The College School, St. Louis | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

This is a true gem for people looking to send their children to a progressive school. This is a very welcoming community. Their curriculum is very dynamic and the experiential education philosophy is much more than I imagined. Last year my 4 yo learned about landmarks and maps. They talked about landmarks in St. Louis and used a St. Louis map to pin their homes, then applied math concepts by drawing to scale the distance from their homes to the school. They also studied how roads, rivers, streets are represented in a map. Each child picked a special place and drew a map from their home to their special place using different media (clay, wire, leaves, wood, pencil, etc). Finally they took a tour in the school bus to visit all the landmarks they had learned about. ALL these activities are documented with photos, teachers’ notes and recordings. I really felt very connected to my son’s learning experience. I need to add that I was also impressed to found out my son’s pre-K teachers had masters’ degrees in early childhood education, even the T.A. had a masters degree. I hope this helps explain what experiential education means and how wonderful it has been for us.

I am not happy with the experience at The College School and certainly cannot recommend it. We supported this school in many ways, including through our firm serving as a sponsor of a school fundraiser and sending multiple teachers at the school on a trip to another country. Our kids also attended this school for almost three school years before the relationship ended. While running a school is certainly not easy, in my opinion, this school has a lot to learn in terms of professionalism, empathy, listening, communication and compassion for the children and the families. The College School talks about “love” in their PR video, but I personally didn’t see this “love” in my families time of need. Additionally, a greater working knowledge of how to accommodate and adapt to children with various special needs would also go a long way toward improving the school in my opinion. In the 3rd grade classroom with Matt Diller, my view is that this is seriously lacking.

I’ve been filming video for promotional purposes this year. I graduated from the school in 1999, but it’s been awesome to come back and conduct interviews with faculty, staff, and students. The passion of the teachers in unrivaled and the students astound me with their clarity of thought, even on camera. It’s rare to see students of all ages so comfortable speaking with authority and confidence to adults and their peers.

Proud to be a graduate, grateful to be a vendor.