Laurel Plan in Newbury by Valor Communities
Madison, AL 35756

We moved here in August of last year. Before coming to Columbia, my children attended another school in the district, and the experience was extremely difficult. All three of my children—one in elementary, one in middle school, and one in high school—were bullied. My daughter was even involved in a fight during the first week of school after being repeatedly bullied while a teacher stood by and watched. The incident was caught on video, yet the school never took any action.Since transferring to Columbia, our experience has been completely different. From the very first day, the principal noticed that my daughter seemed sad about leaving her old extracurricular activities. Before we could even make it to the car, he stopped us just to ask if she was okay. In that moment, I knew she was in the right school.On top of that, one of her teachers reached out to me on the very first day of school to introduce himself. He asked if there was anything I wanted to share about my daughter, told me it was a pleasure meeting us, and said he looked forward to working with her. That simple gesture meant a lot. Later in the year, when I checked her out of school one day, he walked her to the office and took a moment to speak with me. He explained that she was having some difficulties in his class and that he was keeping an eye on her progress to determine whether she needed to stay in the class.It turned out that, even though she had taken a similar class at her previous school and was passing with flying colors, she hadn’t actually learned much of the material. The teacher quickly recognized that and showed great patience while helping her adjust. She’s still in his class and doing much better now. I truly appreciate his care and dedication—it made all the difference.Overall, I have nothing but positive things to say about Columbia’s staff and students. My daughter absolutely loves it here. She feels safe, supported, and valued. I look forward to my son joining Columbia as well, and I’m so thankful for the kindness and attention the school has shown my family.

Hi, I’m a current 8th grader at this school and a member of the AGT program. AGT is moderately decent and the students and teachers are good however I take one regular Williams class and I have to say that the students are horrendous. Cussing out teachers, throwing stuff, fights, etc. The behavior is horrendous and that’s only part of it. Many of the students are not here to learn and are here simply to be disruptive and rude. Teachers do barely anything to fix this behavior and simply don’t care. It’s a pain to go to school because I know that I will be yelled at, shoved, and made fun of for simply existing. The transitions between classes are the worst. Overcrowding causes so many fights, arguments, and tardiness. If you are tardy to class you will get written up/suspended when most of the time other people are prohibiting you from getting to class on time. Next, let’s discuss the bathrooms, they are always disgusting, not functioning, and plain horrendous. There is feces on the ground and urine on the toilet seats. No one ever cleans up the bathrooms so it goes like this for weeks. The cafeteria is also deplorable. The food is cold and gross, and the tables are also nasty. Overall I would NOT recommend this school. I have had far more bad experiences than nice ones.

0/10 do not recommend. Homeschooling is the best option for your child if you are zoned for this school