About Us
Serving the Whole Student
From the very start we were determined to look at education differently – that includes our definition of success. So while the federal government, state government, school districts and individual schools focus on test scores and other measures of academic achievement, we focus instead on the only metric that matters: what kinds of people our school produces.
We educate students in PreK through eighth grade. But our strategy started by envisioning our alums as 27-year-olds. At that age, we have a pretty good indication of what kind of people they’re going to be long-term. (In fact, brain science tells us the frontal lobe isn’t fully developed until the age of 27.)
And at that age we’ll conduct the final round of data-collecting in a longitudinal study that will track our students’ progress. So, what do we envision our 27-year-olds will be? Our goal is that at least 80 percent of them are …
- Successful by their own definition
- Physically and mentally healthy
- Living lives of character and integrity
- Financially independent
- Established in a career
Once we determined the finish line, we set out creating research-based milemarkers – starting with 4-year-olds – that will ultimately create the intended outcomes and ultimately pull families out of generational poverty.
GDS’s Core Values:
- Student-first, student-centered
- Dream big; work hard
- Ownership by everyone
- Do the right thing
Who We Serve
The Greater Dayton School serves a cross-section of under-resourced students in Montgomery County. Too many families in our community live near the poverty line while wanting something better for their kids. Single moms. Working poor. Parents who struggle to adequately advocate for their children, or provide them with the full breadth of resources necessary to set them up for adult success.
This includes…
- Students whose parents want – but can’t afford – a transformational whole-child educational experience for them.
- Students whose families have been impacted by generational, not situational, poverty.
- Students whose families are committed to supporting their development.
- Students whose families are seeking a racially-diverse educational environment.
- Students with special needs.