Russell Elementary School

My little one has been attending Birney Elementary school since 2022 to current. She’s currently in the fourth grade. From the first grade to the third grade my child has received phenomenal support from her teachers. I have also received a wonderful communication from her teachers in previous years up until she entered the fourth grade. Please note that my child has experienced a life-changing event which has made her a special-needs child but a fully functional child in a regular classroom did her condition in her life-changing experience. She has been a little behind on her education. I’ve been very transparent and vocal about her condition as well as where she stands from an education level with all of her instructors as well as entire school. I hate to say that I have not been receiving the best support since my child is in the fourth grade. She has been struggling so she entered a large classroom of 40+ students instructors like communication and concerns of child’s great level. It took the parent to reach out for them to even care about what was going on. This is a problem for me I am not used to this. The assistant principal even hit a low blow and pre-diagnosed my child with a learning disability, along with bragging about the schools ratings while dragging my child’s learning capabilities down. I found this very offensive the very disrespectful and this truly hurt my feelings.Again, we have not had issues with any of her instructors or communications as well as her learning experience until she got in the fourth grade. I feel as if the school has not only fail my child they have failed the parent.Due to my child’s experience in the fourth grade during the first semester, she will not be coming back for a fall 2026.If you have a child of special needs of any form, I highly recommend that you do your research before enrolling your child into any school. Please make sure that they are able to set you up on a 504 plan. Also make sure that you have a teacher that is genuinely caring of each child and their ways of learning. A teacher who communicates also key. Without these things, there is a strong possibility that your child will struggle.

Worst ever!You don’t know what your kids were treated there. Be aware!

We love Norton Park! The lower score on this website is not reflective at all of our experience. Test scores only show one snippet of the picture, and the reality is that this is largely an ESOL-supported school. Standardized scores are typically lower among ESOL learners due to language barriers, not necessarily lack of knowledge. Teachers at Title 1 schools are some of the best, and NPE teachers are no exception. Our child requires accommodations, and we felt very supported by her teacher and the 504 coordinator. The principal loves this school and is super involved, and there are lots of events and fun experiences for the kids and families throughout the year. We couldn't be happier.

The school has great school safety Howver they make it a point to alienate the parents from the school. Like they own your child. My child is mine, period. If I’m not a danger then I should be able to speak to teachers and etc. The front office staff is not very friendly they barely smile. I myself am not a fan of public school and this solidified my beliefs.

3 of my kids have attended this school and have had a great experience with all.

My daugther hace 2 years at school. We love it! The first year in pre-k amazing teachers!! My daugther is special kids you learning this 3l2 years is top!! Hay personas que hablan español en la oficina y hay maestras tambien..

Our Middle School child has attended Whitefield now going on 3 years. Previously, our child attended AIS and Morris Brandon. I'm a graduate of Lovett. My wife attended a public school out of state. We returned to Atlanta partially to send our child to the AIS experience-- probably the most unique among private schools in ATL. While foreign language fluency was certainly a bonus, the bullying, overt displays of wealth, and constant political engagement (even at the preschool level) pushed us to switch to APS. The Brandon years for us were COVID, and our child was routinely receiving 100s for just showing up. We felt that public school education was geared toward the lowest achiever, not a great fit.We applied to many of the ATL private schools, and he was accepted or waitlisted at most. We chose Whitefield due to its mission--which is safe learning, within the context of Christian morality, in a supportive environment. We also wanted a school that was a socio-economic mix. Many of the WF families seem to hold similar ideals. Similarly, most of the faculty aligns with the mission--with a large portion actually coming from Westminster-- who universally say they left for the mission. Our experience with Whitefield is consistent with the mission - sometimes for worse, but most often for better. Since attending, the school has removed several families that did not fit the mission (some wealthy, some not). However, the school actively teaches such age-old concepts as "do unto others as you would have them do unto you"--and WF lives by this. My child actually came home one day repeating this from a school lesson. He also had a couple of challenges with other children--which the school immediately addressed positively for all involved.The school has also experienced faculty turnover-- however, this turnover was notably less than AIS - we've been told most schools experience quite a bit of turnover these days--especially in recent years. Furthermore, the trend we have witnessed is a continuous uptick in quality replacement.No doubt that WF is not perfect. But, if you are looking for an environment that attempts to instill confidence in your own child's learning identity while empowering acceptance of differences--within a Christian morality context: WF is an excellent school to begin the journey.