St Mark's Episcopal School

Principal Corey Ferrera is the reason for my son’s departure from this school. She has demonstrated a consistent lack of compassion, empathy, patience, and understanding toward students with unique challenges, particularly children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Rather than promoting inclusivity, her leadership fosters division and creates an environment where the needs of ASD students are not adequately supported.The former ESE Coordinator appeared overwhelmed and unsupported, which is especially concerning given the high population of ASD students at this school. Classroom ratios were often unsafe, and staff were overworked, yet there was little compassion or advocacy from administration. While there were a few dedicated and caring staff members, many did not advocate for students out of fear of retaliation. Several of the staff who truly cared have since left, which speaks volumes about the work environment.Most alarming, my son left the classroom and was later found at the playground. Had it not been for staff members who genuinely cared enough to inform us, my husband and I would never have known. This raises serious concerns about student safety and accountability.The school board should thoroughly investigate Principal Ferrera’s conduct and leadership, particularly regarding her treatment of children with disabilities. With strong, compassionate leadership that truly champions all children from all backgrounds, Allamanda has great potential—but unfortunately, that leadership is currently lacking.

The school eventually exceeded my expectations with dedicated teachers and a supportive staff. They truly partner with parents who are engaged and willing to collaborate. The school feels safe, and their aftercare program is excellent, my child loves it. Like most Florida schools they could use some more support and funding for special needs children.

I have left numerous inquiries with the admissions department with no response. If their communications communication is this bad before even attending I can only imagine the difficulties later. Not recommended.

I'm currently in the middle school at Benjamin. The education is pretty good, but not the community. Benjamin may seem like such a loving and accepting community from the outside, but when you actually go there it's not. The teachers are very nice, caring and kind. The students, on the other hand, are super exclusive. Being a girl at this school, it is so hard to make new friends. Everyone is in a clique, and they spread rumors about everyone behind their back. Last year, there was even someone who told people they could only join their group if they had converse shoes. It was so ridiculous! The people here can be so catty, and rumors can be spread about someone as soon as they enter the school. There was even a rumor about a teacher liking another teacher, and it got so weird that the teacher had to talk to the students and tell them to stop spreading the rumor. There are many students who are excluded at this school, and nothing is done about it. Assigned seats?! Everyone just got up as soon as they could to meet up with their little clique, while leaving the others left at the table alone. Some people even turned around in their seats to talk to their fellow clique "members." If you are a boy going to this school, I would say it is pretty easy to make friends. For a girl.... not so much. The school claims that they are very strict about their twelve values, but when excluding happens, nothing is done. It can be very lonely at the school sometimes, feeling like you have no one to talk to because everyone is already in their own friend group. I know that education is very important too, but this school is not very welcoming to new students, especially girls. This school also has NO diversity. It's probably the least diverse school you'll see in a while. The education is good, but there are some parts of it that are definitely not favorable. First of all, you can make corrections to your test after taking it, and get a fair amount of percent back. You can get a better grade than someone who can't do corrections because their grade is higher. The headmaster's honor roll and regular honor roll is filled to the brim every quarter. I feel like the teacher's can sometimes grade easier to please the richer parents so that they don't get mad at the school. Of course Benjamin doesn't want to lose its great source of income. Overall, the Benjamin Middle School is good if you are looking for a good education, but not a welcoming environment for new students.

We love the school. All the staff and all the families are all very involved in the school as well of the community. We feel that the students are learning a lot and above their grade.