The Birch School

9 Vance Road

Rock Tavern, NY 12575

17 Reviews

School District
Grade

1-12
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on January 16, 2025

This school changed our lives. My daughter feels valued, respected and cared for unlike she ever has in any previous school environments. The staff is professional, kind, supportive and values everyone in their community. My kid went from fearing school to not wanting to leave at the end of the day. As a mother I feel like the lines of communication are always open and they genuinely want to hear from me. I can not say enough good things about this wonderful place.
Submitted by parent on January 16, 2025

The Birch School is the evolution of education. They approach education by building a community of students who support each other emotionally and socially which allows the educational aspect to happen much more organically. They approach each student as individuals and don't try to make them all conform to one mold. They celebrate how each student is different and meet them where the student is most comfortable. I could not be more grateful to be part of this community.
Submitted by parent on August 25, 2021

Our children absolutely thrived in The Birch School's virtual program last year. During the height of pandemic isolation our kids made deep connections with their teachers, the other students, and themselves. I never dreamed this possible during virtual learning! With the small class sizes, the unwavering presence of the teachers, the guiding principals of the school, the organization of the learning, and the magic of the children our kids feel they've found their fit. Mutual value and respect has led the way for learning and growth. The ease in how our kids moved through the challenges of the past year is a testament to what The Birch School is doing. We had been in a different virtual program before enrolling with Birch and living the contrast is black and white. Once they began Birch our children lit up and kept on glowing. We are looking forward to what the 2021 year at Birch will bring!
Submitted by parent on February 20, 2020

My son is in his second year at this school. The first year went ok because his teacher took a lot of time to work with him. For the second year, that teacher is no longer there, and the year has been a disaster.My son has ADHD, and I know that he is difficult to deal with. The school can't handle him, and it would be best for him to leave now, but I already paid for the full year so I'm trying to make do until the year is over. The problem that I have is with the way that the school is handling it. They practically make up rules as they go along. At one point they wanted a conference with me and they didn't want him attending school until I had that conference. I sent him in anyways. He shouldn't miss school because the adults need a conference. The school also insisted on sending his unfinished schoolwork home with him to be completed at home, yet they tell me that they aren't a day care. If they are going to send the work home, aren't they just being a day care? It didn't take long before my son caught onto that and told me that he's going to go into school and not do his work and have it sent home. And now they're also insisting that he take his ADHD medicine. I'm trying to get him to agree to take it anyways so that I don't have to deal with as many complaints from the school, but requiring it of him is not something that I would agree to.I feel that the school is unorganized and poor at communication. So much of this should have been discussed before the year began. They knew they had issues last year, but they didn't communicate those issues to me before this year began. If I had the same information at the beginning of this year that they had, then I probably wouldn't have signed him up for this year. I would have had a better indication that it wouldn't work out.I also feel that how they promote themselves as having individualized, customized curriculum and that they support child-led interests and activities is inaccurate. He has no choice in what he's learning and he's bored with all of it. Next year I'll be home-schooling and he will truly have a say in his education.
Submitted by parent on January 08, 2020

The Birch school is an amazing place where kindness and creativity is fostered in a welcoming and warm learning environment. If only ALL schools could be so nurturing and could adopt their philosophy of recognizing the inherent, unique contribution each child brings, and by tailoring the curriculum to their individual needs and talents. The director is caring, thoughtful and well informed and runs a truly wonderful program. Highly recommend!
Submitted by parent on July 22, 2018

My son has been in private school for most of his life due to complete failure of our public school system to identify or work with his learning disability. He also suffered from anxiety in the public school system. We have only been at the Birch school for his first year of high school but it has been great! The student led conferences at the end of each trimester are amazing and even other private schools don't have anything comparable to it. There is no school who is teaching children to self assess and thus improve like The Birch School is. This is a unique and wonderful opportunity for all of our children. I urge you to visit the Birch School if you are wondering how education can actually be implemented ideally!
Submitted by parent on March 14, 2018

My son is in his second year at The Birch School. When he started he was in 3rd grade and broken from his previous school experience. As parents, we felt helpless. We weren’t able to homeschool him and didn’t feel that we were qualified to give him the education he deserved. From our first visit at Birch, he has been treated with respect and friendship. There was a peaceful calm that came over him. The school was quite different than anything my husband and I had ever experienced. We are so grateful we signed him up because right from the start he came home engaged, excited and hopeful! We watched him heal during the first year and engage academically in a way we had only dreamed of. His love of learning was turned back on again! He went from barely speaking after school to telling us about everything he did that day with so much enthusiasm. Further, he CRIED on snow days and days off. YES, CRIED! If that doesn’t tell you what a wonderful place he is in, I don’t know what will!There is a strong sense of community at Birch. The kids support each other and there is no tolerance for bullying of any kind. My son is learning that he has a say in his education and school isn’t just about busy work and checking boxes. As a parent, we feel very confident in Birch! We are thrilled to watch our son thrive in this environment.
Submitted by parent on March 10, 2018

My daughter is in her second year at this school. It is the first time she she has felt safe and supported in any "institution". It has been an incredible experience to watch her thrive with confidence.
Submitted by parent on February 09, 2018

As a parent, I couldn't ask for a better school for my son. This school has done a lot to work with my son in many different ways. From his self esteem to his educational experience. The Birch School has made school so engaging for my son that he loves to going there everyday. He loves learning there. I've met a few of the other students at the school. They all were very nice and my son gets along well with them. They work together and help each other as needed. The Birch School has a very nice welcoming feel to the school. I highly recommend this school to any parent who wants to send there child to private school that is affordable. To me, sending my son to this school is like sending him to one of those private schools in Manhatten that charge fourty or fifty thousand dollars per year or more.
Submitted by parent on January 17, 2018

The Birch School changed my son's life. He had cancer when he was 3 so his puberty has been stunted-- making him a prime target for bullies. He'd come home from school crying everyday in public school. The teachers could not give him the attention and support he needed in public school because he was just one of the masses. I can't imagine what life would be like without Birch. I owe my son's happiness and drive to learn to this school. I have yet to find another school-- public or private-- that engages children to the point where they don't even want snow days! (Yes, my son is disappointed when he CANT go to school). In my opinion, Birch is 10 steps ahead of all other schools simply by making it a fun place to learn. School should not be torture. In regards to academics, my son was able to flourish in a non-judgmental environment where he could also learn about topics that catered to his interests. The classrooms are small enough where each child is given individualized feedback on their work and the child cannot fall under the radar in their academics. At the end of each quarter, the kids perform a Showcase where they can put their projects and work on display for their parents. It helps to know, as a parent, exactly what your child is doing in school-- not just getting a bad report card at the end of the semester.Socially, my son has been able to find a group of friends with the same interests. He was able to do so because Birch facilitates the exploration of individual interests, where students can connect because they are being themselves. Birch holds after school groups for any kids that want to get their classmates together to make their own recreational activities. The kids are not pigeonholed into one stereotype or group-- the teachers encourage them to know themselves.
Submitted by parent on January 05, 2017

My 2 eldest children have been at this school since the inception and we could not be happier. Every day my children wake up and run out the door to get to school on time. They are both at, or exceeding where they should be at their respective grade levels and they are tested each year by an outside source to be sure that they are not falling behind on any level. It is also important to note that neither of them has ever been to any other school full time. The past two years The Birch School has adopted student led conferences which really have shown us, as parents where are children are in their studies and also builds the students confidence. There is a strong sense of community and the teachers do a wonderful job of integrating the different age groups to allow for some much needed peer learning.
Submitted by other on December 06, 2016

Every child deserves to benefit and enjoy his/her educational experience. The Birch School in New Windsor provides rewarding and individually tailored programs to meet any child's needs. I am a retired school psychologist and recognize and appreciated the professional approach maintained in this community.
Submitted by parent on November 29, 2016

Do not send your kids here!! They will fall way behind and will not have a chance to get into a decent college. Beware the talk they talk is not the walk they walk. The school is greatly overerepresented here from the list of facilities they have to their course offerings. Even the most basic of courses is lacking in depth to the point where there is no student who will truly master any particular subject. Math classes often meet once a week and Spanish class consists of learning months and numbers. And the nature-based curriculum has been diminished to a computer driven school that has less and less to do with any hands-on work with each passing year. Students are now expected to learn math on the computer, whether that works for them or not. This school has unfortunately promised something it cannot deliver and now even what it is they are trying to create has become muddy and unfocused. It is really too bad...
Submitted by parent on June 04, 2015

My son was suffering in public school. He felt unmotivated, disengaged, and sad. He would go into his room and not even talk to me. Since starting at The Birch School he has shown a lot of positive growth. He tells me he loves school and is sad when the weekend comes. I feel like I am getting my son back to his once happy self. I am so thankful to everyone at this school.
Submitted by parent on February 05, 2015

This school is fantastic! It is the answer to what is wrong with public education today. My son hated school, was failing classes, and I couldn't find any way to motivate him to put forth the tiniest bit of effort in his studies. The Birch School has been like a miracle - he tells me every day how much he loves school, he talks about the projects he is working on in class, he is enthusiastic and engaged. They have given back to my child the love of learning that public schools had managed to stamp out. I can't thank them enough for what they have done for my family!
Submitted by parent on February 05, 2014

The Birch School is an excellent private school in the Hudson Valley. Love their philosophy, the curriculum is evolving per my child's needs, the atmosphere is homelike, teachers and aids are nurturing and the program is progressive! My child looks forward to going there and when a child is excited to go to school you know it is a good place to be!
Submitted by other on February 05, 2014

The founders of the Birch School are very smart about cutting edge education and know a great deal about keeping a child's spirit alive. The Birch School excels in fostering curiosity, passion, fun, and inventiveness. The school founders have many years of experience in managing a summer program, Free Spirit Nature Camp, which has a passionate following including former staff and campers who wish they could come "home" every summer to the wonderful vibes and carefully curated experiences of this special place. The Birch School is the school year version of a fabulous summer place--safe, open, and nurturing of the best of a child's capabilities.