Twin Lakes Academy Middle School

My middle schooler attended Twin Lakes Elementary from kindergarten to 5th grade, and her sister is a student there now since kindergarten. I am baffled and deeply concerned by the low rating of the school. My children have had an excellent education at Twin Lakes. The principal, teachers, and staff are engaged. They consistently invite and welcome parents and families into the school with various activities throughout the year. My husband and I are extremely happy with our decision to have our children attend Twin Lakes.

If you go to this school you will have 2 experiences based on where you fit in. Its either going to be a 5* or a 1*, we have called the 5* experience “the club”. If you are in the club, you can skip classes, you will be graded on a softer grading scale, teachers will host test/assignment workshops on the weekend and you will be invited to this. If you are not in the club and are late to class by 1 min they will get a tardy, they will hand in an assignment and everyone in the group will get a 90 but my child will get a 70, no help for tests. At the same time my child gets to hear how some of the club kids have only attended 25% of class and are rocking an A. In grade 5, 6, 7, and 8 there are areas where club kids can socialize while class is going on and not be counted tardy. If you are not in the club they will basically run you off, you are not welcome it will be obvious. Don’t try and work with the administration they exist to help club kids be all they can be.

We moved to Jax in the middle of the pandemic in 2020 and enrolled our kids in JCDS (4th and 5th grades). This is the most welcoming, nurturing school my kids have ever attended. The kids here all feel very safe, which is important because the safety helps them to also build their confidence to become their best selves. In their short time at the school, they made many friends which was really helpful for my kids given our move to Jax and change of schools. This is not the most academically challenging school my kids have attended, and I would say this is the one downside of JCDS. Well done JCDS!!!

Shepherd of the Woods has made our transition out of homeschooling a blessed experience. I love the communication between staff and parents, the opportunity to be involved through the year, the small classes, and the faith based approach to building future leaders in our community.Overall, I would rate our experience as a top notch experience.

I’d like to share my experience for any parent who doesn’t have a driver’s license and needs to attend a meeting at the school. I went with my valid passport as identification, but I was turned away because of a "background check” requirement that apparently only accepts a driver’s license. This feels discriminatory toward parents who, for various reasons, do not have licenses but still have legitimate identification. It’s both frustrating and embarrassing to be denied entry when we’re just trying to be involved in our children’s education. I hope the school reconsiders these overly restrictive policies so that all parents—regardless of what type of valid ID they have—can participate equally in school matters.Would you like me to make it sound more formal (for something like a letter to the superintendent) or more casual (for a public review post)?