By Former Board Chair and Current Board Member Michele Reiner
This past May, The Children’s School’s Board of Trustees voted to add seventh and eighth grades to the school. The decision came after a year of intense discussions with strategy consultants, staff, faculty, parents and members of the Atlanta Independent School community. As we dove deeper and deeper into our due diligence, it became clear that everyone – most importantly TCS students and their families – would benefit from the expansion.
We all know The Children’s School does an excellent job of nurturing children ages three – 12 into young adulthood, and the board believes that those same benefits should be extended to children in the “middle years.” Knowing how critical these years are for youth, we now see how TCS can offer something unique that allows students to continue flourishing; developing their compassion, identity and sense of community; and building a strong academic foundation that will help them excel during their high school years and beyond.
Change takes courage, vision and encouragement, and the board is ready to support and lead the school community through this transition. We made this decision confident that our current programming would not be adversely impacted and, in fact, would be further enhanced in ways we can only begin to imagine. In addition, we appreciate the strong support from our current faculty, staff and many families who are ready to take risks and pioneer a new chapter in TCS’s history. While this expansion will extend our “magic” through the middle school years, we still remain one community and one school dedicated to childhood and the joyous growth and development of all our students.
