Payne Elementary School

My son attended pk3 and prek4 with an iep and he excel sooo much although he had a spec. Ed. Teacher Ms burns sit in a Hour a day in general class to make sure he kept up with other students, he exceeded

Tyler is absolutely exceptional! Led by Dr Jasmine Brann, one of the best principals the district has to offer, and a talented and dedicated staff and teachers who really invest in our children. We couldn’t be happier to be here.

I am a Brent Elementary alumni whom is very very very fond of the school environment. The teachers are nice and helpful. They really care and wanted me to succeed. I became best friends with one of the teachers the first of kindergarten. To this day we are still besties for the resties. It is super easy to make friends I still have many close friends from when I was at Brent. The teachers very active in and out of the classroom. One of my favorite memory’s was when my teacher would play kick ball with us. Just know that sending your child to this amazing school is a great decision.

Our experience at Peabody was frustrating and disappointing, particularly at the height of the pandemic but also in the months that followed. Teachers, staff, and even many of the high-income parents that drive discussion around school policies were dismissive (and often openly rude) about concerns from parents like me (I am a single mother) about how the inconsistent and confusing Covid restrictions were harming those families that couldn't afford nannies and tutors to get them through the constant school closures. Even once the children had returned to in-person learning, school staff had seemingly lost interest in teaching the kids, and staff refused to provide insight into what was going on in the classroom or how my child was progressing once he was back in school. I felt that essentially this was a school community catering to privileged families, pretending to care deeply about doing social good, but utterly failing those of us who didn't have the luxury of seeing things the way they did. Once I moved my child to a different school, his new teachers immediately identified that he had fallen behind his peers significantly and got him the help he needed, even though Peabody teachers never mentioned nor answered questions about how he was struggling academically. That was a lower priority for them than scolding him about pulling his mask down on the playground outside.

My daughter has been at St. Peter School for two years at the middle school level. We have been pleased with the academics and believe the students are being prepared for rigorous preparatory high schools. The school also has a community feel and our daughter was welcomed in, made friends quickly and is thriving. My frame of reference for comparison is based on the schools my wife and I attended and the previous school my daughter attended which was rated 8/10 on great schools. SPS’s expectations and standards are higher and I believe the school to be overall superior to our other school experiences.I read a review about the school not being tolerant of students from different backgrounds. I will say I have not seen that at this school. What I have seen is a respectful environmental. I also read a review about the school not being for students at the high or low end of academic spectrum. The academics are rigorous come middle school, so I can see it being a problem for students struggling at their grade level, but even for students at the higher end of the spectrum, I believe they will be challenged. Even the best students’ parents have commented that their child has been challenged at the middle school level.

What a gem this school is! We absolutely love the school. Our daughter is in kindergarten and she has had the best experience here. Everyone from Principal Rivers to my daughter's teacher work very very hard to ensure success for the children. My husband previously taught elementary school for 13 years in Maryland and, before she attended Van Ness, we'd actually considered local private schools in the area. However, after this year, we are convinced that she could not receive a better education anywhere else. We will definitely be staying put!