Lorien Wood

[Anonymous]

I see mixed reviews online and was wondering if anyone can speak to any of the following from personal experience.

1. How structured are the academics and are students well-prepared for HS? They seem to emphasize time outdoors and experiential learning with minimal homework?

2. The school is Christian, but how much of a focus is there on this in day-to-day learning, and is it Catholic or Protestant? Or welcoming of both?

3. I see some reviews complaining of drama/politics with the school leadership and parents apparently not getting along, forming different factions or something. Is that all in the past or is there still drama in this regard?

4. It's a smaller school, so obviously extracurriculars are limited, but what kind of extracurriculars do they offer?

[Anonymous]

Never heard of it, but the web can be your friend. For example, any school the splashes "Christ Centered" on their homepage probably spends a minute or two on religion.

[Anonymous]

The school sounds pretty out there based on the website and the one family I know that sends their child there is cuckoo.

[Anonymous]

I know a family that went there, was unhappy with some of the dynamics, and switched to a much more traditional classical Christian school. But that was some years ago, and things may have settled.

Lorien Woods is stunningly inexpensive for a local private and worth serious consideration on that basis alone, but, at least last time I checked, a major part of why they are inexpensive is that parents need to kick in a LOT of volunteer hours.

[Anonymous]

We know a few families that have also left after some leadership changes in recent years that they felt were rocky. Agree that it's a very different model and, like Rivendell, expect a lot of parent engagement.

[Anonymous]

I realize that this thread is from last year so my response may not help the OP, but I'm posting in case it helps others who may be researching the school. As of now I cannot in good conscious recommend this school to anyone due to my response to question #3.

1. How structured are the academics and are students well-prepared for HS? They seem to emphasize time outdoors and experiential learning with minimal homework?
When you consider the sheer volume of time wasted in a typical public school day kids at any private school or homeschool are going to be getting so much more bang for their buck so to speak. I can't speak to the transition to high school because we didn't stay long enough to find out.

2. The school is Christian, but how much of a focus is there on this in day-to-day learning, and is it Catholic or Protestant? Or welcoming of both?
It is a fully integrated curriculum meaning faith is woven into everything. This is clearly stated on their website. It's not a catholic school.

3. I see some reviews complaining of drama/politics with the school leadership and parents apparently not getting along, forming different factions or something. Is that all in the past or is there still drama in this regard?
This is an ongoing issue. The current leadership is ridiculous, absurd etc. If I told you all the stories you wouldn't believe me. I just took a look at the website and the vast majority of those happy smiling faces you see have left the school over this. If you take a tour and look closely at the whole school photos on the wall in the lobby you will see a huge turnover in staff starting in about 2020. This was not a coincidence. You'll also notice a contingent of student turnover as well. To protect everyone's privacy including my own I need to be vague but things happened like money being taken from accounts without cause, threatening letters from a law firm demanding payments with threat of legal action if not paid. The people who have remained through this drama are either favorites of the administration and thus not targeted or have no other good options and are just trying to stay low and ride it out. With so many other options in the area there is absolutely no reason to engage yourself in this mess.

4. It's a smaller school, so obviously extracurriculars are limited, but what kind of extracurriculars do they offer?
When we attended there was soccer and music / drama and I think running. Not all activities were available to all grades

[Anonymous]

I send my kids there and we love it. You do have to complete a number of volunteer hours. I can’t speak to the drama that others have mentioned. We haven’t witnessed or experienced that but we’ve only been there for a year. I would agree with the other answers above but would add that a student who is catholic would certainly be welcome, though the theological teachings may differ slightly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Lorien Woods is stunningly inexpensive for a local private and worth serious consideration on that basis alone, but, at least last time I checked, a major part of why they are inexpensive is that parents need to kick in a LOT of volunteer hours.

They’ve changed the tuition model to allow families to opt out of the demanding amount of volunteer hours by paying a chunk more. Doesn’t change the fact that you may get stuck in a volunteer slot that you hate.

[Anonymous]

What exactly does " teaching from a Biblical worldview" mean? Do they teach creationism?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What exactly does " teaching from a Biblical worldview" mean? Do they teach creationism?

From the website: "We believe that God is the source of all Truth. All areas of life at Lorien Wood School are to be understood in the light of the Word of God. We believe the Bible teaches that reality is governed by the paradigm of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. Our statement of faith is summarized in the Apostles’ Creed." That page has the Distinctives of the school: https://www.lorienwood.org/about-us/distinctives.cfm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly does " teaching from a Biblical worldview" mean? Do they teach creationism?

From the website: "We believe that God is the source of all Truth. All areas of life at Lorien Wood School are to be understood in the light of the Word of God. We believe the Bible teaches that reality is governed by the paradigm of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. Our statement of faith is summarized in the Apostles’ Creed." That page has the Distinctives of the school: https://www.lorienwood.org/about-us/distinctives.cfm

I wouldn’t send my kid to a school that can’t be bothered to spell check words in large, green, bold AND italicized font on a page dedicated to why the school is “distinctive”.

[Anonymous]

To shed some light on these questions:

1. How structured are the academics and are students well-prepared for HS? They seem to emphasize time outdoors and experiential learning with minimal homework?
The students who have transferred to other schools were at least a year behind, especially in Math. I know families who were shocked when they found out about their children's academic progress. This is possible since there are no formal assessments, such as standardized tests. In the report card, there are no real grades, just D for "developing" or S for "satisfactory." This can mean a variety of things meaning your child can be in the range anywhere from D+ to B+ and it would all entail developing. The 6th grade is the worst since they are out most of the day and learning about nature. If you are looking for a school where Math, Grammar, and Writing are taught, a classical Christian school might be a better option.

2. The school is Christian, but how much of a focus is there on this in day-to-day learning, and is it Catholic or Protestant? Or welcoming of both?
They are Protestant and try to integrate Christian principles into the curriculum. However, the execution is poor since I have witnessed retaliation, bullying, and ostracizing in the school not so much amongst the students but from the school leadership, which is shocking.

3. I see some reviews complaining of drama/politics with the school leadership and parents apparently not getting along, forming different factions or something. Is that all in the past or is there still drama in this regard?
This is an ongoing phenomenon, unfortunately. The parents who tried to speak up were asked to leave and they have left. The parents who are not aware are new. The parents who stayed have limited options. At least 10 families have been making their exits each year since 2020.

4. It's a smaller school, so obviously extracurriculars are limited, but what kind of extracurriculars do they offer?
They offer Art. They offer music but since the music teacher has moved to Ohio they offered the music class via Zoom with another teacher in the classroom. They have sports teams available for the upper Elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What exactly does " teaching from a Biblical worldview" mean? Do they teach creationism?

Yes in form 4 they teach young earth and old earth creationisms as valid views to be respected. They do not official say that they are true or that you should agree with them, but it is taught.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see mixed reviews online and was wondering if anyone can speak to any of the following from personal experience.

1. How structured are the academics and are students well-prepared for HS? They seem to emphasize time outdoors and experiential learning with minimal homework?

The curriculum is lacking and many have to get tutors. But some do well and go on to take honors/APs and high school. The emphasis on outdoors is apparent in all grades for some it is playing outside for upper grades a “go out” elective is required where they work on the garden(mulching, planting, upkeep, etc.).

2. The school is Christian, but how much of a focus is there on this in day-to-day learning, and is it Catholic or Protestant? Or welcoming of both?

They talk about God in every class. They are Protestant.

3. I see some reviews complaining of drama/politics with the school leadership and parents apparently not getting along, forming different factions or something. Is that all in the past or is there still drama in this regard?

Most of the people/families there are very friendly, but the overall hierarchy is a mess. The head of school is terrible.

4. It's a smaller school, so obviously extracurriculars are limited, but what kind of extracurriculars do they offer?

They have soccer and the upper grades have art, music, and electives that change semester by semester.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly does " teaching from a Biblical worldview" mean? Do they teach creationism?

Yes in form 4 they teach young earth and old earth creationisms as valid views to be respected. They do not official say that they are true or that you should agree with them, but it is taught.

I don’t understand how this is legal.