Listen to the mother of a former CDS student tell this story…

Over the summer

I know it was a little tough for her as she still struggles with plans changing on the fly.  But blog updates and texts every 4 or 5 days show us she is doing well and embracing the program and truly fitting in with the group. While we all know I will take any opportunity to brag about [her], the reason I am mentioning this is the blog post from the other day; “[She] made a pretty special and memorable connection when she used her creativity to make a little blind girl smile and laugh”.

The moment I read that line, I flashed back to many years ago, when [she] was at CDS and one of her responsibilities was to work with a younger student to help him work on eye contact.  I remember Wendy talking about working with [her] to find a way to connect to the younger boy. I genuinely believe that her work at CDS all those years ago is directly responsible for her ability to connect with that little girl at the orphanage now.  CDS is so fully woven into the complete person [she] is growing into, that it’s not always obvious.  But that one sentence sums up your impact on her life.  I have no doubt that moments like that will continue throughout her life, as CDS is in her very fiber of being.

CDS students take Standardized Achievement Tests several times per year and score competitively with similar peers on the North Shore. And yet our emphasis is not on test taking: We are an academically rigorous program fortified by a commitment to character growth.

The Measure of Academic Progress Test

MAP Test (Measures of Academic Progress created by Northwest Evaluation Association) Score Comparison Graphs

School Year: 2014-2015. Download the full PDF report here.

Alumni Perspective

Parent Perspective

Outcome Data