It is hard to imagine immersing you child in music, but as schools cut all funding for arts, I can only say that The Crowden School reminds me how important music is for a child. It is not for especially talented children- it is a complete organic education. As a non-musician I watched children blossom as they matured and understood music. A joy to be here daily listening to scratchy beginners develop into sophisticated teens who were confident, well rounded people. I retired to England and miss their daily joy and musicianship. I wish I had attended as a child.
I was a student from 1996 to 2000 and it was a fabulous experience. The school has gotten bigger and changed since I was a student, but still holds the values it did many years ago. The academics were excellent and the experience was unique and nurturing. Highly recommend!
The Crowden school was awesome. I graduated in 2009 and loved it. It really helped me have a large appreciation for music, which I continue to value and treasure. This year, I'm renting space from them, and they continue to be awesome. All the teachers and staff are awesome and extremely nice people. The space is great as well.
I had 2 kids go through Crowden 4th through 8th, the experience was fabulous. If you listen, you can hear what the conversation is when you visit a school. At Crowden the kids talk about chamber music and performance. My girls will always have that.
I started attending TCS in fall of 2001, and I can say that it only went uphill from there. Before going to Crowden, I was not musically proficient in any way, shape, or form. I had been playing piano for the past two years, but I wasn't into the music at all and couldn't care less whether or not I quit. Back then you had to play a string instrument to join TCS, so I started taking cello lessons. After just my first day I could already tell that music was going to be a huge part of my life. The wonderful teachers and coaches who worked there then and who work there now helped me with everything from phrasing to technique and beyond. Without Crowden, I think it would have taken me so much longer to find that pure joy that music can provide. TCS also gave me an excellent middle school education, especially in science and English. We were reading texts in 6th grade that I would later read again in my sophomore year of high school, and because of the school's inspiring science classes I found a love for biochemistry , a subject that I now hope to major in. Crowden has helped shape the person I am today and is continually proving itself useful as colleges get more and more competitive. I hope Crowden can continue its long tradition of inspiring young minds for many years to come.
I first entered the Crowden School as a fourth grader in the fall of 2001. I had played piano but needed to switch to a string instrument because the program for piano studies had not yet been established. But being a beginner in violin did not make me feel any less competent than the advanced players around me due to the never-ending support and love my teachers and peers gave me. Starting off with hardly any foundation of music in September, my world had changed by October. With courses in music theory (musicianship & composition), music history, technique class, orchestra, chamber music and chorus, I felt that as a nine year old my identity had transformed and now incorporated a great deal of music. Now as a seventeen year old, I can say that it has only continued and further embellished itself. However, TCS allowed my life to be filled with other great virtues aside from music. With such a heartwarming and intimate community, recesses and assemblies were usually flexible and fun filled with food, soccer, and playing at the local park. A great population of the students also participated in sports and religious activities outside of school resulting in other diverse and common interests. Classes were prestigiously advanced as well with all core academic classes plus some. With the great preparation I received at Crowden, I was able to enter advanced language classes in high school for both English and French, join the Varsity soccer team, and participate in a number of advanced youth symphonies and programs from Oakland to San Francisco and Palo Alto. People may think that all TCS prepares their students for is music but it provides so much more than just that. TCS has and always will be a home for hundreds of students to thrive as people in all areas of life. I was extremely blessed to be a part of the whole experience and could not be any more grateful.