Academy Avenue Elementary School

Here's the edited version:If you're considering this school, you might as well save your money and enroll your child in a public school while supplementing with Kumon, Russian School of Math, private tutoring for extracurriculars, or a private tutor. The administration is ineffective, lacks leadership, and the academics are so watered down that they hold little value. Without a strong leader, the school has declined.The school experiences constant turnover of inexperienced teachers, with no real credentials required to move from grade to grade—for example, from a pre-K aide to a third-grade teacher. This lack of structure and consistency in staffing severely impacts the quality of education students receive.Given the cost, you'd expect higher standards and greater academic rigor, but this school simply does not deliver. Parents seeking a well-managed and academically robust environment should look elsewhere.

First Baptist Christian School has been a blessing beyond words for our family. Both of our children attend (Pre-K 3 through 8th grade), and the transformation we’ve seen in them academically and especially spiritually has been incredible.The teachers here give genuine personal attention to every single child. They build real 1-on-1 relationships, celebrate each milestone, and guide them with patience and faith every day. The principal is outstanding—approachable, wise, and truly cares—and the teachers are some of the most experienced and big-hearted educators we’ve ever met.Weekly chapel on Wednesdays, a full basketball court, amazing school trips, fun fund-raising events, beautiful dramas and performances—there’s always something joyful happening. Parent-teacher conferences actually feel like conversations among family because that’s what this school is: one big, loving, supportive community that welcomes families from all backgrounds.Most importantly, our kids are thriving. They’re growing in confidence, excelling academically, deepening their faith, and learning what it means to love and serve others. FBCS isn’t just preparing them for the next grade—it’s preparing them for life.We feel so grateful every single day that our children are here. 100% recommend FBCS to any parent looking for excellence in education and Christian character development.

Our family had both positive and challenging experiences at SELA. Many of the teachers we interacted with were warm and genuinely caring toward the children, and we appreciated their dedication. The families who attend are also wonderful.However, our overall experience felt inconsistent from classroom to classroom, which made it difficult to feel fully confident in the program as a whole. During our time there, we also experienced several staffing changes, and communication around those transitions did not always feel clear to us. This contributed to concerns about continuity and stability, even if that may not reflect everyone’s experience.Another factor for our family was that the school does not offer special education services, which limits the support available for children who may need additional help. From our perspective, there were also moments when supervision and overall structure did not feel as strong as we would have hoped for young students.We had conversations with other families that raised general concerns about safety and oversight. While we cannot speak to specific events or details, those discussions influenced how comfortable we ultimately felt.Academically, the curriculum appeared ambitious, and for our child it sometimes felt developmentally advanced in ways that were not the best fit. We also perceived the administrative style as more tightly managed than supportive, which seemed to create a tense atmosphere rather than a collaborative one.Although we were part of the Early Global program and met caring individuals along the way, what we observed and experienced led us to decide not to continue enrollment - particularly as what we heard about the Elementary program was quite negative. It was reported to us that Elementary turnover is high due to how the staff is treated from administrators. For our family, the combination of frequent changes, limited support services, and lingering concerns about overall environment made it difficult to move forward. We hope the school reconsiders their management styles as the general mission of the school has great potential.