Mary Esther Elementary School

The front office staff is welcoming and my daughter feels comfortable at Wright. Her teachers are caring and provide me with materials to work with her at home. Communication is fluid. Ms. Boyd makes time to address my concerns and supports as a parent. I appreciate all the family nights and after school events. The media center at Wright is filled with books that my child enjoys checking out and reading at home.

I'm a parent and an alumnus. It is just as good as always. Everyone cares, from the staff to the parents. It's an amazing group of people all around. It's the best preschool/school in the Panhandle.

Pleasant environment , with caring teachers and an awesome director.

My kids have been attending CCA for a couple of years now and the teachers have been nothing short of amazing. The entire staff has been caring compassionate and welcoming. I do wish the class sizes were smaller. However, I do understand the demand with everyone pulling kids out of public schools.

My 8th grade son has been in Saint Mary School since k5. I also have a 6th grader and a 4th grader there who also started in K5. You could not possibly ask for more helpful, caring and understanding teachers than you will find at this school. Teachers that are there because they genuinely love being there for your family. The children are given opportunities there where they would not get at other schools. Best of all, your child will never be lost or forgotten in an endless system.

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This school advertises that it helps students mainstream and catch up academically in order to transition successfully into a traditional school setting. Unfortunately, that was not our experience.After attending, our child was further behind academically and struggled significantly upon returning to public school. There did not appear to be a set curriculum or consistent instructional plan. Work was sent home sporadically, and it was difficult to determine what academic standards were being taught or tracked.The school also promotes behavior support, but we observed the opposite effect. Our child was exposed to ongoing negative behaviors from other students, including bullying and inappropriate language, and began displaying new maladaptive behaviors that had not been present prior to enrollment.During lunch and snack times, students frequently watched non-educational television shows rather than engaging in structured activities or social-skills development.Additionally, the outdoor play area is not fenced. Given that this school serves autistic children, the lack of a secured play space raised ongoing safety concerns for our family.We were also surprised to learn that despite the school’s name, it is not a religious or faith-based program. The wording of the name created expectations of a mission-driven or values-based environment that did not align with our experience. For our family, this contributed to a false sense of hope regarding the level of care, structure, and support our child would receive.Considering the high tuition and that they received state funding from the Florida scholarship program, we expected a structured academic program, consistent behavioral support, and appropriate supervision and safety measures. Instead, our experience felt more like childcare than an educational setting. After leaving, our child required outside therapeutic support due to what they were exposed to and experienced.Families considering this school may want to ask very detailed questions about curriculum structure, staff supervision, student grouping, behavior management practices, safety protocols, and how progress toward mainstreaming is measured before enrolling.