Frankfort Square Elementary School

As a parent of three children who have attended Woodgate School, I wanted to share my positive experiences. I have consistently found the school to be a safe and responsible environment where student learning is clearly a top priority.Over the past several years, under the current leadership of Principal Thorne, I have observed significant growth and improvement within the school. The principal demonstrates genuine compassion and care for both the students and the dedicated staff.I am grateful for the positive impact Woodhate School has had on my children's education and development.

With the new principal in place this year and last this school have improved tremendously. I have a son with ASD and this is the first school he has attended that made him feel welcomed . They have also helped him achieve a lot of his goals in his IEP.

Our family’s experience at Noonan Academy ultimately led us to withdraw our children in the middle of the school year, a decision that was not made lightly.While no school is without challenges, what concerned us was a pattern of issues involving student behavior, staff responses, and administrative handling of serious matters. Situations that we believed warranted careful attention and sensitivity were instead met with responses that felt dismissive or minimizing. Over time, this created a growing sense of unease regarding student support, fairness, and accountability.We also encountered significant confusion regarding the school’s governance and external oversight. Information provided to parents regarding diocesan recognition and involvement was later contradicted by the Diocese itself, which made it difficult to understand the school’s accountability structure. Transparency in these matters is critically important for families.Additionally, classroom structure, staffing, and student-to-teacher dynamics did not consistently align with our expectations based on representations made to parents. Clear and accurate communication about these elements is essential when evaluating a school environment.During that same school year, we observed multiple families withdrawing their children mid-year. While every family’s decision is personal, witnessing these departures contributed to our concern that some of the issues we experienced may not have been isolated.Trust between families and a school is foundational. Once that trust eroded, it became increasingly difficult to feel confident that our children’s emotional safety and overall experience were being adequately safeguarded.I encourage prospective families to ask detailed questions about governance, oversight, and classroom structure when considering Noonan Academy.