Mission Statement

Our mission is to establish an educational model that provides a solid foundation of high quality academic instruction, day-to-day guidance and ongoing, meaningful preparation for life during the critical middle school years.

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Encinitas Country Day School has organized its NEW middle school on Manchester Avenue around the needs of the adolescent students it serves:

Experienced and Credentialed Staff Meeting State Curriculum Standards

Our Middle School teachers are credentialed and experienced. Each teacher has been carefully selected for his/her innovative teaching style and enthusiastic interest in developing an educational model that meets the developmental needs of middle school students while meeting state standards. Mathematics/Algebra/Geometry, Language Arts, Science/Health, and History/Social Studies are core areas of study at the middle school level. Foreign Language, Visual and Creative Arts, Multi-Media and Physical Education classes round out the program.

Consistent Peer Group and Small Class Size

We have organized our middle school into small groups of approximately 16 students sharing the same schedule, homeroom class and supervisor. These small groups join together for lunch, P.E., community service projects and other school-wide programs. This arrangement supports our students in their need to establish a sense of belonging to a group yet encourages developing a larger circle of friends within the school community.

Meaningful Electives

Encinitas Country Day School offers regular instruction in Physical Education, Visual and Performing Arts, Foreign Language and Multi-Media. All students will enjoy regular participation in a variety of classes offered within all four instructional areas. Music, Drama, Computer Lab, Spanish, Karate and Yoga are a sampling of the classes offered at ECDS. By sampling a variety of classes, students have opportunities to decide to delve more deeply into the specific focus areas they elect.

Sample class description: An innovative Spanish immersion program is a fun and interactive way to acquire the language in a natural setting. The class addresses all four domains of language: listening, speaking, reading and writing, but the emphasis is on oral communication that prepares students for their required high school study of a foreign language. In order to provide individualized instruction, groups are limited to 4-6 students at a time.

Standardized Testing for Accountability

All elementary and middle school students are given a standardized test each spring. This practice provides important information about student progress and develops a student record that will be understood and respected by any public or private high school.

An Important Fifth Core Subject

In addition to the traditional core classes that are mentioned above, ECDS offers middle school students a unique and timely fifth core class. The class provides daily integrated instruction and guidance in character education, study skills, goal setting, grace and courtesy, critical thinking and life skills within each student’s homeroom setting. Our students begin their day with a non-sectarian prayer (each according to his/her own beliefs*) and will be taught to end each day with a few minutes of quiet reflection in order to monitor progress, set goals and learn how to make necessary course corrections.

• When students share a non-sectarian prayer at school they simply acknowledge the cultural universality of man’s connection with God and create an environment that encourages students to explore and embrace their own family practice and culture and to appreciate and respect the culture and beliefs of others.

Later School Day

Research has shown that young adults perform best in programs that begin a little later in the day and extend into the late afternoon. Although before and after school programs are available for our middle school students, the middle school day is scheduled between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to meet the needs of our students. However, students may choose an optional 8:30-3:30 schedule to accommodate off-campus after school programs. In addition, independent physical education credit may be arranged to allow students to participate in local sports programs.

Innovative Learning Environments

Our belief that young people will naturally protect our environment when they have regular, intimate contact with nature throughout their formative years has driven the location and design of our campus. Each middle school classroom has an indoor and outdoor environment for student activities. Each building houses a community of three classrooms on a quarter acre parcel that includes an outdoor meeting area, vegetable garden and orchard overlooking the sports field track and the Escondido Creek.

The 12-acre campus includes a playing field surrounded by a running track, a jogging trail that encircles the campus, and a four-acre conservation easement for supervised environmental science activities. The conservation easement includes riparian habitat along a creek that is regularly visited by deer. Future phases include a gymnasium, swimming pool, and nature center.

Our Commitment to You…

Our curriculum is the product of an ongoing effort to provide children and young adults with a balanced foundation of academic excellence, physical fitness, self-control and moral strength. Our intent is to enter into a partnership of true support with the families we serve. Each member of our staff is aware of our commitment to serve your student with a vision of the adult he will someday be.

School Documents

You can view and print a copy of our school documents by clicking on these links:
                 ECDS 2008-2009 Application (PDF, 10 Pages)
                 Dress Guidelines (PDF, 1 Page)