It seems like yesterday that I was a student at Wheeling Country Day School myself. When my parents decided that it would be best for me to attend an independent school, they made the decision look easy. Now, as a parent of two young children myself, I know these decisions are not easy. We have tried to develop an online resource to help you with the questions that may perplex you or even elude you. We hope that we have given you a resource to be well informed about elementary education and the developing child. We have tried to paint a clear picture of the value added elements that enrich our curriculum where students as young as pre-school not only focus on reading and math, but also study foreign languages, science, music, art, physical education and drama.
It doesn’t escape me that children spend more of their time with us at school than they do at home. We want you to know the nurturing, but challenging environment that we have created in the midst of a campus that invites children to wonder at nature. In the end I cannot tell the story of Wheeling Country Day as well as our students, their parents and our alumni, so we have offered you their voices as often as possible, but I invite you to e-mail me and share even more memories or thoughts that I might pass along to others.
I encourage you to visit our campus where the pictures and information on these pages come to life. I invite you to witness students engaged in learning and teachers devoted to the individual child within each learner. In the meantime, until you can find your way to 8 Park Road, allow this site to be a glimpse into our school. I think you’ll agree with me that Wheeling Country Day School is an independent decision you’ll be glad you made.
Elizabeth Hofreuter is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She joined Wheeling Country Day School as Head of School in 2009. Prior to WCDS, Liz served 18 years in independent education, during which she served as an adjunct professor in Education for Bethany College and in English for Wheeling Jesuit University. She was awarded the Klingenstein Center Fellowship in 2015 where she co-wrote the paper, 21st Century Education. Today, Liz shares her voice on a variety of topics as a monthly contributor for the Wheeling Intelligencer and through our blog on the WCDS website. She lives in Wheeling with her two daughters, Grace, a WCDS graduate, and Ella, a current WCDS student.