412 JOHNSON ST, New Bern, NC

As the 2014 school year comes to a close, we are just as pleased with Brinson as we were when my oldest started there 6 years ago. We are a military family. We had a child or children (depending on the year) at Brinson, left for a year, and then returned to New Bern. My older two kids missed Brinson terribly the year they were gone. They were happier and overall got a better education than at their other school. Our youngest and middle child are currently there and continue to thrive. The teachers are very engaged. Sure, some are better than others, but I haven't had a bad teacher experience so far. The school does very well on standardized tests without obsessing over and stressing the kids about the tests (as compared with another high achieving local school where my friend's child developed test anxiety and spent most of third grade stressed out to the point of not wanting to go to school - and she was a good student). Brinson finds an excellent balance of urging the children to excel while not smothering them. My ONLY gripe is that I wish the curriculum spent more time on grammar. If you are moving to the area, rest assured that Brinson is a positive, safe place.