METAIRIE PARK COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

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Our Students What kind of students do we seek? Country Day serves students representing a full range of college-bound abilities and accepts qualified students without regard to race, color, gender, religious preference, ethnic or national origin. Why do students choose to attend Country Day? Students and their families choose Country Day because the School offers an innovative hands-on approach that teaches students how to think creatively and independently, combined with the high academic standards and accountability found at more traditional independent schools. Students develop high-level competence in the traditional academic disciplines and master critical skills needed for the 21st century. Our students not only learn to think - they prepare to achieve. What is the current composition of the student body? 2009-2010 enrollment is 690 312 students are in the Lower School 161 students are in the Middle School 217 students are in the Upper School 16% of students represent racial and ethnic minorities What It Costs and How We Can Help What is the 2009-2010 tuition? Pre-Kindergarten tuition is $11,900 for full day (including lunch) and $7,245 for half day. Tuition is $13,070 for Kindergarten and $16,160 for Grades 1-12. Lunch is $1,140 for Kindergarten-Grade 5 and $1,330 for Grades 6-12. Please refer to the Technology section on page 3 for costs associated with the tablet computer program in the Upper School. What is your financial aid policy? Country Day offers a need-based financial aid program for children in grades Pre-K through 12. In 2009-2010, students who qualified for some form of financial assistance received financial aid awards ranging from a minimal amount to nearly full tuition. Awards apply only to tuition and to tablet computers for participating grades in the Upper School. Awards do not include additional fees such as lunch, books, bus, and after care. Each family is responsible for these fees. Our financial aid is a grant, not a loan. The amount of a student's financial aid does not have to be paid back. Country Day offers a low-interest loan program to finance tuition payments. Families can finance the full tuition, and financial aid recipients can finance the portion of their tuition balance that remains after aid has been applied. Financial need is not considered in evaluating applications for admission. Do you have merit scholarships? Country Day does not provide merit scholarships. How do we apply for a scholarship or financial assistance? Parents who believe they may qualify for financial aid should notify the Admission Office to request the appropriate materials. Parents complete the School and Student Service's (SSS) Parents Financial Statement (PFS), an application used by independent schools nation-wide. SSS analyzes the information and provides a recommendation of how much a family can afford in tuition. The goal of our financial aid program then is to provide the remaining tuition dollars in financial aid. In addition to the PFS statement, parents submit tax documents and complete an additional questionnaire which asks for further details. All information is reviewed only by the Financial Aid Committee and is held in strictest confidence. Dollars are awarded on a first-come-first-served basis; therefore, it is important to apply for financial aid in a timely manner. Whether or not the School can provide financial aid depends on when the application was received and on available funding. The deadline for financial aid paperwork is in February. Please call to request a financial aid packet. More specific deadlines will be provided when you receive the initial packet. For questions regarding financial aid, please contact our Director of Financial Aid, Cecilia Leon-Drago, by telephone at (504) 849-3101 or e-mail cldrago@mpcds.com.
Our Academic Programs and Extracurricular Offerings Who are your teachers? Country Day has 79 teaching faculty, 43 of whom have earned advanced degrees. Our faculty has an excitement for life that lifts our students up. They challenge, inspire, and delight our students, opening windows in the mind. To learn more about our faculty, visit our Web site at www.mpcds.com/Academics/Faculty. What is the academic program like? Country Day’s Lower School has a trimester system, while the Middle School and Upper School have a semester system with a five-day schedule that combines short and long class periods for extended work such as labs. The target class sizes vary from 8:1 to 18:1, depending on the subject being taught and the division level. The Lower School’s multiage classrooms are renowned, and their benefits are enumerated in a separate document. In Middle School and Upper School, we offer a college-preparatory core curriculum, including Honors and Advanced Placement Classes as well as opportunities for Independent Study. What about activities? The Lower School offers a full range of extended day programs, ranging from drama to art to computers. The Middle School’s offerings include Student Council, Review Board, Assets Task Force, Anti-Bullying Committee, After-School Drama, and Community Service programs. Upper school students publish the yearbook, the news magazine, and the literary magazine and are members of organizations including Student Government, S.A.D.D. (Students Against Destructive Decisions), PAX (People Against Xenophobia), and the Assets Task Force. Music offerings include Beginning Band, 5th Grade Band, Beginning Strings, Lower School Orchestra and Little Group (chorus) in Lower School; Middle School Chorale and Band; and Upper School Band, Orchestra and Chorus. All students participate in Community Service Learning projects appropriate to their grade level. The entire school participates in the annual All Community Day and Field Day. What about athletics? Country Day is proud of the winning success our students experience on the field; in 2009, this included three State Championships (Boys Basketball, Boys Tennis, and Girls Tennis) and two State Runner-up Teams (Girls Basketball and Boys Cross Country). We are even more pleased that nearly 80 percent of upper school students participate in at least one sport, with nearly 50 percent involved in two or more sports. Country Day graduates from the Class of 2009 will participate in collegiate athletic programs at Austin College, Dartmouth College, Kenyon College, Louisiana State University, Oglethorpe University, Rhodes College, Washington and Lee University, and Williams College. Every middle and upper school student is encouraged to participate on at least one athletic team. We teach student athletes that the most significant measure of performance is giving their team the best they have to offer. Our coaches are often selected by their peers as the best in their district, and these same coaches take a personal interest in the academic progress of their athletes. Country Day offers more varsity sports than most Class A High Schools in Louisiana including: Baseball (Boys) Basketball (Boys and Girls) Cross Country (Boys and Girls) Football (Boys) Golf (Boys and Girls) Soccer (Boys and Girls) Softball (Girls) Swimming (Swimming) Technology Tennis (Boys and Girls) Track (Boys and Girls) Volleyball (Girls) What kind of access do students have to technology? Country Day has always provided its students with abundant access to technology. Each student compiles a digital portfolio of work from kindergarten through 12th grade. Lower school classrooms are equipped with desktop computers; the Middle and Upper Schools have access to three laptop carts housing 60 computers. The media lab and middle/upper school library provide access to numerous computers as well. In 2006, the School decided to put more technology into students' hands by inaugurating a laptop program with the freshman class in the Upper School. We have continued to introduce laptops to subsequent freshmen classes; effective with the 2009-2010 school year, the entire Upper School is participating in this program. After considering a variety of systems, and after observing programs in other schools, we concluded that convertible tablet computers offer the most exciting and unique capabilities. In addition to standard keyboard functionality, the tablet utilizes handwriting-recognition software to convert handwriting to printed text. Students use stylus pens to enter notes, highlight important points, connect facts, and diagram ideas. The 2009-2010 cost to our ninth grade families, including the first $50 annual technology fee (which covers software licenses which must be renewed annually), is $1,850 and Country Day offers a number of financing options.
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METAIRIE PARK COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

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