Heritage Preparatory School

Garden Hills Elementary is a wonderful school with caring teachers, a supportive administration, and a strong sense of community. I especially appreciate the school's commitment to meeting the needs of all learners while maintaining high expectations. The Dual Language Immersion and IB programs provide unique opportunities for students to grow academically and culturally. Most importantly, the staff truly cares about every child and works hard to create a safe, welcoming environment where students can thrive. I'm proud to be part of the Garden Hills community.

This is the beginning of 2025-2026 school year and fourth year our child has attended E. Rivers (3rd grade now). Our child is happy, likes th teachers and has friends. There is a wonderful cultural mix of students, white, black and Asian. It provides a rich environment. Being white and from Europe we really like the diversity. Parent involvement is very high and there are many ways to get involved - one-of volunteer opportunities to more in-depth involvement - all are welcome. The school staff all appear to be well organized and led by the principal and are all on the same page. No gossiping or complaining, but very professional, hard working and always available to meet with parents. The PTA is active and provides a great deal of communication with the home through twice weekly newsletters, school-wide picnics, car wash, international dinner events and many other events.The facility is modern, well maintained with subject specific classrooms to fully engage the students. There is plenty of outdoor space for recess and recreation. Kiddos, the afterschool program on-site is well loved by the students and always full shortly after registration opens each year. We have been very happy with E. Rivers and feel we have a gem for our local elementary school.

My child has been at this school since kindergarten. I definitely believe your experience can be teacher dependent because like with most things some care and some just don’t. We have yet to be blessed with a teacher that really values her role as a teacher. I understand that teachers DO NOT get paid enough and do not have enough support. My expectation is to collaborate in my child’s learning especially if in the classrooms there is a lack of support for the teacher. However, there is a huge communication in regard to all things but most importantly my child’s education. From what I heard this did use to be a great school. I tried to give grace initially because I heard that things had changed but at this point they have just not gotten better. There are activities for parent engagement but the notice you get maybe about 48hours or less. So far with my child I get no real communication or information on what he is doing in school or how I can reinforce it at home. It’s not for lack of trying I ask questions and typically get no response or some type of deflection. Also this site says ratios are 1:12 which is false, they are typically 1:25 min. no matter the classroom, traditional, traditional inclusion, or Montessori classroom.

My child attended this school, and unfortunately our experience was marked by poor communication, limited transparency, and disappointing academic rigor.Communication was inconsistent throughout our time there. It wasn’t until our second year at AIS that the school began sending biweekly newsletters, and even then, parents had very limited visibility into what students were learning. Aside from occasional portfolio samples, there was little opportunity to review student work, understand academic expectations, or meaningfully track academic progress throughout the year.They place a heavy emphasis on play-based learning and the use of manipulatives. While these methods have their place, I found they were often used to justify a lack of academic accountability. Too often, concerns about academic progress were met with explanations about philosophy rather than evidence of results. Many families ultimately sought outside tutoring because their children were not receiving the academic foundation they expected.Another concern was the amount of instructional time devoted to the second-language immersion program. Students spend years learning in a second language, yet many are not conversational by the end of primary school (5th grade). Given the significant time commitment, the results did not appear to justify the tradeoff in foundational academic instruction.Some of the faculty and administration was difficult to work with. Parents frequently had to follow up repeatedly to receive answers or action. Concerns were often met with committees and extended periods of “brainstorming” that produced little meaningful change. The school regularly cited research and educational theories to defend its approach, but our experience did not reflect the academic outcomes those theories were intended to produce.The school deserves credit for its cultural diversity, which is its strongest attributes. Students are exposed to a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds, and that is valuable. However, diversity cannot compensate for weak communication, limited transparency, and significant academic shortcomings.Ultimately, I would not choose this school again, especially for the primary grades. Families considering enrollment should look beyond the marketing and ask detailed questions.

We have been at The Children’s School for the last five years and it has been a wonderful experience. We joined TCS in the Early Learning Program when our youngest daughter was 3. We originally heard about TCS through a family friend and as we went through the admissions process we really fell in love with the school and the other parents we met. Since being at TCS we have loved the community – it’s a wonderfully diverse, down-to-earth, caring community. The teachers at TCS also really make TCS special – they are compassionate, caring, and really focus on knowing and helping your child learn and grow as an individual. As we have moved into early elementary grades we have been very pleased with the curriculum – TCS uses Math in Focus (Singapore math) like most of the other top schools in the area, they have really increased their focus on phonics and follow the Orton-Gillingham approach. It has also been great our youngest daughter has been able to get support for speech right on campus through their Learning Support Services. We are so thankful to have found TCS and believe it is truly a hidden gem in our community!

This school is an amazing school both of my kids have gone here since they were in kindergarten. I have never seen them grow like this before. One of my kids are now going to Howard middle school and I am very exited to see them thrive over there.