Simpsonville

We are a military family on a 2-3yr PCS cycle. This school is fantastic!!!!! The teachers, staff, admin and parents are great. My middle and youngest children attended and were supported with IEPs and 504s. They worked with us before school and during to be sure the kids felt ready and comfortable. They worked with me as a team to teach the kids how to advocate for themselves. They were knowledgeable and had great suggestions and ideas to help with adjustments. I am so thankful that we were able to spend the time here that we did!!! I hope they receive a Blue Star rating for being military friendly.

We adore this school. I'm the parent of a bright kid just finishing 1st grade. His teachers have been very experienced and skilled at tailoring lessons to individual kids. It's a very diverse school, which we consider a huge positive. It's wild to me that GreatSchools gives it such a poor rating. If it had been 100% white, GreatSchools would have disregarded the equity score. It's punishing excellent diverse neighborhood schools like this one. I can see what they're trying to do with the equity score, but they must be able to see the dangerous effect it has on schools like this one, especially in the real estate apps. Anyway, that was the rant. We live Bryant Woods.

I absolutely love the staff at this school. Both my children are having a great experience here. One of my kids has an IEP and the specialists have done so much to help her develop her skills. I like that the parents are kept well informed of potential concerns and issues, lockdowns are handled well, and I really trust this school to educate my children and keep them safe. Thank you Swansfield!

Learning/Teaching: If you have a self-motivated kid, they'll do fine. Any shy/ unmotivated kids are ignored and swept under the rug. Half the teachers are there just to get a paycheck- lazy, lack of grading, want the easy way out without challenging the kids. Other half of the teachers are wonderful, but your kid's trajectory is impacted if they get a subpar teacher. Staff and administration relies on a rich demographic to make up for their teaching gaps with private tutors. Such a joke. Bringing up issues to administration is met with precanned language just to cover the school's liability.Special Education: Jump through hoops to get IEP meetings, makes parents prove issues above and beyond just because there aren't enough resources to truly support all the kids that need them. Again, the school just relies on parents being able to afford outside help. Safety: Front staff acts like any person coming into the building is an inconvenience to their day. They just buzz anyone in without properly vetting ID/ reason for their presence. Downplayed events in 2024 where adults were watching/taking pics of kids from other side of the fence and blamed it on "excited grandparents."

General flow of day to day for your child: There are plenty of well kept resources and learning that you can visually tell is academically benefitting the children. There is a big emphasis on the children learning independently first before staff support and intervention. I love this part, especially since it helps the children learn more independence at a young age. However, The staff are literally taught not to help the children at all, even if you see them struggling, until they verbally have to ask for the help themselves …..very strange “rituals” especially dealing with children. Children shouldn’t have to feel the excessive need to struggle, just to receive basic help. It’s ok if they try something, can’t do it, and an employee then steps in to help and assist to completion. Not contributing intentionally, just increases the chances of a child having more unsettling reactions based out of disappointment, anxiety, fear, etc. This would be ok, if these were elementary school kids, but pushing these excessive standards and rituals on the young Pre-K to K kids is concerning honestly and just flat out too strict. Culture/atmosphere: SELECTIVE employees are generally bright, kind, and nurturing. Parents are given nothing but respect, though they could be catered to as well, in terms of more updates on their child’s academic learning, physical safety, and socioemotional development and safety. Parents like to feel included and not left in the dark on what is going on with their child in school. The main issue this is all pointing to is the directors and how they choose to run and conduct this business. They view it as a business to make profits off of parents. Your kid will definitely learn a lot here, but honestly for better management, practice, and emotional security, you can find somewhere else that knows how to treats their students and employees better.Because if they’re not treating the employees well, that affects the kids, and the kids affect the parents. So we’re all in troubled waters here, if management doesn’t improve and isnt more culturally progressive with each other and the children.