Redwood Day vs. Head-Royce for Kindergarten and Beyond

Hello, we have a first grader and incoming kindergartener at Redwood Day School. I don’t have experience with Head Royce (other than the tour and also being faced with this decision). But here are my comments about Redwood Day:

Community - so nice and warm, have made great friends! 

Educators - super supportive and great teachers , down to earth and a very non stressful environment of learning  

Music- my son seems to love the music teacher! The winter performance is exceptional    

Drop off and pick up is super easy with curb side drop off  

hope that helps  

I have kids at both schools now, but since I don't know much about the H-R lower school experience I can only comment on a few things.  1) I'd say the sense of parent community engagement is comparable.  We've made lovely friends at both schools and they both provide opportunities for parents to volunteer and get to know one another.  Aside from that, a lot of it depends on how active and social your particular grade is.  I'd suggest trying to find one or two friendly and outgoing parents in your grade at the beginning of the year and then spearhead a few happy hours, or weekend park playdates to help with group bonding.  3) H-R is more sports focused.  I'd say some of that is approach and some of that is due to facilities.  5) Redwood Day pick up/drop off is a breeze. Staggered times for dismissal makes for a quick and easy loading process.  Staff helps kids unload from curb in morning.  Parking is easy too.  H-R can feel daunting at first, but it's well managed and fairly easy once everyone gets the hang of it (I'd say about 2 weeks into the school year).  The K students get out earlier than the rest of the grades, but 1-12 grades all release at the same time.  It sounds crazier than it is though.  Like I said, the staff are well-organized, but the queue of cars can be quite long.  Good luck! 

Hi! I just wanted to say that we were in a similar position wrt choosing between Redwood Day and Head Royce for kindergarten this year. We weighed all these factors and also mulled over the differences between K-8 and K-12 generally, the responsiveness and professionalism of the administrators, and the size of the campuses. We were really impressed with Redwood Day across the board — it just feels so friendly and manageable while also seeming to offer a great education. (I have to admit that I’m pretty pleased about the chickens and the amazing tech/art building, as well.) We just accepted their offer and put down our deposit. Feel free to reach out to me if you also accept at RDS and would like to get together for playdates before school begins. Our daughter is very friendly and kind. :) Good luck with your decision!

Hi! I'm a Head-Royce parent of a 3rd & 5th grader, both of whom started in kinder. I only know RDS from our tours...and we loved it, too. Our decision also came down to these two schools. We chose HRS for a number of reasons (which I'll mention!) and couldn't be happier there. Our daughters love music (and dance, which was added to the program during our time in Lower School and has been a great thing). I cry each year at the all-school Holiday Program, it's so great. We're about to have the spring LS music performance, which is also special. The teachers at HRS are why we are there. Each year we say "It can't get better," and then it does. Our girls are VERY different learners, have very different personalities, and they are both thriving. I have seen in our very small sample size of two that they truly are able to teach to each child in very thoughtful and effective ways. Our parent teacher conferences blow us away with the level of understanding and insight the teachers have about our kids. Finally, the parent community has (frankly) surprised is in good ways! When we made our decision we thought we were choosing a school where we wouldn't quite click or fit in with the parents there. We're a two-mom family, both work for nonprofits and have a cozy (tiny) home. This was the big shocker for us -- we have made amazing friends, and we are very much a part of a thriving parent community. There are regular opportunities for parents get together, both at school events and outside. Parents in kindergarten have a ton of chances to meet each other even before school starts, and then parent nights out pop up and friendships form quickly. (Full disclosure: I'm on the Parents' Association now, and I take building community very seriously. :) It's super important to me to have a school community that is welcoming and supportive!) I hope this helps! It's a tough decision, and you can't go wrong, honestly. But we love HRS! Oh, and drop off/pick up isn't as bad as it seems. I park and walk down if I'm getting them from after school care, b/c I love being on campus and the extra chance to be out of my car and off my phone, but it's easy to hang at the top and wait for them to come up, too.

So we had the same decision to make between HRS and RDS. We went through a pretty detailed process to make that decision. We called up each of the admissions directors and asked why their selected our son. RDS was very thorough with their understanding of our son, while we felt HRS was not. Then we looked at the curriculum. RDS picks from the best curriculum's worldwide. For example, for Math they use Singapore Math. Just to give you a feel, Singapore math has been acclaimed internationally as one of the best curriculums - all UK public school have adopted that, and Singapore tends to have a disproportionate number of math Olympiad kids. RDS also has a design lab which also is pretty amazing. Teaching elementary school kids Design Thinking is pretty progressive. Another factor to consider is that RDS is a smaller community, so more close knit. RDS has 2 sections till grade 5 and then 3 sections per class from grades 6-8. HRS adds 5 sections in grade 6. So think about what works better for you and your child. 

After all this research, we felt RDS would be better for our son. The one thing in favor of HRS was that it has a high school. But that alone was not enough for us. At the end of the day, both schools are great. You really can't go wrong. The main thing is to convince yourself as parents and then not look back. 

Hi - I have a second grade boy at Head Royce, and he also looked at RDS.

First of all, congratulations - both are great schools.  Here are my thoughts on your questions below:

1). Parent community and engagement -  there are many opportunities to volunteer for field trips, in the classroom, in the library, for special events and the auction, with the Parents Association, etc.  The school hosts educational coffees and lectures regularly. I have participated in many of the above and helped organize events and have made close firends with parents in 2nd grade and in several other grades as well.

2) Educators- they have been excellent- so far I have really loved and admired all three teachers that my son has had. Head Royce puts in a lot of effort to interviewing and has both high quality, loving and academically strong teachers.  They fundraise for teacher continuing education, so I think that draws great teachers.

3) Music-  my son enrolled in a year-long after-school piano class on campus starting in K, and he is with the same teacher today.  There were also options for string instruments, and the options expand as they get older.  Very convenient to have your child proceed straight from school to a music lesson, and you pick them up afterwards.  My knowledge of the broader school music program comes from the annual holiday music program that highlights the a capella, various middle school and high school bands and dancing - it is pretty spectacular- I wonder if you could ask Admissions to see a video of this year’s program - it is really inspiring to see where your lower school child might be headed if they stick with music.  

4)  Drop-off - I echo sentiments written above - the HRS drop-off seems daunting, but it is a well-oiled machine.  Many kids take buses, so there is plenty of parking for K and 1st grade families to park and walk their kids to class, and the drop off line in the morning is very quick/efficient.  Pick-up is a breeze due to wide variety of pick up times.

Good luck with your decision!!!

I am the mom of one 1st grader and an incoming kindergartener at Head-Royce.  We were in your similar situation a few years ago when deciding between RDS and HRS.  We went with HRS due to the ease of logistics, since we didn't see that much of a difference between the lower school experience in both schools.  Here is my take -

1) sense of parent community/engagement - both are similar, in that it takes participation for engagement.  You can be as engaged as you want to, and you will find other families with similar backgrounds/interests if you wish to reach out.

2) strength of educators - both are similar

3) sports/physical activities - both have ample grounds for running around and sports.  HRS has a larger campus due to K-12 being in the same location.  In the lower school, PE is outdoors or in the gym, and the coaches are awesome.  HRS has a stronger sports program in middle and upper school

4) music - in the HRS lower school this is introduced early, and ranges from free-form to music theory.  It's a great program, with a dedicated large classroom.  In first grade, the teacher uses songs to introduce concepts and help with transitions, which is awesome

5) ease of pick up/drop off - RDS doesn't have a bus service, and HRS has an extensive bus service.  For us, RDS was too far away compared to HRS.  This was a game changer for us, and has helped logistics immensely.  The pick up/drop off experience at HRS is organized with dedicated security and staff help.  As for the bus, there is a private bus service for about 500/year which is great and they will text you if there are delays.  When my kid was in kindergarten, she developed strong friendships on the bus with kids from other grades which was so helpful with the transition.  

Overall for us logistics (drop off/pick up), afterschool care and enrichment as well as hot lunch prepared on site were huge benefits of HRS over RDS.  In addition, not having to go through this whole application process again is a huge plus of HRS, since it's a K-12 school.

Best of luck with your decision!