601 SE 80TH STREET
Ocala, FL 34480

My daughter is currently in the honors Cambridge program and absolutely loves it here. She has ADHD and Autism, and yet she is truly thriving—earning straight A’s with a 4.5–5.0 GPA in her second year. The teachers consistently follow her 504 plan, respect her individual differences, and provide the support she needs to succeed. She’s energetic, talkative, and always on the move, but instead of seeing that as a challenge, her teachers embrace her strengths and meet her where she is. In the past, we’ve encountered schools where her needs were misunderstood or dismissed, but at Belleview Middle the staff takes the time to understand, support, and encourage her. Whenever an issue arises, communication is prompt and solutions are quickly put in place. This is a school that values its students and works in partnership with families—and if you have a motivated, kind child, you’ll find that they can truly flourish here.

Shady Hill is a good school, but it is not for everyone. We chose to enroll through school choice because of the school’s strong reputation, positive reviews, recommendations from friends, and long-standing record of academic success.However, we quickly learned that communication with parents is not one of the school’s strengths, especially when it comes to children who may be struggling. As active and involved parents, we repeatedly expressed that we wanted to work as a team because the ultimate goal is for our child to succeed. Despite this, social workers became involved and our child was sent to speak with a psychologist without our prior knowledge or communication.We were often told that someone would call us back, yet follow-up rarely happened, even when we attempted to contact the school ourselves through phone calls or ClassDojo messages.Additionally, throughout third grade, teachers rarely contacted us regarding behavioral concerns or struggles our child may have been having. Instead, comments were allegedly made to our child such as, “I hope the kids at the other school actually like you.” When our child attempted to apologize and take accountability for behavior, those apologies were reportedly dismissed with statements that staff were “too busy” to listen.Another disappointing experience involved Field Day. We were never informed that parents were allowed to attend and cheer on their children. As a result, our child came home upset that we were not there while many other students’ parents attended. Had we been informed, we absolutely would have participated.In our opinion, Shady Hill can feel like an exclusive-type school at times. When a child is facing challenges, transparent communication and genuine partnership with parents are essential, and unfortunately that was not our experience.

Belleview high school has progressively gotten more authoritarian since I've attended. The staff treat the students like livestock to herd to their next classes. The school models a society in which students have three options: enrollment, employment, or enlistment. The police presence on campus has tripled since 2020. Some teachers are really good but most see their career as a job to bully children as opposed to nurturing the next generation to be active citizens. This school criminalizes 'problem students' instead of providing them resources to be successful. There is a separate gifted curriculum that the school grooms for college while preparing the rest to be wage slaves.