1716 E Side St, Garland, TX 75040

My daughter absolutely loves her school. The teachers are incredibly supportive and truly care about their students’ success, both academically and personally. The environment feels safe, welcoming, and positive, which gives me great peace of mind as a parent. I’ve seen my daughter grow in confidence and truly excel in her learning. We are very grateful to be part of such a wonderful school community.

My family has been with this school in the Montessori program for five years now, and I recommend it. I can't speak for the traditional half of the school, but we LOVE the Montessori! The teachers are incredible; engaging, understanding, inspiring. Love, love, love, the Montessori. There's very little/no homework because of the MOntessori method. Ocassionally depending on the teacher you'll have "read 20 min a day" type of homework, or a child may be asked to finish some work over the weekend that they hadn't finished during school hours that week. But overall homework is minimal, hallelujah. The campus is hyper-safe. The admin are VERY careful with outsiders, to the point they don't allow afterschool clubs/sports and they don't allow people during the day to eat lunch with their child/visit classrooms/be a "room parent" and help teachers, etc, unless you are on the PTA board, because they are so concerned with keeping the school safe. I love the commitment to safety, but I do wish there were clubs/sports opportunities for the kids. Surely we could find a happy medium. Maybe a parent who was willing to be fingerprinted/background checked could coach? I would love a low-pressure sport or club opportunity. The admin overall is great, and if you are diligent about getting to know them/helping the campus, they are very easy to work with. If the principal doesn't know you, it is harder to work with her and get things done. The Principal is a little grumpy. I've been around her for five years, and I've never had a particularly warm experience with her. I've overheard her speaking harshly to kids. The Vice principal and other office staff are balanced in how they interact with kids. Sometimes warm, sometimes stern; normal. The nurse is particularly warm and inclusive. We've absolutely ADORED all the specials teachers and staff! Overall great school and we've loved our experience. We just wish there were clubs ;)

My student had a disability and needed to attend a self contained class at GISD. He was mistreated by the classroom aide and the other aide in the class never intervened. When I asked for the video footage to be reviewed they found the incident and the principal had to review the video as well. She acted like nothing was wrong with that she saw. She asked what I wanted it done? That was one of many reg flags because it meant she was looking out for whe people.. and not in the child’s best interest. My son worked so hard at his speech and occupational therapy and after attending this school he had regressed. His behavior was impacted, he started to hit himself and over all was very disregulated for most of the time he was home. He only attended the school 4 months. Their special education class have about 12 kids per teacher with 2 aides and there’s no gap as to how many they can take. The classroom was K-2nd grade and it was kaos all the time. If you have a kid who need a special education classroom, I would encourage you to look somewhere else and don’t put your kid in danger.

Worst Experience — Administrative Negligence and Safety FailuresI am leaving a 1-star review to publicly document a severe lack of student safety, administrative dishonesty, and an unsupportive environment at this school.Rampant Bullying & Toxic Culture: The campus repeatedly fails to address student bullying, while multiple teachers rely on destructive criticism that breaks student morale rather than encouraging learning. The lunches provided are consistently poor.Severe Field Trip Negligence: During a 5th-grade school field trip to a roller skating rink, chaperones completely abandoned a student who did not know how to skate. Despite falling 20 times due to zero supervision or assistance, no adult intervened. On the 21st fall, the student suffered a fractured and severely twisted ankle.Cover-Up and Blame Shifting: Rather than taking responsibility for their total failure to supervise, the school administration fabricated a story claiming the student was "doing a trick." This is a blatant lie designed to shift legal liability and avoid paying medical bills.This administration prioritizes funding, attendance numbers, and covering up its own mistakes over the physical safety and emotional well-being of its students. Avoid this school.