V O Isom Central Elementary School

I’ve had three kids go here. They have been loved and well educated. I have also subbed in many schools. Safety protocols are great here. My kids have made wonderful friends and have had very few problems. Grassy Creek has a great school culture.

Not much diversity when my child went. They accused my husband and I of smoking marijuana. My son loved getting ready with his father and wore cologne just like him. I told them what they were smelling was cologne and stopped allowing my son to wear it. He didn’t understand why he wouldn’t have it anymore and I felt terrible that he couldn’t express himself. An incident happened where I received a call saying he kicked a teacher in the ribs and she had to go to the emergency room. My son is kind and don’t talk, so of course if my son did in fact do that why? He’s not a hitter, so I’m thinking there’s something more to it, but I couldn’t ask him since he had trouble talking. My son now’s go to a wonderful school and is thriving!

I graduated from this school a few years back and do not recommend it. 1. Lack of mental health support- This school does not have any licensed mental health professionals. While attending this school, I had been told by multiple teachers that depression and anxiety are caused by not praying enough and by not having a close enough relationship with Christ. I remember when the Thursday Chapel was dedicated to anxiety. The person who spoke had zero background in mental health and said that a lack of prayer causes anxiety. Misinformation like this can harm the mental health and faith of students. 2. Bullying-While attending this school, I was bullied continually about my looks and the details of my personal life. Multiple teachers and staff saw this and either added to it or said nothing. I did not go to the principal or dean about this due to how they handled situations similar to this in the past. I remember when a teacher spoke at chapel and took the majority of his time to make fun of a student in my class. This student was bullied so badly that he is no longer a Christian. 3. Treatment of the Girls-During my time here, the girls were always told to dress modestly to not "tempt" or "distract" the boys in our class. I believe what should have been taught is for the boys not to look at the girls with lustful eyes. This type of teaching is wrong and does not prepare people for the real world. Going to college after graduating from this school felt like I had left a cult.4. Religious Trauma- It took me many years to heal the religious trauma caused by the things I experienced at this school. Many people I graduated with are no longer Christian due to the things they experienced at this school. Spend your money elsewhere and stay away from this school. There were a few quality teachers, but that does not take away from my overall negative experience.

As a parent of a former student, I loved how invested all the teachers and admin was at OLG. Everyone was very easy to contact; as well as, willing to go above and beyond to ensure the success of my child. The small class size really helped my child recieve as much meaningful instruction and make connection with each teacher. The community faith based approach the school provides is equally as impreesive. My child was taught to include all other students; regardless of age, grade, or academic level, to ensure everyone around her was successful.

The most legalistic, prideful school I’ve ever seen. There are teachers who believe for girls it is a sin to wear anything other than a skirt. If the teachers or students don’t like the preacher that the school has during chapel, they can stand up and walk out of the service in the middle of it. Those teachers who disagree with other churches can and HAVE called out other churches’ “sinful” ways during class time. Mind you, there were students in the school and class that went to that church that was called out. This school is ran by a bunch of old guys in the church who have never met an actual student once. The rules are extremely strict but at the same time, they choose when to follow their own rules. There is supposedly a “zero tolerance” bullying policy to where a student gets AT LEAST suspended if they are caught bullying but it’s false. If you are being verbally or even physically harmed, the high school principal will just warn the bully. What a slap into the face for the victim!! The school hires and keeps elderly/no longer qualified teachers because they can’t find anyone who wants to teach at the school. This leads to an extremely difficult to understand class. The high school hallways are like an underground tunnel (literally). The high school is under the church and the school is accepting too many students for such an extremely small capacity. Between classes, you are standing shoulder to shoulder, barely moving in the hallways which leads to a lot of late students. But instead of fixing this issue, the school went into debt for a mediocre lunch room. Collard shirts that need to be tucked in to uniform pants with a belt is the dress code for guys and any tshirt or crew neck that doesn’t have a big worldly logo on it with a plaid uniform skirt is the dress code for girls. Students and parents literally have to sign a “contract” with the school saying you won’t participate in “worldly” activities inside or OUTSIDE of the school. This school tries to control your entire life by saying what you can or cannot do wether you are on school property or not. There is no wheelchair accessibility for the high school so good luck if you need that. The school lunches are expensive, underserved, and low quality. A “full” lunch is $4.50 and they serve you the same amount of food as they would to the kindergarteners and the lunch ladies get mad and refuse you if you ask for a little bit more food. Don’t waste your time here.