Mary Evelyn Castle Elementary School

My family and I moved here when my son entered the 3rd grade. After 2 years in this school I have seen a tremendous growth in his abilities. At first, it was a struggle coming from an average out of state school but the high standards at Lantern Road encourages the child to do thier best!!

This was an amazing school a couple years ago. Sadly it no longer isn’t. My child was assaulted by another student and nothing done about it. The teachers are overwhelmed. They have more students than they should. There’s hardly any staff, great teachers quit constantly. There should be a waitlist again, and teachers should stop being so concerned of state tests and ratings and honestly teach and care about kids education.

I'm really glad we chose this school. We love the STEM experiences. She talks about the animals and the projects that she gets to do all the time. My child has made many friends in school, participates in school programs, and has grown. The teachers and the principal are really great. We have told two of our neighbors about the school and they are now putting their children in the new Immersion Spanish program. I only wish the Immersion program was started earlier.

My granddaughter went to Horizon and in middle school was bullied, I reported it and nothing was done so it continued eventually I took her out and put her in another school where she is thriving

Initially it seemed as if the teachers in the intermediate school were interested in teaching and that it was a positive experience, but this changed and worsened with each year my child was at Heritage. The administration has very little interest in the middle school. The teachers frequently give the students a book and have them teach themselves. The few teachers that lecture frequently go on tirades indoctrinating students with extreme Christian fundamentalism and getting on their soapbox about groups they do not like or ideologies they do not believe even if it has nothing to do with the lesson. I was shocked that their science program is using texts from Bob Jones University saying the Earth is only 7000 years old. Every teacher I ever had a reason to meet with forced me to pray with them before and after the meeting, There is a huge discipline problem as far as many students getting away with behavior that would not be tolerated in a public school. After 4 years of enduring the double standard of teachers who play favorites, I am grateful we will no longer be attending this cult like school.