Chastain Park

If you don’t care about your child’s future, send them to Holy Spirit Prep. HSP was an incredible school years ago, somewhere along the way it plummeted and has only gotten worse recently. HSP accepts children that have severe learning differences as well as severe behavioral problems. The president of the school ensures that staff are equipped with handling difficult children, but in reality, everyone is overwhelmed, and the students are suffering; there are no resources for them or the children. This inability to take care of the needs of the children and staff has led to the severe decline in admissions and a record number of faculty jumping ship. The new principal of the school, the only one with qualifications and genuine care for the children, unfortunately left as well. Holy Spirit hides behavioral and academic issues from parents. This is due to multiple admin having children with these issues and not wanting to draw attention to their own family. Students are not held to any behavioral standard and the children rule the school. Holy Spirit Prep used to be an amazing school, but I warn everyone against coming here anymore.

I went to Galloway from K–12, so this comes from a very long firsthand experience. There are definitely positives: it is a kind, supportive environment, the teachers generally care, and the school does a good job making students feel seen as individuals. I understand why a lot of Buckhead families are drawn to it.That said, looking back as an adult, I do not feel like it prepared me especially well for real life. There was a lot of emphasis on “be your best self,” which sounds good on paper, but in my experience there was less emphasis on discipline, toughness, accountability, and the kind of academic rigor that actually helps once you leave a protected school environment. It helped get me into Alabama, but I was not especially well prepared once I got there, and that became obvious pretty quickly.Now I work in residential real estate, and while I do fine, it is not exactly the kind of challenging or deeply fulfilling professional path I once thought a school like Galloway was preparing me for. It is a very relationship-driven job with long hours, and if I am being honest, a lot of where I landed had more to do with family connections than with any real edge the school gave me. That is the part I think prospective families should think about. Galloway was good at making students feel comfortable and affirmed. I am less convinced it was good at pushing them hard enough to thrive on their own later.