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Academic Placement, Reports, Conferences, Help
Beginning & Lower School Student Placement
A great deal of care is given to the decision of classroom placement for each child. Some of the factors which are taken into consideration are:
  • Creating balanced classes: instructional levels, behavioral characteristics, gender, etc.
  • Peer relationships: which to avoid and which to nurture
  • Good matches between children and teachers
Placement decisions are made during a series of team meetings which include all the classroom teachers in the children's current grade level, the division head, and sometimes the learning strategist.We put significant time and effort into making the right placement choices.
     We appreciate the trust that parents place in us as we make these important decisions. We ask parents not to make requests for specific teachers. If parents want  to give input, they may share their opinions about the kind of teacher they think their child would work best with.
      At times parents feel strongly about whether a particular classmate should or should not be placed with their child. If they make such a request, they may not also make a request regarding teacher style, since this could unfairly control the placement  of another child.
     All requests must be made in writing, and directed to the Beginning or Lower School Division Head.
  • Beginning School requests must be made by the end of May.
  • Lower School they must be in made by early May (at the latest).

Extra Help & Learning Strategists
From time to time, a student may need to do some work outside the regular classroom, either to fill a gap or for reinforcement.
  • In Grades K-5, one of the two learning strategists may assemble a small group of children with similar needs and provide special instruction in a given subject for a limited period of time. If more extensive tutoring is needed, then the learning strategist will consult with the classroom teacher and with the division head. Together they will meet with parents in an interactive process to discuss the student's needs and the appropriate response.
  • In the Upper School, a team of learning strategists works with students whose study skills and organizational skills need strengthening. If outside tutoring occurs, the team may liaison with the tutor and coordinate the school's efforts to help the child.
The school is not staffed to provide tutoring on a regular basis but will provide lists of local tutors. Arrangements must be made by the parents and paid for by them.
  • Occasionally, students are offered a contract with the understanding that tutoring is required to stay at Renbrook.
  • Our goal is always to help a child find success within the framework of Renbrook's academic expectations, with the understanding that the school's curriculum is often an accelerated one.
  • Although Renbrook will make reasonable accommodations to known disabilities to assist a student in meeting the standards of the program, the school does not have the resources for specialized education.
  • No accommodation nor modification shall fundamentally alter the school's program.
  • All students, regardless of disability, will be held to Renbrook's standards of achievement and personal conduct.


Parent-Teacher Conferences & Reports
Renbrook holds regularly scheduled parent-teacher conferences in each division. Additional conferences may be arranged at the request of parents or teachers at every level.  Please contact the school if you have a concern and would like to talk it over. Your child's classroom teacher, advisor, or division head will be happy to hear from you, as will the Head of School.
  • Beginning School Conferences & Reports: Parent-teacher conferences for Beginners, Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten are held 2 times a year (Novemberand  February). Write-ups of the discussions at the parent conferences are mailed to the parents after the conferences take place. The year ends with a spring report.
  • Lower School Conferences & Reports: In Lower School, 2 parent-teacher conferences and 2 report cards are produced each year. The first conference is held in the fall, and the first report cards are mailed out at the mid-year point. Another parent-teacher conference follows in the spring, and the second report card is issued in June.
  • Upper School Conferences & Reports: In the Upper School, report cards are issued 3 times a year. These are supplemented by interim reports at mid-term.  Parent conferences are held with each student's advisor in October and January.


Requests for Recommendations
Requests for Recommendations to Other Schools: Each year Upper School teachers are asked to write secondary school recommendations for students who are planning to graduate in the spring. From time to time younger students also leave Renbrook and move to another school.
  • No one at Renbrook will write a recommendation for a child unless a Release Waiver form has been signed by the parents and is on file at the school
  • Record Release Waiver forms are available from the secondary school counselor and in each division office.
  • All recommendations are communications between institutions; therefore these are not available to parents.

Standardized Testing
Each spring, students in Grades 4 and 5 take standardized achievement tests which are given across the country.
     We give these tests because students need to learn the skill of test-taking, so that the school can use the results for curriculum planning, and so that we can corroborate our own evaluations of students' strengths and weaknesses, when necessary, with a more quantifiable kind of assessment.
     We do not use the results to group or label children, because we are keenly aware that they measure only one kind of achievement.

Students in Grades 6, 7, 8 and 9 take the Secondary School Admission Test. The test will be given during school hours in early December. Most of our students apply to  independent secondary schools that require the SSAT.
      The test results are mailed home and can be discussed at a scheduled parent conference with the division head or upon request.

Summer Reading & Study
SUMMER READING: All students entering Grades 2-9 are required to read during the summer. The purpose of such reading is to expand familiarity with all types of literature and to strengthen the habit of reading.  Summer reading lists are provided each year.
  • For Lower School students, the lists are suggested summer reading.
  • For Upper School students, the lists are required summer reading.
  • All lists are posted online at: http://library.renbrook.org.
  • Follow-up is done in the fall.
SUMMER STUDY: Some students are required to study during the summer to make up work that has been missed during the year, or to strengthen areas of weakness.
  • Summer work is planned carefully with teachers to meet each student's needs.
  • In some cases a test may be required before the student begins class in the fall. 
  • Renbrook reserves the right to deny re-admission to a student who fails to comply with the required summer plan of studies.


Upper School Honors Criteria
The process for developing honors classes includes a screening by department members on the basis of: grades, standardized test scores, skill checks, final exam grades, attendance records, and current teacher recommendations. The Department as a whole discusses students on the list of possibilities, based on criteria below in addition to specific subject area criteria.
     The Department chair develops final proposed honors sections. Department heads meet with Upper School head to review each student's overall academic program and commitments. The criteria for consideration as an honors student requires that the student:
  • Demonstrate strong work ethic
  • Organize and complete assignments independently
  • Take intellectual risks
  • Produce work of high quality
  • Work at a fast pace
  • Show initiative
  • Demonstrate high interest in subject area
  • Engage fully in class
  • Demonstrate retention of skills
  • Demonstrate high level abstract thinking


Upper School Student Placement
Although parent opinions and preferences are considered, the school must make all final decisions about placement. The same is true with the choice of advisors in Upper School.
     In the case of new students in Upper School, parents are given an informational questionnaire. Parents use this sheet to advise the Division Head about their child, as another source of information to determine the best placement.