Bauder Elementary School

I agree with the other parent's review that said Oakhurst Elementary School is a terrible place for special needs students and the principal, Mrs. Kennedy, is horrible. Oakhurst refused to provide my child with autism services even though there was a clearly written IEP. Mrs. Kennedy did not care or do anything about it when I insisted they implement the services. Mrs. Kennedy also does nothing when there are reports of bullying. Over half my child's class complained of bullying but when we tried to talk to her, she lost her temper, yelled, and threatened. She's the epitome of how a bad principal can ruin a school. A lot of us are leaving Oakhurst for safer schools that follow the law.

If you don't fit their mold - Don't even bother. This "school" offers nothing more than a public school curriculum for a private school education. They hide behind the veil of private school to offer less resources than public schools provide. Additionally they can hire staff with less credentials, education or experience. They have increased tuition nearly 15% each year over the last three years and are investing it in only capital improvements and not investing it in the tools necessary to support their student body. The emphasis is on money, capital improvements and high school sport facilities. None of which truly enrich the life of your student and the education they receive. The only pro is the safety on campus. There are no mental health counselors on staff, for a K2-12 campus it is an extreme disservice to all students on campus. Bullying runs rampant in all facets of the campus. Additionally, teachers and directors refuse to share parent feedback to administration because it goes nowhere. Administration is choosing the wrong priorities and its heartbreaking to hear from other parents that they need to "keep their head down" to stay off radar until they can find other accommodations for their child(ren). There is a reason that families are leaving in droves.

My children have attended BSCS for 8 years and we have been very happy. One of my children has ADHD and they have provided wonder support to help her thrive and have never made her feel judged for her challenges. The teachers know every child and it truly feels like a loving environment. Lots of hands on learning, focus on faith and character as well as very strong academics.

So a few years ago I would have given a much better review rate of this school but revently there was a major change in the staff, the principal left along with several teachers/staff and were replaced with a lot of new people and a lot of things changed, unfortunately not for the good, also the original pastor retired and they got a new one who at first seems nice but when you get to know him you kind of see through it and see some not so nice true colors come out of him. The principal is currently also the 7/8th grade teacher, he seems alright but he's kind of the same was as the pastor, uptight and not very supportive to the kids.. accusing certain kids to have autism when they don't, has issues when students are drawing certain art, aka drawing specifically girls that have curves, both the principal and the pastor have had issues specifically with my daughter's artwork on many occasions, originally I thought it was because she would draw during class time but the pastor especially has issues with many of her drawings, she's a 13 year old girl who likes to draw cute cartoon girls and different characters in general including mushrooms because she thinks mushrooms are cool, but the pastor and principal do NOT like how she draws the cartoon girls because she gives them curves, they deem it too inappropriate to draw even while on her free time they have issues with her own personal drawings, art is her passion and a way she let's out stress, it's very therapeutic for her especially since there isn't really anyone who she feels secure enough to lean on for emotional support there. One time she was drawing on her free time during religious class with the pastor and she was drawing mushroom cartoon characters including the restaurant mellow mushroom's mascot and he accused her drawings of being open to "drug culture", it wasn't. We don't raise her like that at all, we even sat down and tried explaining and talking to him about it and his excuse was that he's been to other schools and states where other parents abused drugs so therefore it reminded him of it, which honestly I took offense to because that to me sounds like he thought we were doing drugs and exposing our daughter to it, after that we had a new baby and we were winding up late to his class in the morning all the time which we weren't trying to do, but he got so upset he failed her because our new baby needed to be taken care of first before school time, even though she finished all her work.

This school is horrific. I worked here and my children went here briefly. Their safety plans are a complete joke and most of their teachers are not true Montessori. Admin is difficult to talk to and deal with as they are not truly nice people. They are fake to your face and then will email you nasty things. Perhaps they’re different when you don’t work for them and are just a parent but who knows. This school seems to be focused on the wrong things ($$$). I hate to say it but even Pinellas County Schools has them beat in just about every category except maybe their cafeteria food but it depends on the day. I would never recommend this school. I do the complete opposite and make sure anyone who asks me knows not to look at Country Day.