159 Oakbluff Rd
Summerville, SC 29485

I am a teacher at this school. I have been a teacher for decades, have taught at many different schools, and with many different administrators. I am very pleased with the administration team at this school and the leadership provided by Mrs. Kelley. It all begins there to establish the culture of a school. They are impressive and involved here as administrators. They know the students, are are responsive if there is a problem in the classroom with behavior. There is not a middle school in the world that does not have students in middle school who make mistakes and do dumb things. That is part of the age of our students. I love that if a student is not behaving they will remove that student from the classroom, so everyone else can learn and the lesson can proceed. I have never worked anywhere where that has happened, and it makes a huge difference. Our principal is down to earth and supportive, and she does not micromanage. She allows teachers to teach and to do what is best for students. She has a hands-on approach to building relationships with students and personally greets every busload of students to welcome them daily and remind them to put away phones and hats etc. She is walking the halls and engaging with them. They know her and want to please her because they have a connection with her. The Josten's Renaissance Program is a huge bonus to this school and has been blooming this past year. It has created a more positive environment for all who spend their days within the walls of this school. Students, staff, & faculty (called staffulty) are all recognized for doing what they are supposed to and for improvement. They plan events for the kids and have lots of incentives for doing the right thing. This positive approach is far better than a focus on discipline and negative consequences. Everyone who comes to GMS deserves to be recognized & celebrated for good choices, improvement, and overall achievement. Effort counts & striving students who struggle are also celebrated. This matters. Some students will never be the top students in school because of their learning challenges. This system still gives those students positive recognition & celebrates their efforts to do their best in school. I can only expect the school to improve each year as this Renaissance mindset continues to grow & spread through the entire school. GMS was recognized this year at the Josten's Renaissance International Conference as a Josten's School of Distinction!

Ashley Ridge is a great high school. Brooke Mathews, the Principal, has great leadership skills and manages her team very well. We have been very happy with the education our daughter has received.

I attended this school from 2nd to 5th grade, and I remember absolutely loving it. The activities were always very fun and creativity focused and in my experience the teachers and staff were extremely supportive. Not sure if they still do this but when I went on half days they would be club days and all students were required to join a club. There were tons of variety in the choices and I really love the idea of, for lack of better words, forcing kids to participate in those clubs and helping them to find things they enjoy while making friends with their peers. Feild days always included tons of activities and other events like color runs and dances were always enjoyable both during and out of school hours. I remember hating every time when they would have counselors come into class and teach about expressing feelings healthily and general mental health awareness but looking back, I think it's absolutely amazing that they cared to educate us on things like that while we were young. Seeing as I was a child I can't speak much on the actual quality of education but I do recall it being very parent involved and test scores look high so I guess they're doing pretty good in that regard. Cafeteria food was about as good as cafeteria food can be and the variety in play areas they had when I attended (2 playgrounds, a courtyard, laps around the carpool lane, and a small grassy area) was enjoyable and I rarely found myself bored. With all that being said, I haven't been at this school in nearly 5 years but if they still run it like they did back then I totally recommend it.