FCDS Infrequently Asked Questions (InFAQs)

In a people-oriented business like ours, good communication is usually the key to resolving issues involving conflict or confusion. We always try to find effective new ways to communicate with you, and we’ve had success with our extensive (and ever-expanding) Web site, and with the weekly Fury Times e-mail. Sometimes we send a letter to all of our families about specific issues that are acceptable to share (as I mentioned before, this simply wouldn’t be appropriate in some cases, such as when the matter at hand regards confidential discipline and personnel issues). However, we usually request a personal meeting or simply send a letter or e-mail to the individual with a concern or question. The great thing about letters and e-mails is that they can be shared with others who may have similar questions. But – human nature being what it is – good news and reassuring responses tend not to be passed along to those who may have similar concerns.

During the past eight years, we’ve found that word of mouth is the most effective way to communicate such news. That said, what follows is our school administration’s attempt to help the members of our school family respond factually when such issues arise. In no particular order, below are questions that have been asked of me or a member of the administrative team at least once, and some that are offered periodically. Usually, once the facts are presented, the concerns are resolved. We’ve entitled this section of the headmaster’s Web page InFAQs, or Infrequently Asked Questions. We hope you will be enlightened by reading these questions and answers, and we’ll endeavor to keep them updated, adding to this list when we hear other questions. As a result of the Strategic Planning Initiative, we've updated 43 of our existing InFAQs and added 17 new ones (43 through 61). Just click on an InFAQ below:

  1. How does FCDS compare with other independent schools? How would you describe the strengths of this school?
  2. What does FCDS have to offer that isn’t available in local public schools?
  3. FCDS isn’t the “real world.” How could my child become prepared for life in this educational environment?
  4. This school looks like a college campus. It doesn’t seem to have the same “warmth” of other independent schools. Has FCDS become too large to truly know each child and family?
  5. What are FCDS’s goals? Is it an exemplary educational facility or just a fun place to go to school?
  6. How do FCDS faculty salaries compare with salaries of public school faculty?
  7. My family isn’t wealthy. Will we feel comfortable at FCDS?
  8. Is parental involvement encouraged?
  9. How do you address “bullying” issues at FCDS?
  10. Do FCDS students have opportunities to develop leadership skills?
  11. Are you too administratively top-heavy? Are you growing administrative salary expenses at the school with “little or no regard for the common family?”
  12. You’re growing by decreasing admission standards. Why not keep the school smaller but smarter?
  13. Are you growing at the expense of academics for athletics?
  14. Why do you give financial aid? It seems like you give more than you should, and it’s unfair to those of us who pay full tuitions.
  15. What percentage of the FCDS student/teacher population would you describe as “diverse”?
  16. Do you recruit athletes?
  17. What are your student and teacher rates of retention?
  18. My three-year-old child is extremely bright and is already reading. Why do you think it is important to determine a child's developmental readiness prior to enrolling in the Pre-K, Kindergarten, or first grade at FCDS?
  19. Why don’t you offer bus transportation for Pre-K and Kindergarten children at the 12:15 (or 12:45) dismissal time?
  20. Do Middle and Upper School students have school-sponsored social events?
  21. Are special interest clubs available for students at all grade levels?
  22. Why did you cancel class trips? Why can’t our children have these fun-filled trips together during the school year?
  23. Are you too lenient? Drug use is a problem. OR…Aren’t you too strict with your “zero tolerance policy” towards drug and alcohol use?
  24. What percentage of FCDS graduates earn scholarships? How many National Merit Scholars do you have each year?
  25. What percentage of FCDS graduates attend college? What percentage of students are accepted at their “first choice” institution?
  26. Do you offer Advanced Placement courses for Upper School students?
  27. Are the honors courses my ninth grade son/daughter has taken in a public (or area independent) school equivalent to the honor courses at FCDS?
  28. My son/daughter would have a much higher class rank as a senior in a public school. Why would it be to his/her advantage to attend FCDS?
  29. Is your points system for Upper School students too strict?
  30. Are you weakening the school by focusing on the Johnson Academic Center?
  31. Do students experience any sort of stigma as a result of receiving support in the JAC?
  32. My child isn’t an athlete. Would he/she “fit in” at FCDS?
  33. My daughter is most interested in music, drama, and visual art. What does FCDS offer in these areas?
  34. Why do you just build athletic facilities? What about building academic facilities?
  35. Is the school too concerned with/does it spend too much money on athletics?
  36. Are the academic goals of FCDS being sacrificed for physical education goals? Your coaches have impressive coaching credentials, but where do they fit in to FCDS's academic program and what subjects are they qualified to teach?
  37. Why must you raise tuition? Our tuitions are too high. Aren’t you pricing yourselves out of the market?
  38. Why does Forsyth Country Day School need an Annual Fund when you charge as much as you do for tuition? And, while we’re at it, why do you name so many things on campus after those who give money?
  39. It seems like it’s all about the money. Why do you emphasize fundraising so much?
  40. How much money will I be asked to pay in addition to tuition? Are there “hidden” fees?
  41. Why does the school run its own coffee shop – The Fury Café?
  42. To what extent do the school’s zero tolerance alcohol and drug policies allow school involvement in off-campus occurrences?
  43. Why is there no curriculum coordinator? Why doesn’t FCDS have a Dean of Faculty?
  44. How would you address the strength of our math program?
  45. Has FCDS ever considered offering a public speaking course?
  46. How would you compare the Lower School writing program to what is offered in the public schools? Do we lose many Lower School students to the HAG program in public schools?
  47. How can we ensure that our teachers are using the AKOM program in each of our divisions?
  48. How can teachers and parents better assess the student’s progress during conferences?
  49. How can I ensure that my child’s teachers teach to all children in the class, especially those students who are academically gifted?
  50. What are your requirements for hiring faculty? How do faculty members keep in touch with each other?
  51. Why do you hire teachers who are also coaches?
  52. Why do we recruit students from other countries? What value do they provide to FCDS?
  53. How have the recent fundraising initiatives supported our arts program? Why does the school have to rely on parents’ help for its drama productions instead of having teachers or students do the work?
  54. What are we doing to maintain the cleanliness and upkeep of our campus facilities?
  55. What are we doing to acquire additional land surrounding our campus?
  56. What are we doing to reward our teachers and expand our offerings for both students who need additional assistance and for students who are gifted?
  57. What information can you share about the MAP Program that was introduced in the fall of 2006?
  58. Is Forsyth Country Day School considering the addition of on-campus housing?
  59. How would you evaluate our food services program?
  60. What is the best way to communicate with my child’s teachers and the school?

1.  InFAQ: How does FCDS compare with other independent schools? How would you describe the strengths of this school?

We believe that Forsyth Country Day School compares very well not only with the independent schools in North Carolina and the Southeast, but also with the older independent schools of the Northeast and throughout the country.

One significant and primary difference that sets FCDS apart is its ability to meet the needs of all kinds of children. If a child excels in the classroom, we provide Advanced Placement and accelerated classes to meet his or her needs. If a child generally does well in the classroom, but has difficulty grasping one particular subject, or even if he or she faces significant challenges, we have the programs and facilities to help that child succeed through our Johnson Academic Center, or (in the case of students of average to above-average intelligence who have language-based learning differences) the Multi-sensory Academy of Practitioners (MAP) program.

If a student excels in the arts (or simply enjoys them), Forsyth Country Day School has the programs and facilities in place to cultivate his or her talents. With a strong visual arts curriculum, an excellent band and orchestra program, an exceptional Concert Choir, ample dramatic and musical theatre performance opportunities, and its own Community School of the Arts for supplemental lessons, Forsyth Country Day School can compete in the arts arena with virtually any school.

For those who excel in athletics (or merely enjoy playing a sport) and wish to have the opportunity to reach their greatest potential, Forsyth Country Day School has the athletic programs and facilities in place to ensure that the sky (as defined by the individual child’s abilities and drive) is the limit. In fact, the vast majority of our students (89 percent) participate in athletics at school.

Another strength that distinguishes Forsyth Country Day School is our commitment to constant improvement. We are always looking for ways to make our excellent programs and facilities even better. Two great examples of this commitment are the implementation of our All Kinds of Minds (AKOM) program throughout our school and the creation of the Multi-sensory Academy of Practitioners (MAP) Program. The addition of these programs illustrates how we look to be a leader and “first mover” in employing the newest research and the most forward-thinking technologies to best serve our students.

Conceptually, we could have the best programs in the world and the most impressive buildings, but without our faculty, we would have little to offer. No matter how far we go or how much we improve, our real and most enduring strength is our teachers, whose talent, knowledge, passion, and dedication to their students set Forsyth Country Day School apart as a school of excellence.

If you would like to discuss this issue further, Chuck Jones, our Provost and Middle School Director, would be a great person with whom to speak. He can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 317 or via e-mail at chuckjones@fcds.org.

2.  InFAQ: What does FCDS have to offer that isn’t available in local public schools?

Here at Forsyth Country Day School, we offer a unique sense of family and community that spans grades Junior Pre-Kindergarten through 12. There is an intimacy that creates close relationships among faculty, students, and administrators that is not possible in large public schools. We truly believe in serving our students and families, and our small class sizes allow us to work with students individually, and to get to know them better. In Lower School, the variety of curriculum offerings – especially in the areas of foreign language, music, physical education, art, computers, and science – far exceeds the time and exposure students in the local public schools receive. Though we take the ERB test at the end of the year, we are not driven by the mandated state and federal end-of-year testing that drives the curricula of public schools and focuses all instruction on these areas. Instead, we routinely enrich our curriculum based on the real needs of our students. We are able to take our curriculum “outside of the box” to create lasting memories in the Lower School by staging a Pre-K and Kindergarten musical as well as a fourth grade musical. We are able to enjoy field trips as fun learning experiences and to participate in school traditions that involve families and the greater school community in the learning experience, like the second grade’s Colonial Day and the third grade State Fair, without the fear that we are taking time away from end-of-grade test preparation.

Students are not labeled at FCDS and therefore can take courses at the level their aptitude, work ethic, and achievement will allow. This creates a healthier learning environment that can be found in few other places.

The multiplicity of courses and co-curriculars, especially in the areas of art, music, and athletics, makes the Middle and Upper School years at FCDS a “total” school experience. Because of our small size, the percentage of participation in these areas is much higher than at any public school in the area. Also unique to FCDS are our after-school tutorials, held Monday through Thursday for extra time with teachers, and the Johnson Academic Center. In addition, we offer a dedicated College Counseling department that works full time to help our students and parents navigate the college admission process. And we know they must be doing something right – 100 percent of our students are accepted to college, and 81 percent attended their first-choice school last year.

All these benefits aside, we still believe that the most distinctive and special factor of an FCDS education is the Junior Pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade sense of family we promote, along with the mindset that we are here to build relationships, and we feel this is unique in our area.

Lower School Director Norris Baker would be a wonderful person with whom to discuss this because of his many years of service in both public and independent schools. He can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 326 or via e-mail at norrisbaker@fcds.org.

3.  InFAQ: FCDS isn’t the “real world.” How could my child become prepared for life in this educational environment?

To begin answering this important question, we’ll have to define the phrase “real world.” For our purposes, it’s the world our students will enter after they have finished their education – the working world. Some may argue that college life is the beginning of the “real world,” but for many young adults, the realities of daily life such as paying bills, holding down a job, and maintaining a budget don’t start until after college.

As a school community, we are proud to have the opportunity to play an important role in the development of the whole student as he or she moves towards post-secondary education, then gainful employment. Getting today’s youth ready for success in the “real world” is a challenge best undertaken by a combined effort of good parenting and the safe yet challenging educational setting of FCDS.

Success in the “real world” requires many life skills such as leadership, teamwork, problem solving, self-motivation, discipline, pride, interpersonal skills, and the ability to persevere while meeting great challenges. Students at FCDS develop these life skills (and countless others) by achieving success academically, athletically, and through the arts. FCDS graduates also are armed with skill sets supported by internships, participation in clubs and student government, and through the countless community service ventures organized by the student body. In addition to providing opportunities to develop these “real world” skills, FCDS offers each member of the student body the chance to explore who he or she is and to try new things without the fear of failure, rejection, persecution, or loss of self.

There are no plans for the FCDS faculty to begin offering courses teaching students specific skills needed to become a neurosurgeon, a florist, a mechanical engineer, a fireman, or even a teacher, but as an extension of the new leadership and life skills program we developed in 2005 (please see InFAQ 10), FCDS now offers "Ready or Not, Here Life Comes" to freshmen. This course is designed to help our youngest Upper School students assess their personal strengths and weaknesses and identify personal learning styles, which – in turn – will allow them to gain study skills, implement test-taking and homework strategies, and improve organizational skills to prepare them for success in both school and life. As a result of the success of this course, more areas of study and life skills may be introduced as new courses or, in most cases, interwoven with existing courses and settings.

For more information about this course, Anne Taite Austin, our Schools Attuned Site Director, would be a great person with whom to speak. She can be reached by phone at 945-3151 ext. 530 or by e-mail at annetaiteaustin@fcds.org.

4.  InFAQ: This school looks like a college campus. It doesn’t seem to have the same “warmth” of other independent schools. Has FCDS become too large to truly know each child and family?

The warmth of the school is nurtured first and foremost by our small class sizes, and by the relationships between staff and students that this framework fosters. Adults know the children well and children know each other well. No child "slips through the cracks" at FCDS, and no child goes unseen or unheard. Staff members have worked hard to become deeply rooted in the All Kinds of Minds philosophy. One hundred percent of the staff has successfully completed Dr. Mel Levine's Schools Attuned Professional Development Program, and new employees are trained in this methodology during their first year at FCDS. Consequently, the staff approaches every problem that each child may exhibit as an opportunity to investigate potential solutions. FCDS is an authentic community of learners who respect and enjoy learning with one another.

If you would like more information, Lu Anne Wood, our Director of Admission, would be great person with whom to speak. You may reach her at 945-3151 ext. 340 or via e-mail at luannewood@fcds.org.

5.  InFAQ: What are FCDS’s goals? Is it an exemplary educational facility or just a fun place to go to school?

Forsyth Country Day School strives to be the top school in North Carolina and to be among the top 20 schools in the nation. To achieve these goals, we could be nothing less than an exemplary educational facility. Academic excellence is an extremely high priority, but this excellence may be defined in many different ways. At Forsyth Country Day School, we have decided to be an educational leader and to define excellence for ourselves rather than buy into a narrow, pre-existing definition.

We accept only those students who can handle our curriculum. That does not mean, however, that we will accept only students who score in the top stanines on a standardized test. We are far more interested in how far we can bring our students than merely in how gifted they are naturally. By taking this broader view of excellence and in developing programs and facilities like the Johnson Academic Center and the Multi-sensory Academy of Practitioners (MAP) program, we are not only recognizing the educational realities of the world – we are leading the trend nationally. In the past three years, we have had numerous schools from across the country visit us to learn more about what we are doing at the Johnson Academic Center. We have been visited by teams of educators from myriad independent schools (predominently in the Southeast) – all trying to replicate some of our academic programs. Our reputation continues to grow in and to expand beyond the region, so our dream of becoming a top school in the nation is beginning to become a reality.

In this dynamic learning atmosphere students are excited, inspired, and motivated; learning itself is fun. In addition, our academics are supported by co-curricular activities that help develop the whole person – and can provide a lot of enjoyment.

For more information on this topic, or to receive a comprehensive list of visiting schools, Joyce Henson, Director of the Johnson Academic Center, would be a great person with whom to speak. She can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 397 or via e-mail at joycehenson@fcds.org.

6.  InFAQ: How do FCDS faculty salaries compare with salaries of public school faculty?

Many people are unaware that the average teacher in an independent school is paid less than the average public school teacher. Teacher salaries in independent schools have historically been 75 to 80 percent of public school salaries. According to the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education, the average public school teacher earns between 25 and 119 percent more than private school teachers earn (depending on the private sub-sector). Independent schools are constantly striving to bring their salaries in line with those of public schools. Historically, many teachers have been willing to work in private schools because of the so-called “climate advantage” associated with better behaved and more motivated students from families of a higher socioeconomic status. However, schools are beginning to recognize that the climate advantage must be supplemented with cash compensation and benefits. According to the NAIS, public school teachers’ salaries are rising nationally due to teacher shortages and independent school teacher salaries are beginning to catch up, with many independent schools setting the bar at 90 to 100 percent or more of the local public school benchmarks. 

Maintaining competitive teacher salaries and benefits is a high priority at Forsyth Country Day School, as both are crucial when it comes to attracting and retaining the very best teachers available. We are in the business of providing a top-quality education, and the key to providing one is the strength of our people. In many cases, this means paying more than we might for a less qualified candidate. Through the school’s recruiting efforts and focus on increased compensation for its faculty, we strongly believe that FCDS has reached a point at which its teacher population is the strongest in the school’s history. 

We have worked very hard over the past several years to make our teachers’ salaries and benefits competitive with public schools, and we have made great strides in this area. Specifically, over the past five years, Forsyth Country Day School has matched or exceeded the previous public school salary for most new hires from public schools. Unlike the public school system’s salary scale, which rigidly dictates a specific salary based upon years of experience and the teacher’s degree, Forsyth Country Day’s approach is much more flexible and individualized, so that top performers are rewarded with competitive compensation. In the recruiting process, salary is individually determined to attract top candidates. When looking solely at cash compensation, FCDS currently pays (on average) 94 to 96 percent of public school compensation, though we are striving to reach 100 percent or more. However, salary represents only one piece of the overall generous compensation package offered to our faculty. Forsyth Country Day School has made a tremendous investment in its benefits package over the last eight years, electing to keep premiums paid by employees as low as possible while maintaining the quality of the coverage we offer. According to our analysis, this benefit program exceeds both that of our local public schools and that of our peer schools in the Carolinas.

For further information about this issue, we suggest that you contact Andrea Matney, our Chief Financial Officer. She can be reached by phone at 945-3151 ext. 315 or via e-mail at andreamatney@fcds.org.

7.  InFAQ: My family isn’t wealthy. Will we feel comfortable at FCDS?

At FCDS, we make our best attempt to make everyone feel welcome regardless of any real or perceived differences in individual economic situations. Diversity in all forms is a valued part of our overall educational program. We understand that our tuition will be a major financial commitment for all of our families, but if we view it as an investment in our children’s education, it really is a great value. Some of our families certainly will be able to meet this financial obligation more easily than others, and some would be unable to meet the total cost on their own. As a result, they may qualify to be served by our extensive need-based financial aid support system. Last year, approximately 10 to 12 percent of our students received some level of financial aid, which totals more than $1 million. All families are expected to pay as much of the tuition as they are able, and no family at FCDS will receive financial aid covering the entire tuition for their student(s). Regardless of the personal financial situation of any family, there always will be other students with similar means. As with any personal information, the financial situation of any FCDS family is kept in extreme confidence and is never shared with anyone except for the parties directly involved in that process.

If you would like to discuss this issue further, Lu Anne Wood, our Director of Admission, would be an excellent person with whom to speak. She can be reached by phone at 945-3151 ext. 340 or by e-mail at luannewood@fcds.org.

8.  InFAQ: Is parental involvement encouraged?

Parental involvement is considered one of the cornerstones of a Forsyth Country Day School education. From the time a student enters Junior Pre-Kindergarten until the time he or she graduates, we actively encourage and solicit parental involvement in all areas of the student’s academic and co-curricular life.

The primary ingredient of parental involvement is open communication. This is accomplished by easy access to faculty and administrators by phone or e-mail, regularly scheduled meetings at which division directors discuss school issues with parents, and through an extremely active and involved Parents’ Association. Other ways in which we foster communication are through the use of our weekly newsletter, The Fury Times, which is delivered every week via e-mail and through NetForsyth, an information portal that allows Middle and Upper School parents to track their children’s grades, attendance, and conduct.

We also encourage parents to become involved more directly. Some become coaches or assistants for one of our 43 Middle and Upper School athletic teams and others substitute teach or volunteer to be grade-level parent representatives. Many more join our Fury Club or our Parents’ Association. Parents are also encouraged to contact their respective Division Director to ask about opportunities. To inquire, please contact either Kim Butler, Director of Community Enrichment and Special Events, at 945-3151 ext. 335 or your specific Division Director as listed below:

Lower School

Norris Baker

945-3151 ext. 326

norrisbaker@fcds.org

Middle School

Chuck Jones

945-3151 ext. 317

chuckjones@fcds.org

Upper School

Joel Cordray

945-3151 ext. 347

joelcordray@fcds.org

JAC

Joyce Henson

945-3151 ext. 397

joycehenson@fcds.org

9.  InFAQ: How do you address “bullying” issues at FCDS?

First, we admit that we – like every school – do have bullying issues from time to time. If there is a school out there that says it never has to deal with this problem, its administrators are being Pollyanna-ish – to the detriment of their students.

Once a teacher or division director becomes aware of a potential bullying incident, we ask some questions that will guide our response to the situation:

Once we settle on these, the school enacts a plan suited to each individual student. Although many offenses at school, like at home, are clear cut and get a similarly clear cut response, bullying is never quite so easy. We work with the bully to have him or her learn empathy and still feel the sting of punishment, and if any student involved is playing the role of victim a bit too well (generally detected by repeated incidents with more than one provocateur), we work with that student on how to avoid similar pitfalls in the future.

If you would like to speak to someone about this issue in more detail, please contact Chuck Jones, Provost and Middle School Director, at 945-3151 ext. 317 or via e-mail at chuckjones@fcds.org.

10.  InFAQ: Do FCDS students have opportunities to develop leadership skills?

We have always encouraged our students to pursue leadership roles at FCDS. Whether it’s through elected student government (as President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, or Judicial Board representative to the SGA), a service club or special-interest club, as captain of an athletic team, or through student internships or various school-sponsored leadership programs, students have numerous opportunities to demonstrate and develop leadership skills.

Beginning in the fall of 2005, we started work towards the development of a new leadership and life skills program. Students will participate in a curriculum designed specifically to help individuals recognize their unique gifts and talents.

The priorities of this program are increasing self awareness; developing inventories of gifts and talents; emphasizing ethics, honor, values, and civility; developing communication skills; and encouraging social responsibility.

If you’d like more information about what we offer in terms of leadership opportunities, Anne Taite Austin, our Schools Attuned Site Director, would be a great person with whom to speak. She can be reached at either 945-3151 ext. 530 or via e-mail at annetaiteaustin@fcds.org.

11.  InFAQ: Are you too administratively top-heavy? Are you growing administrative salary expenses at the school with “little or no regard for the common family?”

When we hear this comment, we presume that the criticism here is that we are top-heavy because we create administrative positions without adequate work to justify them, or that we pay our administrators too much. Looking strictly at the number of programs we have either expanded or added in the past six years, including the Johnson Academic Center, All Kinds of Minds, the Multi-sensory Academy of Practitioners (MAP) program, and all of our fine arts offerings, we believe any such claim is not justified. While the administrative team is larger than it was seven years ago, the school itself is more than 35 percent larger in enrollment, and the number of programs and opportunities has grown proportionately. The new administrative positions that we have added and retained in the last seven years are: Schools Attuned Site Director – A position fully funded by the program (which was the result of a philanthropic gift) that not only will help our students and faculty but is helping to put FCDS on the map as a national training center for teachers (and we have parents who gave a major gift to thank for this). (2)    Director of Fine Arts – A position to help us develop and run our arts programs and facilities as we follow our development plans in the Good to Great initiatives. (3) Provost – We’ve grown from a school of 660 to more than 1,040 students; a school with a little more than 100 faculty and staff to one with more than 229; a plant worth approximately $15,000,000 to one now worth more than $36,000,000; an endowment of $700,000 to an endowment of roughly $15 million; and a budget that was around $9 million and is now more than $15.4 million. We needed more administrative help in managing the internal operations of the school. However, this position did not require an increase in our budget as it was added to Chuck Jones's responsibilities as Middle School Director. (4) Director of Faculty Recruiting – This position actually did not result in an increase in our budget, as we were paying independent school search firms fees for recruiting our teachers. Now, every teacher at the school is recruited by the the division directors with help and in conjunction with the director of faculty recruiting. We are very aggressive in our nationwide faculty recruitment efforts, but we no longer pay search fees for either faculty or administrative hires. 

We have made a conscious choice to include as part of our administrative team positions that are excluded in some schools, such as the divisional assistant directors, the director of technology, and the director of the Williams Library Discovery Center. By the way, we actually merged those positions into one last year, we no longer have a director of academic life (the provost handles those duties as well as other academic duties), so we’ve actually decreased administrators this year – despite increased growth. If you look at the numbers, compared to the average of all members of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) we are administratively understaffed, not top-heavy. The national average for NAIS schools is an administrator-to-student ratio of one administrator for every 41 students. At FCDS, despite the greater inclusiveness of our team and the fact that several of us teach classes as well, we have one administrator for every 61 students. Thus, we are somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 percent understaffed administratively compared to our peer schools across the nation.

We manage this school as a team, and the high level of communication has led to a cohesiveness that seems unparalleled in schools. The administrative team at FCDS makes us a stronger school by broadening and strengthening the range of viewpoints in our discussions; it allows us to have an appropriate understanding of the sometimes complex impact a decision can have in different areas of the school.

Chuck Jones, our Provost andMiddle School Director, would be a great person with whom to talk about this issue if you’d like more information. He can be reached at either 945-3151 ext. 317 or via e-mail at chuckjones@fcds.org.

12.  InFAQ: FCDS is growing by decreasing admission standards. Why not keep the school smaller but smarter?

We have never increased enrollment by decreasing admission standards. No such decision has ever been proposed or made. In fact, with enrollment at just over 1,040 students, we have been forced to be more selective than ever in the admission process, taking a more careful and well-reasoned look at applicants than we ever have. Eight years ago, we had no waiting lists. Now we have waiting lists in every division – and some grade levels with more than 20 prospective students listed.

Our enrollment growth has been phenomenal for the past eight years, but we believe our optimal size is approximately 1,075. This will allow us to maintain our average class size of 14 to18 students (although the classes in the Upper School may be as small as 10-12 students, as there are currently 17 AP courses offered on our campus). We are committed to continuing to provide wonderfully small classes at all grade levels, as we know that amazing things happen when talented, caring teachers are instructing small numbers of engaged students each day.

Lu Anne Wood, our Director of Admission, would be a great person with whom to speak about this in greater detail. She can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 340 or via e-mail at luannewood@fcds.org.

13.  InFAQ: Are you growing at the expense of academics for athletics?

We believe that we can have excellent academic, athletic, and artistic programs that are highly complementary to one another, not competitive. Great schools provide innumerable routes for students to find success, and clearly athletics is one of these, as are academics and the arts. Because a student succeeds as an athlete (or as an actor, singer, or painter, for that matter), we don't believe that suggests that he or she is not capable of academic excellence. For example, we had a student who was a three-time state champion wrestler. At the same time, he was among the most successful students in his class, and was admitted early to Princeton. Clearly, his athleticism was not a bar to his intellectual development.


In independent schools, we often hold the Ivy League universities (and other fine institutions like Duke and Wake Forest) up as examples of the very best in academia – and rightly so. But that doesn’t mean that these august institutions shrink from having strong arts programs or extremely competitive sports teams. In fact, most of the successful schools we know are in the Sears Top 50, and many have Division I athletic programs. In fact, Stanford University is a perennial Sears trophy winner, and the largest Division I athletic program (in terms of sports offered) is Harvard. Embracing both sports and arts in addition to academics never detracts from a school – it can only enhance it.

Lu Anne Wood, our Director of Admission, would be a great person with whom to speak about this in greater detail. She can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 340 or via e-mail at luannewood@fcds.org.

14.  InFAQ: Why do you give financial aid? It seems like you give more than you should, and it’s unfair to those of us who pay full tuitions.

We’ve increased financial aid substantially in the last eight years, which is a direct result of annual giving and endowment increases (our endowment has grown from approximately $700,000 to more than $15 million during the past eight years), and we hope to continue to do so. We are actually beneath the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) median financial aid number, and our board is committed to attempting to meet these numbers. The financial aid we do offer– which used to target a number of factors (including racial diversity) - is now targeted to socioeconomic diversity and towards middle-income families in particular.

According to NAIS, the second largest budget line item at the typical independent school is financial aid – but financial aid remains widely misunderstood in school communities. In part, this is due to the sensitivity of families’ financial information, which in turn necessitates a process that is highly confidential. This confidentiality, along with the complexity of the award process itself, often combines with divergent expectations among different school constituencies to create a great deal of misunderstanding of the purpose, methodology, and goals of a sound financial aid program.

NAIS recommends that 10.7 percent of an independent school’s tuition revenue be set aside for need-based financial aid, which – it argues – should help ensure that such schools are not “enclaves of the wealthy but have an appropriate degree of social, economic, and racial diversity”(Littleford). During the past five years, Forsyth Country Day School has increased its financial aid budget from seven (7) percent of tuition revenue to just over nine (9) percent.

             Financial Aid Levels
Among NAIS Schools (1995-1999)

As these figures illustrate, we remain well below national averages. And, while our expanded financial aid during the past four years has allowed us greater class diversity, we also remain well behind national averages in terms of ethnic diversity. 

In addition to the above discussions of what financial aid is, it is helpful to understand what financial aid isn’t. In response to some common misperceptions, financial aid in independent schools is not:

·        A “scholarship”: “Scholarship” denotes a quid pro quo exchange of value, i.e. the school gives a student money in return for the student competing on the swim team or maintaining an “A” average. Since “financial aid” is need-based rather than performance-based, independent schools don’t offer scholarships, at least not as financial aid. Note that some schools do offer what are called merit scholarships, but these grants are distinct from financial aid and are generally offered on the basis of some academic or leadership criteria. I have always been opposed to these types of grants, because I believe they are offered on a spurious basis at most institutions, and most often actually take money away from the bottom line rather than doing what they were intended to do, and that is to attract bright and able students. Independent schools should not offer athletic scholarships, and Forsyth Country Day School does not. Furthermore, under another of the NAIS Principles of Good Practice for Financial Aid, schools are forbidden from establishing different standards of behavior or performance for students on financial aid versus students paying full tuition. This requirement therefore precludes any requirement that financial aid students maintain a standard or commitment not asked of all other students. Schools sometime run afoul of this requirement when they seek to protect their “investment” in financial aid by requiring a certain level of academic standing for financial aid students. This is also why schools have abolished the practice of requiring financial aid students to wait tables or work on campus in return for the aid.

·        A tool for “social engineering”: As alluded to above, financial aid is not a tool to bring specific students into a school so that other students can “be exposed to them.” Instead of being a device to right the perceived wrongs of society (a perception that, in turn, depends greatly on the views of an individual), financial aid is a tool to strengthen a school by helping the most capable students enroll, regardless of their ability to pay. Again, under the Principles of Good Practice adopted and published by NAIS, admissibility and financial need must remain two separate questions.

·        A tax on full-pay families: This concern is related to the common misperception of financial aid as a tool for social engineering. Some families resent being asked to pay full tuition while others pay less. However, since financial aid is need-based, this perception is to some degree baseless, as what the financial aid family is being asked to pay is proportionate to its ability to do so. In fact, the relative sacrifice for many families receiving financial aid as a percentage of after-tax income is considerable. Since financial aid serves the core mission of the school, it is a core cost of operations – just like heat, light, and books; not an additional tax or fee on certain families. At some point in the future, Forsyth Country Day School, like other, more established schools, should move to funding financial aid via endowment income. Once that is the case, this issue will become less sensitive for certain families. Nevertheless, until that time comes, it is important to understand the central place financial aid plays in the mission of the school and that for now, tuition and annual giving are the only practical methods to fund it.

·        A source of discipline problems: Contrary to a popular misconception, we have seen no correlation between behavioral difficulties, discipline situations, and students who receive financial aid. In fact, just looking at the last ten major discipline issues we have faced as a school during the past year, not one incident involved a student receiving financial aid. Though students receiving financial aid are certainly not perfect, and are every bit as capable of a misstep as other students, the facts rebut the perception that they are a source of problems.

If you would like to discuss this issue in greater depth, Lu Anne Wood, our Director of Admission, would be a great person with whom to speak. She can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 340 or via e-mail at luannewood@fcds.org.

15.  InFAQ: What percentage of the FCDS student/teacher population would you describe as “diverse”?

At Forsyth Country Day School, we seek in our prospective students a variety of interests, talents, experiences, and backgrounds. Such diversity adds both strength and energy to our school environment. As in most independent schools, the majority of our students are Caucasian (94 percent, or about 920 students). For 2006-2007, we had more than seven percent total minority enrollment. Twenty-four students are African-American and 24 students are Asian. Eight students are Indian/Persian, five students are Latino/Hispanic, and 10 students are of Russian ancestry. Additionally, students from many different nations study at FCDS-either permanently or as exchange students. Countries represented by exchange students this year include Germany, France, and Australia.

According to NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) statistics, the national average for faculty of color at independent schools is nine percent. At FCDS, we strive to recruit talented faculty members from diverse racial, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds. Our goal is to be the kind of school that will attract quality faculty who will enrich the lives and education of our students. Among our faculty and staff, 216 are Caucasian (98 percent), nine (four percent) are African American, and four (two percent) are Latino/Hispanic.

David Bowman, our Director of Faculty Recruiting, would be a great person with whom to speak in greater depth about this issue. He can be reached at 945-3151 ext 569 or via e-mail at davidbowman@fcds.org.

16.  InFAQ: Do you recruit athletes?

We do recruit at Forsyth Country Day School: we recruit students, parents, teachers, and resources. If we did not do this, we would go out of business. If we did so poorly, we would be a weak school. We put just as much effort into recruiting musicians, computer programmers, photographers, artists, writers, and entrepreneurs as we do student-athletes, and we are even more aggressive than that in recruiting excellent teachers who care about both what and whom they teach.

As to the charge that we recruit athletes per se and the underlying theme that money is offered to such families in exchange for their child’s athletic ability – that is false. Every student at FCDS is eligible to be considered for need-based financial aid, awarded strictly on the basis of each family's demonstrated financial need (as determined by an independent institution). All financial aid information is strictly confidential, and discussing whether or not any student or family receives financial aid is impolitic, unethical, and unwise; therefore, we may always be open to criticism from others regarding this issue.

We are so disappointed that some people assume a relationship between awarding finanical aid and either on the color of a young person's skin, his or her co-curricular interests, or just general “gossip.” It is also interesting that these questions don't seem to arise in the cases where we have academically or artistically talented students who join our school, which is in fact far more common. We simply do not offer merit-based scholarships - athletic or otherwise. Additionally, any student who receives financial aid at our school, whether he or she is involved principally in academics, athletics, or the arts, does not or is not expected to adhere to any institutional performance guidelines to keep his or her financial aid award. To do so would violate the NAIS principles of good practice and would be contrary to everything for which we stand.

It is also important to note that 89 percent of our students in grades seven through 12 participate in athletics. Thus, by simply playing the odds, chances are that we will have “recruited an athlete” nine out of 10 times a new student enters our school, just by virtue of the fact that we are attracting students to our overall program (and we’ve done that a great deal during the past eight years – moving from 660 to roughly 1,045 students during that time).

For more information on this issue, Athletic Director Rusty LaRue would be a wonderful person with whom to speak. He can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 468 or via e-mail at rustylarue@fcds.org.  

17.  InFAQ: What are your student and teacher rates of retention?

Once students and teachers arrive at FCDS, the vast majority remain for a long while. We have an excellent 91 percent rate of student retention and a 94 percent rate of faculty retention.

David Bowman, our Director of Faculty Recruiting, would be a great person with whom to talk about this issue if you’d like more information. He can be reached at either 945-3151 ext. 569 or via e-mail at davidbowman@fcds.org.

18.  InFAQ: My three-year-old child is extremely bright and is already reading. Why do you think it is important to determine a child's developmental readiness prior to enrolling in the Junior Pre-Kindergarten, Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, or first grade at FCDS?

Readiness for school is not necessarily the same thing as intellectual ability. Maturity (both social and emotional) is the most important factor in determining when children should begin school. Just because a child is gifted in reading (or in mathematics or art, for that matter), it doesn't necessarily mean he or she is also emotionally and socially mature.

At FCDS, we have been accepting young children into our school using their developmental ages (as opposed to their chronological ages) for the past 27 years. For example, we expect a child to be five years old developmentally by September 1 before he or she enters Kindergarten, six years old developmentally by September 1 before beginning first grade, and so on.

Developmental age (also called behavioral age) simply means the age at which the child is behaving. We have found, as have many experts on determining developmental ages, that generally, girls function at their chronological ages developmentally, and boys are usually six months younger developmentally than their chronological ages. Because of this, our school's cut-off date was changed many years ago to July 1, although we do make exceptions every year – we always make sure to look at each child as an individual.

One tool we use to help parents with this decision is the Gesell Developmental Evaluation, which can be administered to children from two and a half to nine years of age. This assessment is administered individually and provides valuable information about a child's adaptive, language, and social behaviors.

Judith Kuhn, our Assistant Lower School Director and a 30-plus year veteran early childhood teacher, would be an excellent person with whom to discuss this issue further. She can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 323 or via e-mail at judithkuhn@fcds.org.

19.  InFAQ: Why don’t you offer bus transportation for Pre-K and Kindergarten children at the 12:15 (or 12:45) dismissal time?

We now offer bus transportation of Pre-K and K students at 12:45.

Norris Baker, our Lower School Director, would be a great person with whom to speak about this issue. He can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 326 or via e-mail at norrisbaker@fcds.org.

20.  InFAQ: Do Middle and Upper School students have school-sponsored social events?

Our school provides many opportunities for students to get together outside of the academic setting. In addition to the many athletic contests, concerts, service opportunities, and theatrical productions, Middle and Upper School students can gather at the following school-sponsored events:

Upper School

Middle School

Middle School students all take part in the Spirit Week with dress-down and dress-up days, and they take participate in the Tailgate Party and the barbeque.

Wendy Quesnel, our Assistant Director of the Middle School, would be a great person with whom to talk about this issue. She can be reached at either 945-3151 ext. 573 or via e-mail at wendyquesnel@fcds.org.

21.  InFAQ: Are special interest clubs available for students at all grade levels?

There are special-interest clubs in all three divisions of our school, but– appropriately, we believe –the vast majority of clubs are concentrated in the Upper School. Throughout the year, faculty sponsors and students solicit interest and membership for a number of clubs and activities. These organizations meet during the daily activity period according to a schedule published monthly on our Web site.

Clubs and activities are likely to appear or disappear as a result of student interest, faculty expertise, availability, service opportunities, and leadership. Some of the school activities we offer currently are listed below:

The Upper School also features a fall drama production and spring musical performance. The Middle School puts on a fall play, and Middle School students are very active in orchestra, band, and chorus. In 2007, a Middle School musical was added. Additionally, FCDS houses a Community School of the Arts, which conveniently offers a wide array of arts instruction in music, visual arts, drama, and dance to our own students as well as to the general public. In addition, we offer LifePrep in our Lower School and plan to continue to find ways to offer similar “life-skills” programs to students in our Middle and Upper Schools .

It also should be noted that students may start any club in which they are interested as long as they do the following:

1) Approach the Dean of Students to discuss the club

2) Prove that there is reasonable interest among the students

3) Find a faculty member to oversee the club

4) Set a meeting time for the club.

If you would like more information on this subject, Upper School Dean of Students Jack McHale would be a great person with whom to speak. He can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 383 or via e-mail at jackmchale@fcds.org.

22.  InFAQ: Why did you cancel class trips? Why can’t our children have these fun-filled trips together during the school year?

The decision to cancel all non-performance-based class trips was made only after years of attempting not to make it. In addition to the financial burden these trips placed on many of our families (one third of families could not afford to send their children), it took several unfortunate incidents and years of trying the usual disciplinary routes for us to come around to the idea that, from a liability standpoint and for the protection of our students, our school simply couldn’t afford to continue class trips. The trips we have kept are performance-based, with all members in the group held accountable not only to parents, advisors, teachers, and chaperones, but to each other and to their common goal as members of a musical ensemble, sports team, or academic group. In addition, in 2007, we re-introduced tightly scheduled, focused college trips for juniors.

Although many of our sister schools have gone the route of canceling any and all overnight trips, we have tried to avoid doing so because – while we are extremely conservative when dealing with the safety and well being of the children in our care – we hope to give our students an opportunity to succeed beyond our borders at appropriate and focused events.

We strongly encourage parents who want their children to travel to Disney World or Washington, D.C. to make arrangements to chaperone such trips during breaks if that is their desire, but because of the reasons we’ve discussed, Forsyth Country Day School will no longer sponsor such trips.

If you wish to discuss this issue in greater depth, Provost and Middle School Director Chuck Jones would be an excellent person with whom to speak. He can be reached at 945-3151, ext. 317 or via e-mail at chuckjones@fcds.org.

23.  InFAQ: Are you too lenient? Drug use is a problem. OR…Aren’t you too strict with your “zero tolerance policy” towards drug and alcohol use?

The subject of drug and alcohol use is very important to all of us at Forsyth Country Day School, and we’ve often been accused of “talking it to death.” We are very proud of the stand we have taken at our school and the many ways in which we have sent a strong educational message to our students and families. We are extremely concerned with illegal drug or alcohol use among children, and that is why we are always amazed when even one of our parents disagrees with our school’s very public and consistently stressed zero-tolerance policy regarding the use of alcohol and drugs. In spite of some (fortunately limited) opposition to our strong stance (and we’re really one of the few schools in the country with as strong or consistent a position), we spent a great deal of time at both the administrative and Board levels devising and implementing this policy, knowing full well the kind of situation that can result.

If we suspect any drug or alcohol activity, we are not shy to call students in, and we always involve the parents. In almost every case, the parents are very willing to help. Sometimes, to our great surprise, these parents initially see us as the enemy. While we have no interest in a witch hunt of any kind, we always want to do what is best for our students, and we promise to follow up on any activity reported to us. These are some of the things we at Forsyth Country Day School have been doing to make our school a counter-cultural example for parents, other schools and institutions, and – at the same time – saving young lives.

Our resolve on this issue has been tested a number of time since this policy was adopted, and despite the difficult nature of almost every drug or alcohol-related situation, we continue to believe that our zero-tolerance policy is sound and necessary, especially given both the legal and safety issues involved. Thus, we assure you that we will continue to uphold this policy going forward, and we will do everything we can to make our students comfortable saying “no” whenever drugs or alcohol are offered. We are happy to report that we have heard countless stories of Forsyth Country Day School students blaming the school when they refused alcohol or drugs at parties or in homes, and we’re thrilled that they have us to blame. May that always be the case.

We believe that if we condone underage drinking or drug use under any circumstances, we are condoning illegal behavior both on the part of the student and those providing the alcohol. Most of us in the Forsyth Country Day School community have grown and will continue to stand together in enforcing and supporting that important law. This is yet another reason we stand out among other schools: the safety and well-being of our students is first and foremost in our minds, and we continue to believe a zero-tolerance policy with regard to this illegal behavior is the only way to engender that.

Joel Cordray, our Upper School Director, would be a great person with whom to discuss this issue in more detail. He can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 347 or via e-mail at joelcordray@fcds.org.

24.  InFAQ: What percentage of FCDS graduates earn scholarships? How many National Merit Scholars do you have each year?

For the Class of 2007, FCDS graduates accepted more than $1 million in merit scholarship and grant offers. Although almost 40 percent of 2007 seniors received scholarship offers, many students chose not to accept the scholarships they were offered in order to attend a school of higher preference. In terms of the Class of 2007 as a whole, FCDS students received close to $2.2 million in scholarship and grant offers. Over the past three years, FCDS students were offered approximatey $8 million in total scholarship dollars.

In recent years, three to four FCDS students annually have been invited to participate in the National Merit Scholarship competition as semi-finalists. In 2007, three students earned semi-finalist status, all three were named finalists, and two of those three were awarded National Merit Scholarships. Although this prestigious competition is based initially on students' performance on the PSAT standardized test, students must present a compelling personal profile to advance to the finalist and recipient stages. We are quite proud of the accomplishments of these students. Beyond such programs that point towards testing, student achievement and commitment is recognized through induction into and participation in such nationally known organizations as the Cum Laude Society, the National Honor Society, the National Art Honor Society, the Societe Honoraire de Francais, the Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, the Junior Classical League Latin Honor Society, and Mu Alpha Theta. Of course, such organizations are only one part of the array of organizations and opportunities through which students at FCDS are able to distinguish themselves while developing life-long interests. We encourage our students to set high standards for themselves in the classroom and beyond; colleges recognize our high expectations both academically and extracurricularly, and treat FCDS applicants with a corresponding high level of respect in the college application process.

For more information on this subject, Director of College Counseling Craig Allen would be an excellent source. He can be reached by phone at 945-3151 ext. 452 or via e-mail at craigallen@fcds.org.

25.  InFAQ: What percentage of FCDS graduates attend college? Are students typically accepted to their “first choice” institutions?

The stated mission of Forsyth Country Day School is “to instill a lifelong commitment to learning, citizenship, compassion, and community service.” To pursue this goal, we anticipate and expect our students to move beyond the confines of secondary educational structures to pursue the intellectual and social independence of post-secondary education; our entire curriculum is designed to prepare our students for that leap. Although the percentage of FCDS graduates attending four-year colleges has recently ranged between 95 to 100 percent (often at 100 percent), there are some students who will make choices in their lives that may not neatly fit into such categories, yet the choices made are the right and preferred ones for them individually. Whether due to family financial concerns or different career or life considerations, we seek to help each student discover his or her own individual path, all the while strongly promoting our traditional belief that an undergraduate education is an essential part of a fulfilling life of the mind.

Our college counseling office seeks to promote the idea with our students and their families that a student's carefully crafted college list should be filled with “top choices.” We want our students to be excited, enthusiastic, and confident in attending any school to which they apply. While our record of helping our students gain admission to their preferred school (or schools) is very high, we also want our students to aspire highly in this process and we do not want them to settle for any school merely because it seems “safe.” We encourage them to be courageous and confident enough to take risks: risks in experiencing new cultural settings and higher levels of intellectual competition, and risks in putting themselves forward in the increasingly capricious and subjective processes of highly selective admissions offices. In the highly competitive world of college admissions, we firmly believe that our students fare well in this regard.

For more information on this topic, Craig Allen, our Director of College Counseling, would be a great person with whom to speak. He can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 452 or via e-mail at craigallen@fcds.org.

26.  InFAQ: Do you offer Advanced Placement courses for Upper School students? How does FCDS compare to the number of AP courses addressed in the public schools? How does FCDS compare to the Career Center ?

The Advanced Placement Program (AP) is a cooperative, educational endeavor of the College Entrance Examination Board with secondary schools and colleges across the country. Through the program, secondary school students can complete college-level courses and may receive credit for them from the colleges they plan to attend. The amount of credit offered to the student varies from college to college.

Forsyth Country Day School offers (according to demand) AP courses in English (both language and literature), biology, calculus AB and BC, chemistry, physics, U.S. history, modern European history, government, French, Latin, Spanish, art (photography and an art offering that rotates on a three-year schedule), statistics, and computer science. Students in AP courses follow programs of study based on guidelines suggested by the College Board. In May, all AP students are required to take nationally administered tests, for which families are billed by the business office. In early July, students receive notification of their scores.

Advanced Placement courses are designed to serve both talented and highly motivated students. Students interested in AP courses should discuss each course with the instructor and must receive permission from the department head. Grades in relevant courses, test scores, and work ethic are considered. Students must submit writing samples in order to take English or history offerings. A student's score on the College Board AP exam does not affect his or her grade in the course in any way.

At FCDS, most students graduate having taken at least one AP course. Percentages vary from year to year, but currently 30 percent of our juniors and seniors are taking one AP course. Forty (40) percent of the juniors and seniors are taking two or more AP classes.  Additionally, 48 percent of the junior class is enrolled in at least one AP class and 85 percent of seniors is taking at least one AP course.

It is difficult to make any sort of meaningful comparison between FCDS and the Career Center. The best public-school students in the county attend the Career Center because of the curriculum and qualified teachers. However, it serves the most gifted and talented students in a county that has a college and two universities, a large banking center, a similarly large legal population, and a thriving medical community, all of which employ people who typically have a strong commitment to higher education for their children. Additionally, any county that has a high school population the size of Forsyth's should have a reasonably broad selection of AP courses. It then follows that the WSFC system should have a particularly strong need for the Career Center to have the array they have. For FCDS, with its 400-plus student Upper School , we have an extremely impressive selection of AP courses, making it a very strong option when compared to the Career Center and putting it on par or above other schools in the region of similar size.

 Over the past five years, the Upper School has added or significantly modified approximately 21 courses. In addition, we have added five new English “seminar” courses that have replaced English IV. It is our goal that our curriculum continues to evolve as the world around us changes. Currently, we are exploring a number of modifications, including adding new electives in information technology, sciences, foreign language, the arts, and history.

Our Director of the Upper School, Joel Cordray, would be a great person with whom to speak about this issue, and he can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 347 or via e-mail at joelcordray@fcds.org.

27.  InFAQ: Are the honors courses my ninth grade son/daughter has taken in a public (or area independent) school equivalent to the honor courses at FCDS?

Our experience tells us that there are many differences between honors courses taught at different schools. These differences are based on a number of variables, including class sizes, student course loads, readiness of the individual student, and the level of expectation inherent within the school community and within the particular courses considered. At FCDS, our students are held to very high expectations across the curriculum and they come to expect and appreciate this challenge. Often, students transferring into our honors courses experience a period of transition as they adjust to the demands of our honors curriculum. Since our regular (meaning non-honors and non-AP) classes are already focused on college-level preparation, we frequently find that honors courses in public schools are roughly equal to our regular classes, and that our honors classes move more quickly and have higher expectations than most public school honors courses do.

In brief, there is no definitive yes or no answer to this question– any such answer depends upon so many different factors that it demands an individual response. Only after considering such aspects of the situation as the student's level of preparation and demonstrated talent, as well as the level of expectation provided by his previous classes, can a valid judgment be made on any particular case.

In the meantime, what we can say about honors courses at public schools versus regular courses at FCDS is that college admissions offices know the rigor and the high level of expectation inherent in our curriculum. When college admissions officers evaluate any application, they are looking at and evaluating the academic picture of that student through the lens of the particular school that the student has attended. More importantly, those admissions officers are judging an applicant's academic profile in the context of what, specifically, is offered at the high school in question and how that particular student has taken advantage of those academic opportunities available. From our experience, FCDS students who push themselves to challenge our curriculum in an appropriate manner receive strong consideration from a wide array of colleges.

If you would like more information on this subject, Craig Allen, our Director of College Counseling, would be a great person to contact. He can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 452 or via e-mail at craigallen@fcds.org.

28.  InFAQ: My son/daughter would have a much higher class rank as a senior in a public school. Why would it be to his/her advantage to attend FCDS?

First, we think it is important to note that colleges look primarily at students’ course selection, their grades in those courses, SAT/ACT scores, and co-curricular activities. FCDS is known to be a successful college-preparatory school, and colleges look at that when assessing each student.


Overall, we believe class rank should be a non-issue when deciding to attend FCDS. This sheds greater light on the entire student and is important as we provide complete information to colleges. In addition, due to differences within grading systems and academic communities, the FCDS transcript that we provide colleges only reflects the student's performance here at FCDS; however, we do attach a copy of that student's previous school's transcript to highlight the complete academic profile of the student and to accentuate the separate scholastic experiences. Our strong academic environment is focused on preparing students for college through broad educational experiences and equipping them for future leadership roles; we really don’t think that class rank in any way exemplifies such qualities.

Whenever a student transfers to FCDS from another school, there is a transition period, which can sometimes be quite challenging. However, our faculty and administrators are committed to doing their best to help every student mature and adjust to our academically rigorous environment. In our experience, families who have changed schools and incur some transitional strife are very pleased by the time their child has finished a year at FCDS for multiple reasons (academic, athletic, social, etc.). After a semester at college, many FCDS alumni have reported that they are far better prepared for college academia than their peers who did not attend FCDS.

In choosing whether to attend an independent school, and FCDS in particular, it would be unwise to focus narrowly on something like class rank; a child’s high school experience should be wide, varied, and rich to prepare him or her for college and the world beyond. To reduce this experience to “class rank” is like trying to take a photograph of the Grand Canyon without a wide-angle lens – you just won’t see the whole picture. The bottom line is this: college admissions offices know the quality of our school and view class percentile rank through the appropriate lens.

For more information about this issue, Assistant Director of the Upper School Penny Marshall or Upper School Director Joel Cordray both would be wonderful sources. Penny Marshall can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 327 or via e-mail at pennymarshall@fcds.org, and Joel Cordray can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 347 or by e-mail at joelcordray@fcds.org.

29.  InFAQ: Is your points system for Upper School students too strict?

Forsyth Country Day School’s administrative team has a collective 240 years of experience in schools, and we have never seen any discipline system as effective as our points system. Even before we began using the points system, we expected it to be a success because it was suggested by our students. Before the current points system, we had a large number of students clearly and deliberately disobeying rules, wearing clothes significantly out of dress code, and circumventing our consistent requests to comply. Res ipsa loquitur: we have had almost no problems in this area since the system was implemented. When our Upper School students first suggested points, they warned us to expect significant pushback. These same students advised us to stay strong, to let the system run its course, and to mean what we said. If we did, they felt we would have a very effective system that would make the dress code (among other things) enforceable. The Upper School faculty and administration have been fair and consistent with enforcement, and because of that, our Upper School students are better behaved than ever before. Since the points system was revised in the fall of 2003, not a single student has earned enough points (five) to earn an in-school suspension (ISS).

For more information on this topic, Penny Marshall, our Assistant Director of the Upper School, would be a great person with whom to speak. She can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 327 or via e-mail at pennymarshall@fcds.org.

Johnson Academic Center

30.  InFAQ: Are you weakening the school by focusing on the Johnson Academic Center?

First, we don't believe we are weakening the school in any way. In fact, we have added more advanced courses (such as AP Statistics) and more diverse courses (like Applied Music) to the curriculum in the past six years. In addition, we are in the middle of a four-year process of reviewing the entire Pre-K through Grade 12 curriculum in order to hone and improve the focus of what we do. This again is a process in which we are leading the country. Most independent schools are highly unwilling to undertake such a project because it tends to tread on toes and often leads to a critical reevaluation of many courses, some of which are frequently “sacred cows” of longtime faculty members. We view our work as too important not to risk taking an aggressive look at what we teach and why we teach it just to avoid hurt feelings. This process already has allowed us to refine and restructure a number of courses and to identify several major holes in the sequencing of our curriculum. 

The Johnson Academic Center may be the best thing we've ever done to strengthen the school. Through the JAC, we are able to address the problem areas of students' learning. The center not only embraces the learning that takes place in the classroom – it helps to refine and redirect the notes or information from classes so that students can benefit more fully from the material being taught. The center also provides extra support for teachers in some classrooms to enhance the learning experience.

Students in all areas of our school benefit from the Johnson Academic Center because it offers programs at every grade level, covering every part of learning. Weekly review sessions, extra tutoring, and help with tests are ongoing in the JAC. This kind of constant assessment has brought extended learning to all areas of our curriculum. The JAC has helped bring accountability to all areas of the curriculum as well, because what we teach is always being scrutinized and improved for the entire student population. The center has become a tool to aid in classroom discipline, increase opportunities for success, promote feelings of empowerment and control, make expectations clear for all students, and help students develop feelings of self worth.

Although schools must ensure that all students have certain common skills and a fund of common knowledge, The Johnson Academic Center lets us go further by helping our students discover what learning is about and how they, as individuals, learn best. Thus, they have a chance to contribute to school as a whole. Because all children learn differently, it makes inherent sense that we teach them in the ways they learn best, and the JAC provides the avenue needed to help make this a reality for so many of our students. The types of modifications made in a student's program enhance the educational plans for all students. The Johnson Academic Center has ensured that all students are able to have their educational needs met, so its addition has made a profound – and positive – impact on the lives of all FCDS students.

As stated in our mission statement, “ Forsyth Country Day School is a community of learners dedicated to nurturing and enhancing the development of all its members. In a challenging and engaging academic environment, the school is committed to providing the instruction, experiences, and support necessary to develop fully the intellectual, creative, social, and physical potential of each student. Forsyth Country Day School believes strongly in its motto of Pride, Freedom, and Responsibility, stressing the importance of individual responsibility and its impact on enhancing personal freedom. Our goal is to instill a lifelong commitment to learning, integrity, citizenship, compassion, and community service.”

We are immensely proud of the Johnson Academic Center and its positive impact on so many students and families within our school community. In fact, the JAC allows us to fulfill our mission by helping us to nurture and develop every member of our community of learners. In addition, the Johnson Academic Center provides “the instruction, experiences, and support necessary to develop fully the intellectual, creative, social, and physical potential of each student.” Because of the JAC, we can help any student – highly gifted, average, or those with learning differences (and it should be noted that highly gifted students may have learning differences) meet his or her full potential through the services we provide in the Johnson Academic Center .

If you would like to discuss this issue further, Joyce Henson, Director of the Johnson Academic Center, would be a great person to contact. She can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 397 or via e-mail at joycehenson@fcds.org.

31.  InFAQ: Do students experience any sort of stigma as a result of receiving support in the JAC?

When the vision of the academic center was first created, part of the heart of the plan was to have a center where every student could come and receive help. This idea was generated out of the hope that no one would feel different or ashamed for using the center. For this reason, the Johnson Academic Center serves as the main entrance to our school. It stands as a reminder that everyone learns differently and that we are all working together to ensure that students, families, teachers, and administrators are part of the learning taking place within the walls of FCDS.

The JAC staff has worked hard to create programs that all students can use to improve their learning. The Summer Learning Program, SAT Review, the academic coaching program, homework help, individual tutoring, and actual one-on-one classes ensure that all students have many avenues to approach their learning. Students are relieved as they receive help from the specialists in the academic center, and this helps to alleviate any stigma created in students’ minds about what is happening in the JAC.

It also is important to realize that the center was designed so that student traffic would flow through it, allowing all constituents to sense the energy of the school and be a part of it. For this reason, classrooms are strategically placed so students – especially in the Upper School – walk in and out of the JAC area between classes.

As the academic center has grown and created a strong reputation for successfully helping students meet their academic goals, families often comment about how grateful they are that the center is here. Many share their experiences with others; people from the community frequently call to seek information about the center. This also has helped to eliminate any negativity about the work done in the JAC. The volume of success stories continues to grow, and FCDS continues to hold the center high as one of the risks taken that has had a significant positive impact on our students and families.

For more information on this subject, Joyce Henson would be a great person with whom to talk. She can be reached at either 945-3151 ext 397 or via e-mail at joycehenson@fcds.org.

32.  InFAQ: My child isn’t an athlete. Would he/she “fit in” at FCDS?

First, your child doesn't need to be a gifted natural athlete to participate in sports. Although some teams are more competitive than others, our athletic program often allows students of varying abilities to reap the benefits of team sports. At most large public schools, it's common that only the very best athletes get any playing time; we often have parents tell us that they transferred their children to FCDS (in part) so that they could actually play the sport they enjoy. In addition, we strive to keep intramurals as part of our athletic program to ensure that all students can participate, if they desire. Regarding athletic “cuts” on teams, our athletic policy is to avoid cuts whenever possible before students reach our varsity teams. We have added JV softball, baseball, and an additional basketball team to meet students' demands to play. The large majority of our teams at all levels do not make cuts. Unfortunately, we have had to make cuts in Middle School basketball due to limited space, staff, and resources.

Even if your child has no interest in sports whatsoever, he or she will have no trouble fitting in and making friends – we have so many other opportunities for our students. In any given year, there are roughly 40 active clubs, which include everything from Science Olympiad to Creative Writing to knitting to yoga. General categories of clubs include service organizations, academic clubs, cultural and diversity clubs, and arts-related clubs – to name a few. (For a full listing of clubs, please see InFAQ #22) These organizations meet during the daily activity period according to a schedule published monthly on our Web site. In addition to clubs and service organizations, there is a full spectrum of opportunities for students in the arts at FCDS. Our arts department offers a comprehensive curriculum through Lower, Middle, and Upper School . Lower School opportunities include visual arts, singing, instrumental music, and various theatrical opportunities, such as the Pre-Kindergarten/Kindergarten musical and the fourth grade play. In our Middle and Upper Schools , we feature award-winning programs in visual arts, chorus, orchestra, and band, as well as dramatic plays, musicals, and talent shows. In addition, FCDS has a Community School of the Arts, which conveniently offers a wide array of arts instruction to our own students as well as the general public. Course offerings include music, visual arts, drama, and dance.

If you would like to discuss this issue further, Wendy Quesnel, our Assistant Director of the Middle School, would be an excellent person with whom to speak. She can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 573 or via e-mail at wendyquesnel@fcds.org.

33.  InFAQ: My daughter is most interested in music, drama, and visual art. What does FCDS offer in these areas?

The Fine Arts department at FCDS encompasses a comprehensive arts curriculum from Pre-Kindergarten through the twelfth grade. In the Lower School , specialists provide experiences in the visual arts, singing, instrumental music, and movement. Our Middle and Upper Schools feature award-winning programs in visual arts, chorus, orchestra, and band, and we offer experiences in drama and musicals in all three school divisions.

We also have a Community School of the Arts, which conveniently offers a wide array of arts instruction to our own students as well as to the general public. We developed the Community School (beginning with the Community School of Music) three years ago so that we could offer music and fine arts to everyone – FCDS students or those in the broader community. Lessons are offered at the convenience of teachers and students, but most are scheduled in the afternoons. Our offerings, which have grown considerably, include both private and group instruction in almost any orchestral or band instrument, as well as piano, guitar, drums, and voice. There are also group classes in jazz dance, tap, ballet, Tae Kwon Do, an assortment of visual arts, and creative dramatics.

We are constantly working to improve every area of our school, and the Frances Pollock Arts Academy (our arts program) is no exception. We recently renovated our auditorium, installing tiered seating and new sound panels for a better performance experience – but this is only the tip of the iceberg as far as our commitment to the arts is concerned. We are working to complete funding for our Arts Support Center , which will feature the Scronce Orchestra Room, an expanded band room, two choral rooms, and visual arts classroom space.

If you would like to discuss this issue further, Dr. Rebecca Shore, our Director of Fine Arts, would be a great person with whom to speak. She can be reached by phone at 945-3151 ext. 528 or via e-mail at rebeccashore@fcds.org.

34.  InFAQ: Why do you just build athletic facilities? What about building academic facilities?

Although we recently built the Furr Field House, we have also renovated academic facilities to create more classrooms. We've also completed the Brown Lower School Dining Hall, the Lower School Arts & Sciences Building , a new Middle and Upper School art loft, the Dew Coordinate Student Center (an extension of our Johnson Academic Center ), a new library computer lab, and the Livengood Center. In addition, we are planning to build an Arts Support Center in the very near future to expand our ever-growing Upper School Fine Arts Program. So, while it is true that we have added a field house, a state-of-the-art-track, and an activities center (primarily for Lower School students), our efforts are hardly limited to the athletic arena. Also, the first $20 million spent on our facilities during the past four years went primarily to academic buildings (the new early childhood center, the Pike Math & Science Center , and the Johnson Academic Center ). A little more than $4 million went to the school's main gymnasium, the Childress Activities Center.

If you would like to discuss this issue in greater depth, Chief Information Officer Michael Seymour or Director of Facilities Jim Tobias would be great people to contact. They can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 393 and ext. 324, respectively, or via e-mail at michaelseymour@fcds.org or jimtobias@fcds.org.

35.  InFAQ: Is the school too concerned with/does it spend too much money on athletics?

We do have a strong athletic program of which we are proud, but we only spend one percent of our total $15.4 million operating budget on athletics (not including salaries and benefits). When salaries and benefits are added to the equation, the portion of our operating budget devoted to athletics is only 2.5 percent. Even if we include anyone who has anything to do with athletics at our school (i.e. a full-time Lower or Middle School physical education teacher), that number rises to just 4.7 percent of our total budget. This number doesn’t include our numerous volunteer coaches, obviously, who help bolster the program with the donation of their time and talent – and for whom we are very grateful.

Rusty LaRue , our Athletic Director, would be a great person with whom to discuss this issue in greater depth.  He can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 468 or via e-mail at rustylarue@fcds.org.

36.  InFAQ: Are the academic goals of FCDS being sacrificed for physical education goals? Your coaches have impressive coaching credentials, but where do they fit in to FCDS's academic program and what subjects are they qualified to teach?

First of all, the vast majority of our coaches are also highly qualified classroom teachers or administrators (most of whom taught at one point). The subjects and divisions they teach are as varied as the teachers themselves, but among the classes taught by coaches are AP U.S. history, AP government, calculus, AP statistics, physical education, civics, Middle School math, economics, American literature, British literature, and English IV: poetry.

At FCDS, athletics are important, but this co-curricular represents only a small portion of how we spend our resources (both people and financial) and our time at the school. Athletics sometimes loom large – perhaps because of the excellent quality of our comprehensive programs and the passion that sports bring out in so many members of our community – but we spend the vast majority of our time recruiting and managing great teachers, assessing and adding academic and co-curricular programs, expanding our curriculum, and taking care of our students. While we’re always open to new ways to improve as a school, our academic programs and wherewithal compare favorably to most schools in the country – and that is certainly what colleges are telling us.

With all this being said, we are proud of the athletic program we have built here: it is one of the things that has helped us build such a dynamic and well rounded school, and it has had a direct impact on our enrollment demand (which, in turn, has allowed us to continue expanding and improving what and how we teach).

For more information on this issue, please contact our Provost and Middle School Director, Chuck Jones. He can be reached at 945-3151 ext. 317 or via e-mail at chuckjones@fcds.org.

37.  InFAQ: Why must you raise tuition? Our tuitions are too high. Aren’t you pricing yourselves out of the market?

Let’s face it: no one likes an increase in tuition. For parents (and most of us who work here have children here, too) it can feel burdensome, and it’s always unpopular. If we could avoid raising tuition and still continue to grow and improve as a school, we would. But tuition increases, just like death and taxes, are inevitable. Suffice it to say, our tuition always goes up.

We independent schools are finding ourselves in the same situation as colleges and universities because we face many of the same costs, especially soaring insurance, the high cost of labor, and rising utility bills. Though our school has built a very healthy endowment, we simply cannot absorb these costs without increasing tuition – and you will find this is true pretty much across the board at colleges, universities, and independent schools.

We managed to hold increases down to three (3) percent for the first two years of the current administration, and our annual increases have hovered around five (5) percent since then…despite the fact that other schools in our area and across the country were increasing by far more substantial amounts. We held ourselves to lower raises in the first two years because we didn’t think that the Forsyth Country Day School of 1999 and 2000 was worth a larger increase; at the time, we hadn’t done all that we needed to improve our educational offerings. However, we embarked on a plan to do just that – improve our school in every way possible. This improvement, however, requires commensurate revenue support, which we received through substantial philanthropic gifts, increased tuition revenue, and a growing endowment.

Over the last eight years, we have added innumerable programs, courses, exceptional people, technological advances, facilities, and open-ended opportunities for our students to succeed. In doing so, we have become a school that offers a great deal to our students – and a great deal more than much of our competition. Below is a list of all of the programs and initiatives we have put in place.

New programs since 1999:

·        Addition of training program for inexperienced teachers

·        Senior Seminar

·        U/S Morning Meeting

·        Expansion of International Studies Program

·        Strings Program

·        Band (2003 – 2004)

·        Applied Music Lessons (2003 - 2004)

·        Debate

·        Expanded and Online Book Fair

·        Cosmology Physics Elective (2003 - 2004)

·        Finance Class (Math)

·        Discrete Math A&B

·        AP U.S. Government and Politics

·        AP French Language

·        AP Spanish Language

·        AP Music Theory

·        AP Art Portfolio, 2D

·        AP Art Photography (2003 - 2004)

·        AP Statistics

·        AP Latin

·        AP Computer Science

·        Civics and Current Events in Eighth Grade

·        U. S. History, Seventh Grade

·        Political Issues

·        Football

·        Community School of Music

·        Community School of Visual Art

·        123 Sing (Lower School)

·        Fury Times

·        Spanish, Sixth Grade

·        Latin, Sixth Grade

·        Linguistics, Fifth Grade

·        Made science a core course for fifth and sixth graders (2003 - 2004)

·        Spanish II A and II B

·        Three Foreign Language Classes Per Week for Fifth and Sixth Graders (2003 -2004)

·        Advanced Computer Applications

·        Intramural Program (2003 - 2004)

·        New Teacher Mentoring Program (2003 - 2004)

·        Human Resources Department

·        Fury Ltd.<