond to each child’s level of proficiency and the teachers could provide individualized attention to each student.
  • Strong academics; caring and committed teachers; basketball.
  • Smart, interesting classmates! And the teachers were awesome.
  • Challenging academic work.
  • We miss Peabody. 🙂
  • The encouragement of his unique gifts and not making him to be like anyone else.
  • My daughter was encouraged to be the amazing student and learner in all areas! She was never embarrassed about her intellect. 🙂
  • We are so very thankful for all the encouragement my daughter received to unlock her potential!
  • We are very thankful we found Peabody for our daughter. Without her experience there I don’t think she would have been admitted or would have even applied to Mary Baldwin’s PEG program.
  • Overall, an excellent experience for our daughter!
  • It’s been a few years since my kids have left Peabody and we miss it. We all do. What a caring, whole child, positive experience for my kids. Thank you.
  • There’s something sad about the fact that my daughter remembers back to her years at Peabody and says, “that’s when learning was so much fun and school was so interesting.” I was so impressed with the kinds of assignments she’d receive from Peabody. The teachers were so good at making the content interesting and giving students choice within their assignments.
  • We have been members of this community for 16 years, with many more yet to go, and are very happy to have our youngest beginning the wonderful journey that his older siblings have had.
  • Our son had an extraordinarily positive experience at Peabody, which really helped mold him into who he is today. We’ll always be grateful to the school and to his many wonderful teachers.
  • My younger daughter started at Peabody in Kindergarten. We transferred to a different school starting in 6th grade only because we moved. If we had been able to take Peabody with us, we would have! I feel that our family was so blessed to have found this school for our girls. Peabody worked with us to help us raise strong, determined, confident young women and I will be forever grateful.
  • We will always be grateful for the Peabody years. We wish they could have lasted longer.
  • Our child’s social experience at Peabody was really transformative– the teachers were deeply supportive of our child, in every way. He went into Peabody as a rather strange, if very smart kid, and came out of Peabody a happy, well-adjusted teen. That in itself was well worth the ticket price.
  • Peabody was a great school for my daughter. She really was afforded a great education and she learned a ton. My kiddo thrives because of her – Peabody really afforded my other child the opportunity to become the human she became.
  • At last week’s parent-teacher conference, her English teacher commented on how well Peabody taught her to write.
  • We spent 14 years bringing our three children to Peabody from across Albemarle County. I would not trade the overall experience we had at Peabody! Our children are each unique and wonderful people, with different learning styles and strengths; Peabody fostered each of them and helped them bloom into amazing teenagers and now adults!