Northwind

We’ve had a wonderful experience at Hayes Elementary. The teachers are deeply committed to providing a strong educational foundation, and safety is clearly a top priority. I also appreciate how involved parents are encouraged to be—it truly feels like a community!

Three of my children attended KES. They all loved their teachers and friends. The staff was always welcoming and warm. They loved my kiddos, and my kiddos loved them.

As an educator myself, I relocated schools for work so I was on the hunt for a safe space for my son to learn and grow for his remaining elementary years. We’ve found that Lewis Elementary has offered his best elementary years. The wonderful administrators, teachers, and staff at LES are welcoming and kind which allows me to drop my son off daily with a smile on his face excited for the day ahead. I see the same eagerness reflected in so many others as they approach from the car line and I know it’s because of how much each staff member pours into students academically and personally. We’re forever grateful for this loving, inclusive community and how they’ve embraced our family. If we could do anything different, we’d choose this school over and over and this time do K-5. That’s a statement in itself because as an employee, I can choose it send my kid wherever in the county but Lewis truly is a hidden gem.

My two kids absolutely loved going to Bullard. Nothing but great experiences and interaction with teachers. As parents, every time we went there we ran in to numerous parents, friend and neighbors that were also there to participate or help with school functions.

I spent three years at that school, and over time I built a reputation as the “bad kid.” By 8th grade, I had completely turned things around. I didn’t get in trouble a single time.Then I got suspended over something unbelievably minor. I threw leaves at my friends while we were walking outside, and later I gulped while my principal was talking, which they took as disrespect. That was enough to suspend me.After that, I found out my history teacher was telling other people about my suspension. I sent a respectful email asking one simple thing: “Please do not tell others about my suspension.”The day I was supposed to come back, instead of letting me return, they called my family into a meeting and told us I was being expelled. During that meeting, they lied to my parents about what my email said. Then they made me leave the room and proceeded to yell at my mom while she begged them for one more chance.What makes this even harder to understand is that this was a Christian school. Christianity teaches forgiveness, grace, mercy, and second chances. Jesus forgave people who had made far greater mistakes than I ever did. Yet when I finally changed, none of that seemed to matter. They judged me by who I used to be instead of who I had become.That experience changed the way I looked at Christianity—not because of Christ, but because of the people who claimed to represent Him. If you’re going to call yourself a Christian school, then live like Christ. Don’t preach forgiveness while refusing to practice it. Don’t talk about grace while holding someone’s past against them. What happened to me wasn’t Christ-like, and I’ll never forget it.