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My daughter transferred to Wornick this last August into the 3rd grade from another local independent school. Our whole family has had a very positive experience and I've been delighted with the environment and the education she is receiving! To boil it down into a few bullet points: 1) Welcoming community - From our first exposure to the Wornick community, we felt welcomed! We weren't members of the school, nor are we Jewish, yet everyone we met at various events (some were recruiting events, but others were just informal school-level events we were invited to attend) was warm and inviting: from the parents to the teachers and administrators to the children. When I picked my daughter up from her shadow day, she was hand-in-hand with a new friend! That same culture has proven to be persistent and pervasive. 2) Critical thinking skills - I love hearing from my daughter and her teachers about the debates the kids have in class over nearly every learning topic. As a rather interesting example, I went to my daughter's Judaic studies teach to discuss some concerns I had over her being taught the biblical interpretation of the creation of the earth, and she assured me that not only would the scientific explanation be brought in conversation shortly, but the kids would be able to discuss and debate the different philosophies in class. I think this approach leads to respect for other opinions and openness to different interpretations and solutions to problems. I love that they discuss and debate in the classroom. That teaching style is also brought to the general studies curriculum as well. It's great! 3) Strong language program - My daughter arrived at Wornick with 3 years of Spanish learning at another school, but no Hebrew (as is the language taught in the lower grades at Wornick). I was concerned that it would be a big struggle for her to catch up to her classmates in Hebrew. Never fear! She was assigned a personal Hebrew teacher who met with her daily, and joined her classmates after only 3 months! She agreed with my assessment that she learned more Hebrew in those 3 months then 3 years at the other school (who shall not be named). 4) Care for emotional development - See the other parents comments about the "peace path". I've seen other programs started up to help with emotional development. And the way I think of the Judaic studies program is a combination of biblical history and social emotional learning. They take stories and concepts from the bible and apply them (sometimes even act them out or write essays about the concepts) to our day to day lives. 5) Attention to academic progress - Regardless of all the above, we would not have chosen Wornick if I did not think that our daughter would be challenged academically. And she has been! After an assessment of her math skills, it was found that she was struggling a bit (the same previous school that didn't teach her Spanish, seems to have also been slacking in the math department) so her math teacher placed her in another (slower paced) group and has been working with her to get her back up to a more proficient pace/level. I've been very happy that they did this evaluation and give her the challenges she needs without frustrating her into failure. We also got recommendations from administrators at other schools that Wornick puts out academically strong kids (as determined during transfer and admissions process) which was a factor in choosing this school initially. So yes, I would highly recommend Wornick! I'm so glad we found this little gem!

I just had a daughter gradutate after 9years in this intimate school and she is over prepared for high school that it is amazing. Very hands on learning. Opportunities to try all kinds of sports, arts and music in a supportive enviornment.