Courtyard Private School

"Mom, I understand it now... I can see that Courtyard is not just my school... it's like my second home. My family is there. When can I have my family and life back?" It's way past 10 p.m., week 6 into the quarantine. My 8 year old can't sleep - can any of us?All she wants in this life is to go back to school. To the place she calls her second home. We've been going to Courtyard since 2016, when my daughter started in TK. I say "we" because it's not just an 8 year old kid attending school... it's the entire family being a part of a community. As I like to say, and at the time of penning this review: 727 days of school and not one of them started with "I don't wanna go". How many parents can say that?As soon as I walked into Courtyard for my original tour I could feel the energy and environment of caring all around. The kids (pre-COVID) would get hugs and requests for updates on their loved ones: "How's your dad's arm healing?" "Do you wanna run your lines for the play?"Having been raised in South America, and used to a lot of connection and community, this place felt like home. And it has been for the last 4 years. Granted, this is all different due to the pandemic, but Courtyard is doing an amazing job with online learning and engagement; they even offered 8 weeks of summer camp with all CDC guidelines in place - it was a huge success and you could tell kids were thrilled to be back. Have I mentioned the exceptional principal, teachers that know kids and education, amazing staff, multiage classrooms, enrichment classes & before/after care and breaks that are included in the tuition, a renowned chef prepping scrumptious lunches? Yes... it's all that and more. If all goes according to plan, with a small student body and cohorts we will be able to be back on campus soon. I would say I can't wait... but it's my 8 year old that has her backpack at the ready, by the door.

When my son was 4 I started looking into local public and private schools to find a place that would support his beautiful spirit, embrace his inquisitive nature and be patient with his tendency to wiggle. In two weeks I toured 7 public and private schools. Courtyard was the last school on my list and I almost cancelled because I was a little burnt out and honestly hadn't seen anything major differentiating any of the other schools from one another. But I mustered up the energy to attend the informational interview and I left in love with this school.I went to meet with the principal armed with my arsenal of academic achievement questions and ready to grill him on how he was going to prepare my four year old for college. The principal immediately stopped me and told me first he wanted to tell me about how Courtyard supports social and emotional growth of the children, then we will discuss academics. My jaw hit the floor. A school that fosters social growth and focuses on nurturing its student's emotional well-being? What is this utopia?? I got out my checkbook and left with having secured a spot in TK with the fabulous Ms. Mattson.My son spent a magical year in TK and we thought for kinder we'd try our local school for financial purposes. We made it 8 days into the school year before realizing the mistake we'd made and quickly transferred back.The atmosphere at Courtyard is like walking into a warm hug. The new principal, Principal Krause, is thoughtful, considerate and is the most dedicated principal I've ever seen. I know every day when I drop my son off that he is going to be loved, academically challenged and fed nutritional food (did I mention they have a profession chef who makes lunches EVERY DAY???)I am so thankful every single day that I want to that Courtyard meeting. It is truly such a blessing to my family to have my kids attend this incredible school.

We absolutely love Courtyard! We have 2 kids at the school and have been a Courtyard family for 6 years. I can't say enough good things about the school. My children continue to thrive there, not only academically, but also with regard to their social/emotional skills. The Principal, teachers, and staff are wonderful and nurturing. It's truly a community. The hands on learning approach, that includes lots of field trips, really promotes and encourages my kid's continued love for learning. The tuition includes breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, before and after school care, as well as winter and spring camps, for those days that regular schools would ordinarily be closed. It's absolutely perfect for working parents! If you're on the search for a good school for your kids, I highly recommend contacting them for a tour.

My daughter has attended this school longer than any student in its history. We have been at Courtyard for 11 years (2 years of transitional kinder through 8th). In prior times, we were very happy with the Courtyard experience and any problems that arose were quickly and effectively remedied. Which is why it makes me so sad to see the school in the state it is in. The current administrator, who took over this year, refuses to meet with parents to discuss anything. I and numerous other parents have made repeated requests to meet with the "CEO" (he changed his title from principal) to discuss the middle school curriculum. The middle school is new and understandably needs some fine tuning, but the "CEO" adamantly refuses to even listen to parent experiences or work to make the middle school adequate to prepare our children from high school. He offers lip service, and pretends to care. But when you ask for actual action or discussion as a prelude to action, there is nothing there. Many students in my daughters class pay for private tutors because they are not being effectively taught in class. A year or two ago the school lost a large percentage of its students due to administrative turn over and drama. Now, many more parents are talking about pulling their children from Courtyard. Sutter, a public school, is far superior. I've spoken to more than one family who left Courtyard for Sutter, and their kids are doing better all around. Better socially, better academically. Do not waste your money sending your children here. If the school doesn't fail in a matter of years (worst case scenario), your best case scenario is to be paying private school tuition for a sub-par education and administration that is unresponsive.

Just a quick update - my son just completed his kindergarten year there and we are still SO happy with the school. Courtyard is such a nurturing school that focuses on the whole child. My son's growth emotionally and socially over the past two years has been so amazing to watch. Not only is the education customized to his skill level, the entire administration from the janitor, to the chef, to the principal all know my child by name and support his needs however that may look. So excited to continue our journey into the first grade!

My child has being going to Courtyard for the last two years. Academically she is performing really well. But just as important, she loves her school. It's common for her not to want to leave when it's time to go home.

Courtyard is a school that really seems built with the working parent in mind. Before school daycare, after school daycare, breakfast, lunch, and winter and spring camps are all included in the cost of tuition. As a family with two working parents, I can't even tell you how awesome it is to pick my kid up after 5 pm and have him complain that I'm picking him up too early because he wants to stay longer. Super convenient location for people who work downtown too.... easy to drop off your kid on the way into work. The teachers and the administration are very responsive and seem to really care about building a community. Class sizes are small and it feels like everyone who works at the school knows who your kid is. If you, or someone you know, is looking for a place in Sacramento to send their TK-8th grade student, I highly recommend checking out Courtyard.

In its 40th year of operation, Courtyard"s learning environment is designed to nurture social and emotional development as well as individualized academic achievement. The children also benefit from before and after school activities, extracurricular opportunities, chef prepared on-site meals and a safe closed campus. Working parents benefit from available extended day care hours and camps offered for times school is not in session. School staff and teachers try to make it a point to know student and family members by name. We have two grandchildren now attending Courtyard and both seem to love it, as do their parents.

Our daughter LOVES Courtyard! She started attending last April, beginning TK early. What an easy and awesome transition (from her preschool - she was ready for a change, so we started early - great decision.)Caring staff and awesome teachers. We are both working parents so we wanted a: 1) Full school day (Courtyard goes to 8:30am to 3:30am), and 2) Engaging after-school care (we usually pick up after 5pm.)Check and check. Our daughter actually gets annoyed when we pick her up too early! She also gets annoyed when we take a family trip that spills into the school week. It's not that she doesn't enjoy hanging out with her family, but she also doesn't want to miss anything interesting at school. So we tend to target 3-day weekends so that she is not actually missing any of the fun action at school!We plan to stay for a long time and look forward to our younger daughter joining her here eventually, too.

Our experience with this school both in normal times and during covid has been top notch. The teachers take the time to really get to know each student and cater the curriculum with L+1 learning groups to ensure the learning is at the right level to engage them. I also love the on-site food as my daughter tried so many foods with Chef Matt that she doesn't at home. The clubs (spanish, art, music) are so engaging my kid never wants to leave even when I pick her up after 5! With covid the online learning has been surprisingly engaging and my daughter looks forward to it daily!