Gulf Pines

Before you consider enrolling your child at this school, you should know there's a real problem with inconsistent teachers. Some are genuinely kind and wonderful, while others are so difficult it's hard to believe they're in the same building. There's no consistent standard for hiring, and that carries over into the teacher-student relationships. The administration almost always sides with the teacher, no matter the concern. Whether it's a teacher yelling at the children, shaming them during discipline, unfairly targeting certain students, grading work inconsistently, or applying different standards across grades—they'll often dismiss your concerns and insist the teacher is excellent.Even when a large number of parents—more than 80% in some cases—raise the same issues about a particular teacher, the school continues to rehire them year after year. There's no formal school board here, so decisions ultimately fall to the principal and the pastor. It's unclear why the principle continues to defend teachers who damage the school's reputation. We've heard reports of children coming home depressed, needing counseling, or crying after school—all linked to the stress in those particular classrooms.That said, there are also some truly exceptional teachers here—the kind that's a real blessing to have teaching your child. Unfortunately, they tend to leave, and staff turnover is quite high. In recent years, the school has experienced high staff turnover at the end of each academic year, but the situation has worsened: now four strong, well-regarded teachers have resigned in the middle of the current school year. A good number of solid families have chosen to leave because they've grown tired of the situation. Ultimately, it's your decision—either stay and avoid raising issues, or look elsewhere—because speaking up hasn't led to meaningful change.The school does excel in a couple of areas: safety and biblical instruction. The children here really do come to know God.For real improvement, the school would benefit from more structured approaches overall—not least if the principal educated herself on established best practices in hiring, rather than relying solely on intuition or prayer in the selection process.