Sunset Beach

Azalea's culture genuinely celebrates student achievement and promotes each child's individual ownership of their education. There's a vibe of respect and safety that permeates the campus: its faculty, staff, administration, and students.

This school is truly something special — it feels like a real community. From day one, everyone has taken the time to get to know not just our daughter, but our entire family. The level of care and support is incredible.Our daughter comes home from school happy, engaged, and excited about what she’s learning. She literally begs to go to school — even on the weekends!The environment they create allows children to grow, learn, and truly thrive. The teachers genuinely care, the administration genuinely cares, and it shows in everything they do. Every morning, they stand outside to greet each student by name, ask personal questions about their day, and make them feel seen. I’m constantly amazed at how much they remember — but it’s clear it’s because they truly care and genuinely love our children.We couldn’t imagine a better place for our daughter. This is hands down the best school ever.

This school was our first choice, and we entered with high expectations, but we were ultimately very disappointed by our experience. The atmosphere is lovely and the learning environment itself is strong; however, the level of communication was extremely lacking.Our child is spirited and likely has ADHD, and we found the school was not equipped to accommodate or support their needs. Feedback from teachers often minimized concerns or failed to clearly communicate challenges. While we were told the Montessori environment might not be ideal and that our child could benefit from more structure, we were also led to believe the school would continue working with them using a “wait and see” approach.We were completely caught off guard when we attempted to re-enroll and were informed that a final decision had already been made not to accept our child into Kindergarten. At no point was this decision communicated to us in advance. Our child attended the school from ages 3–5, an age when children are still learning self-regulation, yet we were told the Montessori model requires children to already possess this skill.By the time we were notified, enrollment at other schools had closed, leaving us with very limited options. In my opinion, this is not a good fit for spirited children or children with learning differences. The lack of communication significantly impacted our family’s educational path. If you suspect your child may have ADHD or needs additional support, I would strongly encourage you to look elsewhere.

School is just ok. The teachers are caring and there’s a wonderful sense of community there. Our children had a good experience making friends, loved extra curriculars and it being Catholic was a plus/loved the weekday masses where the kids read and sing in the choir, but the place just doesn’t seem organized and we have found stronger academics elsewhere. We were not impressed by the facilities - outdoor school that’s hot/little shade, floods frequently where my son kept coming home with soaking wet shoes and socks, and just seems like the place is old and falling a part compared to other schools. My daughter said there’s no janitor, which is odd? Also noticed a large teacher turnover rate there and all of our favorite teachers left! From talking with other parents, was told they hired a new principal, priest and management staff a few years ago and that it’s really gone down over the past few years. Heard they have gone through 3 or 4 principals and just can’t find someone who knows how to run it - seems like they’re building the plane while they’re flying it, and it’s an expensive little school. In the years we attended, we were asked to go to multiple websites and apps with all the different teachers, which made navigating middle school harder than it needs to be, especially. Should just use one system. Too many emails and hard to keep track of all the events they want you to be at/not feasible for working parents with multiple children. The school text messages were also out of control and became a joke in our family…literally four text messages in one day and some sent late at night or early morning. Also found an imbalance there with multiple tests being scheduled the same week. We enjoyed both the sports and music activities after school but seemed the two were always scheduled the same days which made it challenging with soccer games and the musical...then our kids had to go home and find time for homework/study for tests, which I guess is an issue with all schools. I think they need to fix this to make it easier on families, though. We really wanted to like this school - kids were happy and loved it, but just seems like the place is dirty, neglected and not running properly. Things are made harder on families then they need to be and they stretch the teachers thin/I felt bad for some of them. Used to have a say in things but they changed the PTA/hired a lady who just talks forever. Felt like a mix between a run down country club and a mission.

GBEMS is an amazing school. With only ~300 students total for K-5, it offers the feel of a neighborhood school — the principal knows every kid’s name — with the academic focus of a magnet. The magnet incorporates digital tools (every student receives an iPad or laptop depending on grade) but they are tools, not the focus. Traditional writing, reading and hands-on activities still are the biggest part of the curriculum, and innovation and excitement about learning and not being afraid to fail are emphasized. Test scores show the academic rigor, and the creativity and big thinking of the kids show up everyday. Our kids love it, and so do we.