Beaches Chapel School

I have 2 kids that attend Neptune Beach Elementary. One child has an IEP, and we have had a great experience with all of his teachers. The school has been very willing to provide appropriate accommodations so that my child is successful. This school is extremely inclusive. We have never had any experiences with bullying. The other students and general atmosphere have always been extremely encouraging and kind. My other child is in the gifted program. My child goes to the Gifted and Talented Education program (GATE) one day a week. And, the specialized teachers in GATE are amazing. My child enjoys his special GATE day so much. My child has learned public speaking, to research topics, take notes, and to ask insightful questions. My child also receives differentiated work based upon his skill level. I know that we are lucky to have gifted teachers and the GATE program b/c it is not available at all public schools. There are 2 playgrounds and both are a lot of fun. The school provides free breakfast and lunch too. The teachers dress up as fun characters in the car line, and play fun music to welcome the students. The PTA works hard to support the school, and offer fun activities for the kids. I think the pickup and drop off process is extremely efficient and quick. A++ School!

We had a lot of hope going into this school and tried it for multiple years but we have decided to pull our child and go to another (way less expensive) Montessori school. The price of the school wasn’t what turned us away, it was the product we received for the price we were paying. You expect greatness when paying over 15k for a Kindergarten education. The teachers seemed constantly out of the loop, they were being switched around between classes a lot, and we were told the classes were a small ratio when they decided to up the amount of kids in the kindergarten/pre-k classrooms. The teachers seem stretched too thin for the amount of kids in the classroom. It seems like Discovery knows they usually only have kids through Kindergarten and then the child leaves for a better school so they are trying to take in as many of that age as possible to make the most money. The school seems centered around money, between the constant emails begging for donations and the ongoing fundraisers. Our child also was constantly getting injuries and no teacher ever seemed to see what happened. I understand things can happen but it seemed like it became a constant stress. Almost weekly our child came home with bumps on her head or giant scrapes and no one in the school having any idea where they came from. The other thing we found annoying was the constant field trips planned last minute. We’d get 4 days notice or sometimes day before notice for another field trip that parents cannot go on and our therapist couldn’t go on. Sometimes they’d forget permission forms until I asked day before so then day of the teachers are asking parents while we are dropping off kids for the day to sign the permission forms. I understand maybe 1 field trip for Kindergarten year but 4-5?? And every one was an early release day on top of the monthly teacher planning early release days. It’s near impossible to have both parents working while having a child at this school. Most parents hire a nanny to help out but we just don’t have that kind of money. We wanted this to be s good review and wanted to enjoy our child’s first Montessori school but the school seems to be moving away from Montessori and being it’s own for profit business.

I do not recommend the pre k program at Episcopal beaches. The head of the school and prek 3 teacher are rigid, not kind and they lack the capacity of dealing with children's diveristy. They dont work with the parents to see what options that will help to improve the child's learning or behaviour. They expect a prek child to behave like a robot the way they like only. The have a discrimination behaviour toward children and thier families.