The Crefeld School

My daughter is now in her 2^nd year at Crefeld, and couldn’t be happier. We live in a great school district (Lower Merion), and her older brother loves LM and fits right in, but for the quirky, artistic, imaginative and sensitive kid that my daughter is, LM’s middle school experience was a nightmare. When she chose to draw cell structures in her notebooks because she’s more comfortable visualizing something than she is describing it in words, her LM teachers labelled that as «doodling» and not paying attention. At Crefeld, her learning style is accepted and they work within it, instead of trying to force her back to the «norm». She loves her teachers and her classes, and she’s doing great work, having improved her writing skills enormously and excelling in math and science, too. But it’s not for everyone– my son would probably hate it there. If your child sounds like my daughter, this school will very likely be a perfect fit.

If you’re investing in private school purely as a vehicle to get your kid into Harvard, then Crefeld is not the right place for you. Not that Crefeld graduates don’t go onto excellent schools; on the contrary, Crefeld’s students are extremely bright. What Crefeld does best is to educate its students in a safe and warm environment to become socially-​conscious self-​advocates ready to take on the challenge of college. They give their kids roots and then gives them wings.
As a parent of a 10^th grader finishing up his fourth year at Crefeld, I have never doubted for a moment that the staff at Crefeld has my son’s best interests at heart. They hold him accountable for his actions and celebrate his successes. They educate him while providing him with all the academic and emotional support that he needs to succeed.
No school is right for every student, but for the right kid, Crefeld is a gem.