Northbrook

My family and I have had nothing but great experiences with teachers and staff at this school. We have met some teachers whom we felt loved our children as much as we do, and we have also had some teachers whom we felt no connection with. The school also provides a lot of opportunities in which parents can get involved. I do wish there was more diversity and inclusion at this school. As far as negative things about this school I will say there are somethings worth mentioning. First, in the past 3-4 years other parents and I noticed that many students were being placed in the same classrooms over and over again which has created the "It" crowd. Then, it was noticed that the same students were repeatedly pictured on the school's PTO Facebook. In fact, in last year's yearbook these same students and same teacher took over nearly the entire spread of third grade. Clearly, there were other third grade classes in the school, why they were not featured as much is unknown. It's understandable that there are parents who sign the photo media release to not have their children's photo used, highly respect that. While I have the upmost respect for the PTO Board Members and all that they do for the school and teachers, it seems that they have special privileges to gloat their children on yearbooks and the school's PTO Facebook. Whether they know and do not care or perhaps are unaware, this has been creating the "It" crowd for quite some time. I do believe that some have been aware of this, but for one reason or another have not spoken up about it. In today's age there should be more inclusion in schools and not a popularity contest based on social status, materialistic items, and whether or not your mother or father is on the school's PTO Board. Each and every student at this school as well as the teachers should be celebrated and seen (unless the media consent is signed) just as much as the PTO Board Members children. We need more kindness in this world and not another group of mean girls and mean boys club. Children these days deal with those issues a lot in middle and high school, let's not start it in elementary school.

If you're rich, white, and healthy, this will be a good school for you.If you request any level of accommodation, have any legitimate complaints handled in a respectful manner on your end, or have requests that will lead to your child's success (such as extra work that is more complicated for a child who is lacking stimulation, or switching classes when a teacher makes it painfully obvious they do not like a student..)It absolutely will NOT be a good school. I gave two stars because I have been witness to flat out abuse in an elementary school, and at least they aren't doing that. Lowkey neglect but not abuse. Yes there is high parent involvement, only if you join pta, pay the fee, and especially, fit with a clique. Most the school is a clique, from what I can tell. Everyone that we have had problems with is either related or knows each other in the community outside of school. I didn't think there was a good ol boys system in KCS because I didn't see it growing up, but this school in specific is 100% a good ol boys system. If you aren't "in" with the right social group, or at least able to appear as you could be (rich, white, healthy,) your child will be treated differently for no good reason, to the detriment of their education, health, and safety. If you then feel the need to speak up, you will be told that they know the teacher and doubt it, and treated like your child is a liar and problem child despite a perfect record and consistent good grades. If you go above their heads outside of that school, KCS will do an amazing job helping sort the problems out, however this is a school where showing up at school events when you've stepped on the wrong toe results in a visible, audible shunning of you, attempting to volunteer for pta run activities is ignored, and you will be edged out if you stand up for your kid. Yes there is fundraising, so much so that if you aren't loaded your kid is constantly missing out on rewards and activities because you can't keep shoveling money over. There are also multiple dress up weeks throughout the year. Not directly a bad thing, but, for my fellow peons, it gives an idea of the general culture of the school: be rich, be silent, be dolls for adults to compete through, or bully, depending on the day and the parents' pay.There have been moments of kindness outside of this specific clique working in and attending the school. Some great teachers that we really appreciate, but not nearly enough to tolerate the negativity.

This school not only provides high quality academics, but also teaches ethics and good manners in biblical way. My daughter absolutely loved Temple Academy! We switched a few schools due to our relocations, and she still remembers Temple as her favorite school. If you're looking for a great Christian, conservative school with strong academics at very competitive cost, Temple is your choice. I've do so much research looking for similar schools and I have not found one like it.