Tale of Two Sisters: Grads Sydney and Isabelle Meyer Tell Their Story

Websites, tours and pamphlets can tell you about The Children's School, but when you meet our alumni, you'll see why we're so proud of what we do. Sydney Meyer 5th grade graduating class of '11 on the left, and sister Isabelle Meyer, class of '13 on the right who tell their story as TCS grads:

Meet Sydney Meyer

Sydney Meyer attended The Children's School (TCS) from first through fifth grade, graduating before our middle school program opened. She went directly into Julian Middle School, a large public school, and is now a senior at Oak Park River Forest High School. "When I first started at Julian, I was definitely very scared coming from a class of eleven to classes that had 20 or more kids, she remembers. In academics, I definitely think in writing, reading, and talking about literature, I was well above the others in my class. It's still helping me out today. I'm so grateful."

Sydney is also grateful for life skills she feels she gained at The Children's School. I think learning the value of hard work is something that was cemented into us at TCS, and learning how to set goals. Around conference time we would sit down with our teacher and go through what we'd been working on and to set personal academic and social goals. A lot of people don't establish that routine of setting goals early on, and that's something that stuck with me through my educational career. It helps me stay in the moment and do what is helpful to me. (read more...)

Meet Isabelle Meyer

Isabelle Meyer (photo center), like her sister, Sydney, attended The Children's School (TCS) from Kindergarten through 5th grade. She is currently a sophomore at Oak Park River Forest High School.

"When I transitioned to Julian Middle School in 6th grade, I was definitely a little scared, to say the least. I was nervous about how many more kids were going to be there, as well as the different learning environment -- especially the tests!" says Isabelle.

"For the most part, though, I felt socially prepared. It took me a little while to get used to the size, but TCS gave me a lot of skills in making new friends and finding people I had common interests with. I had all the academic skills I needed and very rarely felt behind my other classmates, but it was definitely an adjustment to get used to taking tests."

When she remembers TCS, one particular project stands out. "One of my favorite memories from TCS is from second grade when my class decided we wanted to study Japan," she recalls. "We built a life-sized Japanese tea house in our classroom, we sewed our own kimonos, we made clay tea bowls, and we had a Japanese-style tea party. At the tea party, we all presented something that we had studied individually, and then we just ate Japanese tea cakes and drank tea. It was one of my favorite projects." (read more...)