Carden Cascade Academy

I love this school! This is my 7th year there and I have two children there. The focus is on perseverance, good manners and kind behavior. Academics are very strong and each child gets to learn at her own pace. I love the fact that they have PE and Mandarin three times a week and have superb music and art teachers. My children love to go to school every day which is certainly not what my husband and I remember from our school days!
I especially appreciate the year round calendar and the extended care. These are very convenient for working parents. The extended care has many actives like yoga, soccer, taekwondo, chess and dance.
Having been at the school for so many years, I understand where some of the bad reviews are coming from - there were some issues with the administration some years ago, mostly due to growing pains, but those were resolved.
The school is bottom heavy with fewer children in the higher grades. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on one's child I think. Personally I love the 1:1 attention my children are able to receive.
It is a very joyful and happy place and I feel very privileged to be able to send my children there.

We have been with Carden for over 6 years, so we have seen it all. In 2009 November when I first walked into the school seeking admission for my then almost 4 year old, the school had a total of 15 students and had just moved to their new location. I had been actively looking and comparing different private schools within a specific budget, and Carden came out as the best of all of my choices. It is a year round school, with options to sign in for day-care after school. This was a blessing for us working parents. School also provides options for extracurricular activities such as Chess, Taekwondo, Yoga, and Zumba.

The school has since grown to over 100 children. And has office staff that support the teachers. The Teachers are the best of the best. Dedicated and nurturing.

The Student to Teacher ratio is at most 1:4.

Now, let’s get to the crux. All Carden schools follow Mae Carden Principles and curriculum. These are different from standard methodologies, but believe me, they work. Carden children are very well behaved. They excel in Spelling bees, Math Competitions, Science Fairs, Robotic Competitions, you name it.

You will not go wrong enrolling your child here.

For those who would consider cost as a key factor, you are paying the money to the teacher. In other schools most of my payment goes to the day-care. (This is assuming a full day at school).

Since at least one other reviewer posted on their enrollment experience, I thought we'd do the same. Our child is enrolled in Carden Cascade this fall, and none of our paperwork was lost. In fact, we were given both electronic and hard copies. Our questions were answered quickly and professionally.

We are very excited for our kid to attend this school. It has one of the best student-to-teacher ratios in the state. In addition to the great class size, the small school size is a huge benefit in our eyes. We think that more schools should look into the back-to-basics approach that the Carden Method uses.

It is true that small schools will have trouble affording extensive science facilities, but they do have Lego robotics, and interested parents with STEM schools can help overcome this challenge with other after-school offerings. After graduating Carden Cascade in 8th grade, I imagine many will pick their child's high school based on strength in science, technology, engineering, and math.

More than one of our son's friends from his daycare are enrolled in Carden Cascade this fall, and if things work out as well as we think they will, we'll continue to recommend it to others. I'll update this review if my impressions change, but I don't think they will.