Sutton Middle 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.

We’ve had an outstanding experience at Sarah Smith Elementary. The teachers are caring, engaged, and genuinely invested in helping every child succeed, not just academically but socially and emotionally as well.What stands out most is the sense of community. Parents are incredibly involved, the PTO is active, and there is a real feeling that everyone is working together to make the school even better. Communication has been excellent, and we’ve always felt welcomed and heard.Academically, we’ve been very impressed. Our children have been challenged, supported, and encouraged to develop a genuine love of learning. There are great enrichment opportunities, and the school does an excellent job setting high expectations while creating a warm, supportive environment.We’re also excited about where the school is headed. Strong leadership, a fantastic new principal, and the significant investment planned for the campus make it feel like Sarah Smith’s best days are still ahead.No school is perfect, but we would wholeheartedly recommend Sarah Smith to any family looking for an excellent elementary school with dedicated teachers, engaged families, and a community that truly cares.

Being 100% honest, I wanted my son to be in Bolton due to more equity, less discrimination and bullying (precisely due to more equity and mix of culture) and same academic scores… buuuut I ended being force to enroll him in Brandon, so I trusted God Plans and its being genuinely a life change in the best sense! My son has grow and learned so much in 2 years. The program and system in general is amazing for their academic success and happiness, yes! My son loves going to school. They make it so fun with all the activities and fun learning techniques. There is definitely discrimination and bullying (bnot super common) and we have had to teach our son ( soon as kindergarten :( but there was no other way) to speak out defend himself and defend others vulnerable by his own voice and hands if necessary after we tried reporting by email like 3 times make little meetings with teachers and directive without success. When our son stop crying and just defend himself or other vulnerable child they start to isolate my son or the little bully’s from him and everything is going wonderful now. Discrimination and segregation, oh yes. more than any different population than white would like. But I’ve seen that is all about the teachers (what I read in this reviews before enrolled him is completely true) there are 10/10 teachers that literally will change your sons life and make them love school and everything in life!! and other 3/10 (in ethic and professionalism) in a 50/50. so is a random lottery what experience your kid will have (emotionally regarding to school) next year.. My son was isolated outside the class room by his teacher, in the hall alone all day for weeks, where he just stay sitting all day and cry quiet pr moments, for being new, other race, ethnicity different than white, and coming in the middle of the year. I understand is not easy, but her lack of sensitivity ethic and humanity is not professional when working with small kids. Another teacher saw him in the Hall everyday and advocate for him, and call me to let me know what my son was living. So, is all about the teachers, and they are incredibly good and awful ones in Morris Brandon. It worth it? 100% the pros in Morris Brandon are huge! For the Cons, God gives us the people strength and wisdom to live anything if he wants us to go trough, and now our son is fully adapt and growing incredibly fast. Just be wise and extra protective if your child is outside the standard race and socio economic

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.

I have loved my time with DVIS. Since we first entered the school in 2016 to now I have felt that DVIS is a nurturing environment for my kids. Both of my kids started at 18 months there. What I think DVIS does so well is teach kids to their level and make learning fun. My kids loved going to school and I credit DVIS for instilling the love of learning and a sense of worldly community to the kids. I truly was blown away by the projects, vocabulary and reading comprehension my kids were exposed too. Our children have made friends and learned different cultures from DVIS too. Soraya ( the school's director) makes herself available around the clock even after school hours as needed. She cares about the children and it shows. I love the trilingual program DVIS offers. My children are fascinated with languages and want to learn more! I can't say enough good things about DVIS. If you are looking for a worldly and caring environment for your kinds that is full of diversity and uniqueness this is the place for you.