About
Day Prep is a private, independent, non-religious, college preparatory, experiential learning, project-based JK–12th grade school that offers accredited private education in person, remote, or in a combination format. Students at Day Prep engage in hands-on science experiments and write and publish their own scientific journals that include elements of professional journals and embedded QR codes. Technology literacy is interwoven across the curricula, and students participate in learning as a class, in small groups, 1:1, and individually at a low teacher-to-student ratio.
• Ages: 4–18 years old
• Schedule: Custom day lengths of 3–6 hours per day, 2–5 days per week, within a 140–175 day school year calendar; minimum 12-hour school week at a low ratio
Day Prep enrolls students in Junior Kindergarten through 12th grade and offers educational services for all ages, including tutoring services focused on a single subject, report card rescue, and advancement with top scholar skills. The program can be fully remote, in person, or hybrid, and an in-home learning option is available in which a Day Prep teacher comes into a home or commercial space, with the possibility to create a class for single-age or multi-age groups. The program includes an Integrity Curriculum with skills in emotional regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, communication skills, mindfulness, and executive functioning skills, and students practice relational intelligence, communication, and executive functioning skills while adopting keystone habits of sleep, nutrition, and exercise.
Day Prep is WASC-accredited and uses a WASC-accredited curriculum, meeting and exceeding the standards of what it describes as the nation’s highest accrediting agency. Standardized, school-created, custom curriculum is used with fidelity by all teachers, creating a common language and vocabulary school wide, and teachers are taught to use the same methodologies and tools. Teachers at Day Prep are trained in what the program describes as revolutionary methods and place scaffolds at specific moments, locations, and durations, and the program states that research since 1965 has shown that the most important element in the classroom is the teacher. The program states that it removes political agenda, medical restrictions, and non-school related education from the schooling experience and that education is tailored to the individual, built on practices and habits of global innovators with 21st-century skills as guideposts.
The mission of Day Prep is to empower students to identify and use their signature skills to create a life marked by integrity, self-awareness, flow, meaning, service, and purpose. The program focuses on children developing signature skills, core values, and regulation and communication skills, and states that it helps families create and live the vision they have for their family by providing academic, life, and relational intelligence skills. Students develop what the program describes as agile minds and 21st-century skills, self-evaluate, become experts at taking initiative and solving problems, and experience high autonomy with co-created learning and maintenance of innate curiosity. Day Prep describes its schooling as private schooling with transformative, experiential learning, a college preparatory WASC-accredited program, fostering critical thinking and creative problem-solving, and fun.
Cara Day is described by a member of the San Diego Unified School Board as having “revolutionary, yet proven methods that transform lives” and a parenting philosophy and methods that are “in-depth, yet practical, tangible, and immediately usable.” The same source calls her “a practical genius at teaching not only parents, but students and her fellow practitioners” and “a breath of fresh air.” Day Prep lists Oases Tutoring Management Software as a partner.
Parents with two enrolled children in La Jolla describe Day Prep as “a program, an educational leader, and a community that would not only preserve the magic of education in uncertain times, but a curriculum and education style that is revolutionary.” Another parent from San Diego reports that after a review of their daughter’s natural skills and knowledge, “a tailored program was created and so professionally delivered,” and that they watched their child “blossom into a confident, less anxious child,” noting that she is now at the top of her class and that her social/emotional acumen is “soaring.” A middle school parent states, “We are so happy with our child’s teachers. Very grateful for everything!!” and another comment reads, “Day Prep School is the best!” One student in the primary grades says, “Mamma, at Day Prep I never feel left out, my feelings aren’t hurt and I have not cried once when you pick me up because someone was mean to me,” and another comment reads, “Sienna loves Day Prep. She only has positive things to say about her teachers, the environment, and the work she completes.” Additional comments include “This is how teaching should be,” “Happy Child – Happy Heart,” and a note of gratitude for the social/emotional component, Power Parenting session, follow-up resources, and anticipated Level Up extracurricular options.
Dr. Wendy Parcel of the WASC Accreditation Visiting Committee reports that standardized, school-created, custom curriculum is being used with fidelity by all teachers, allowing teachers to step in seamlessly for one another and creating a common language and vocabulary used school wide. She notes that teachers feel well-trained, respected as educators, and appreciative of the high level of support from administration, which they say allows them to focus on educating students. Dr. Parcel also states that the methodologies and small student-to-teacher ratio ensure that all students are receiving an individualized education while being supported in a community of learners, and that students report a love of learning, saying “the teachers care about me and help me learn,” and describing hands-on activities such as creating their own books, excursions to further their studies, and hands-on science experiments.
Last updated July 8, 2026.
• Ages: 4–18 years old
• Schedule: Custom day lengths of 3–6 hours per day, 2–5 days per week, within a 140–175 day school year calendar; minimum 12-hour school week at a low ratio
Day Prep enrolls students in Junior Kindergarten through 12th grade and offers educational services for all ages, including tutoring services focused on a single subject, report card rescue, and advancement with top scholar skills. The program can be fully remote, in person, or hybrid, and an in-home learning option is available in which a Day Prep teacher comes into a home or commercial space, with the possibility to create a class for single-age or multi-age groups. The program includes an Integrity Curriculum with skills in emotional regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, communication skills, mindfulness, and executive functioning skills, and students practice relational intelligence, communication, and executive functioning skills while adopting keystone habits of sleep, nutrition, and exercise.
Day Prep is WASC-accredited and uses a WASC-accredited curriculum, meeting and exceeding the standards of what it describes as the nation’s highest accrediting agency. Standardized, school-created, custom curriculum is used with fidelity by all teachers, creating a common language and vocabulary school wide, and teachers are taught to use the same methodologies and tools. Teachers at Day Prep are trained in what the program describes as revolutionary methods and place scaffolds at specific moments, locations, and durations, and the program states that research since 1965 has shown that the most important element in the classroom is the teacher. The program states that it removes political agenda, medical restrictions, and non-school related education from the schooling experience and that education is tailored to the individual, built on practices and habits of global innovators with 21st-century skills as guideposts.
The mission of Day Prep is to empower students to identify and use their signature skills to create a life marked by integrity, self-awareness, flow, meaning, service, and purpose. The program focuses on children developing signature skills, core values, and regulation and communication skills, and states that it helps families create and live the vision they have for their family by providing academic, life, and relational intelligence skills. Students develop what the program describes as agile minds and 21st-century skills, self-evaluate, become experts at taking initiative and solving problems, and experience high autonomy with co-created learning and maintenance of innate curiosity. Day Prep describes its schooling as private schooling with transformative, experiential learning, a college preparatory WASC-accredited program, fostering critical thinking and creative problem-solving, and fun.
Cara Day is described by a member of the San Diego Unified School Board as having “revolutionary, yet proven methods that transform lives” and a parenting philosophy and methods that are “in-depth, yet practical, tangible, and immediately usable.” The same source calls her “a practical genius at teaching not only parents, but students and her fellow practitioners” and “a breath of fresh air.” Day Prep lists Oases Tutoring Management Software as a partner.
Parents with two enrolled children in La Jolla describe Day Prep as “a program, an educational leader, and a community that would not only preserve the magic of education in uncertain times, but a curriculum and education style that is revolutionary.” Another parent from San Diego reports that after a review of their daughter’s natural skills and knowledge, “a tailored program was created and so professionally delivered,” and that they watched their child “blossom into a confident, less anxious child,” noting that she is now at the top of her class and that her social/emotional acumen is “soaring.” A middle school parent states, “We are so happy with our child’s teachers. Very grateful for everything!!” and another comment reads, “Day Prep School is the best!” One student in the primary grades says, “Mamma, at Day Prep I never feel left out, my feelings aren’t hurt and I have not cried once when you pick me up because someone was mean to me,” and another comment reads, “Sienna loves Day Prep. She only has positive things to say about her teachers, the environment, and the work she completes.” Additional comments include “This is how teaching should be,” “Happy Child – Happy Heart,” and a note of gratitude for the social/emotional component, Power Parenting session, follow-up resources, and anticipated Level Up extracurricular options.
Dr. Wendy Parcel of the WASC Accreditation Visiting Committee reports that standardized, school-created, custom curriculum is being used with fidelity by all teachers, allowing teachers to step in seamlessly for one another and creating a common language and vocabulary used school wide. She notes that teachers feel well-trained, respected as educators, and appreciative of the high level of support from administration, which they say allows them to focus on educating students. Dr. Parcel also states that the methodologies and small student-to-teacher ratio ensure that all students are receiving an individualized education while being supported in a community of learners, and that students report a love of learning, saying “the teachers care about me and help me learn,” and describing hands-on activities such as creating their own books, excursions to further their studies, and hands-on science experiments.
Last updated July 8, 2026.
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