Larchmont Charter

Fairfax TK-4 is a great school. I wish it was more challenging academically but otherwise it is pretty perfect. Great culture, involved parents, terrific lunch and gardening program, library, facilities are adequate, fabulous art teacher (Jamie), strong admin (Mersedeh). Teachers care. Hollygrove families speak highly of their campus. five stars

The reputation of the school rests entirely on these two locations. The upper grades have all those spots because people leave. The elementary school families fund the school as well. LFP has pathetic fundraising and parent volunteers. It is an economic and prestige albatross.

We all hear that Selma is terrible (5-7) and that turned out to be true. Lousy admins, one after another, no culture, academics are much less challenging, we parents donated a bunch of money to help furnish a library and the teachers don’t really use it, everybody starts leaving in droves. The wealthy people leave for private, smart and/or hardworking kids leave for public gifted, strong families can’t tolerate the thoughtless admin and figure out something else. If your kid likes school or wants to work hard this place won’t work. If they want creative, engaging work that isn’t too challenging, disruptive behaviors are tolerated, and good support for disabilities then this is a good place. No surprise there is a terrible gender imbalance with 2/3 bouncy boys. The office staff are rude and defensive and heavily involved in discipline which they absolutely were supposed to stop. There is only one teacher at the school who is not a fluffy bunny grade wise. Lots of poster projects and almost no traditional academic work. It is really obvious why the test scores dip so badly. They skipped academic honors this year and told the kids” they didn’t have time” four days before school ended. The slogan in the higher grades should be participation medals for everyone!

They leave for S

The elementary schools are both great. They are significantly different in terms of culture but both are strong and parents are happy. Thriving music, terrific art, lunch cooked on campus, nice library, garden, pe, responsive experienced admin. Donations from the lower grades run the whole school. 5 stars
It ends there. The reputation of the school is based on the early years. Selma is a mess. It has NEVER had a good, strong principal and just lost a mediocre one after two years who didn't want to have to work "so hard." The previous one there was another mediocre one who worked for six months before being promoted to LFP. She has now been demoted for cause. All the admins are positive babblers who have no skills at all in problem solving, don't return emails, can't inspire volunteers. Families who have been supporters of the school (money, volunteer hours) leave in droves. It is like a sieve for high achievers, gate, money, strong parents to leave. Hint: A Better Chance What is left? I can tolerate the terrible homeless problem but not the super easy academics. The school has always given out honors awards the last week of school. This year they told the kids they were "too busy" to distribute honors and instead played Head-Shoulders-Toes and watched videos on making turkey sandwiches and diving board funnies. What kind of a school does this? Massive failure sin judgment abound. Emails from teacher and admin not returned. I actually get a stomach ache thinking how much we are losing now that we are leaving, but it is just not good. Two stars.
I hear nothing good about LFP. Massive problem with drugs. No admin. Low test score and bad AP results. Very high rate of disabilities which to be fair, they handle well. Zero stars.

LCS elementary (K-4) is great-- both Fairfax and Hollygrove families recommend their locations.. They offer strong academics and many additional enrichments (nice little library, gardening, cooking, PE, art,). The claim to offer "differentiation" and that isn't true but the general academics are pretty good and test data is decent. I will say that it grows less and less academic— no longer offers lots of reading group or math groups etc. The school has never figured out how to run Selma (5-6) or middle school. Quite a large number of families leave over dissatisfaction with the academics (which decline quite a lot-- note large drop in same student test scores between 4th-5th). 5th grade is way less challenging, teachers are very resistant to change, there was a notable decline in academic rigor for second child in 4th grade after 5th grade teachers complained. 6th grade is more challenging but really uneven— some teachers are wildly more rigorous and admin does not admin. Emails are not returned, bad survey results are never distributed, problem teachers are not addressed, the easy teachers never increase their work load, the hard teachers never ease up. Aprox. 20 kids leave 4-5, 35 leave 5-6 (almost all very strong students, 30 kids leave 6-7 (private schools). If your kids enter the school at 5-6-7-9 know that it is because someone was unhappy and frankly there was a reason. Basically things don’t happen, things don’t grow in the garden, the nice library doesn’t get used, transcripts don’t get sent, the theatre teacher removed a sub’s grades for almost a semester because they were "too easy," and the admin didn’t respond to over 30 parent emails about it. To be fair, almost all new families seem to rave about the school and support for special needs is good. But if you are gifted (check out the school’s written hostile gifted policy), high achieving, or just wanted challenging vs. engaging education this is a bad choice. We’ve been part of the LCS community for 10 years and have almost never heard anything good about the high school. But again, that it what my trusted friends have told me, not my own experience. Despite my criticisms I write this with love, I do love so much of LCS. But I need stronger academics for my children and I can't tolerate the unresponsive admin. I don't need a cheerleader-- I need a leader.