Idlewild Elementary

I cannot say enough good things about Rama Road. My 3rd grader had an amazing experience. Rama handles its Title 1 money so well--she had access to lots of opportunities in the community. She had access to the talent development program from day 1,and the 3rd grade team is fantastic. At every school event, the entire school community (kids with disabilities, diverse families) were represented and celebrated. My daughter made tons of growth here, and I see them differentiating instruction for the needs of every student. Again, we love Rama and cannot recommend it enough!

The admin at this school is awful. The principal, Angela Grant, is one of the poorest leaders I have ever worked for. There is no consistency with expectations of teachers or students and zero support to implement the decisions she makes on a whim. She is extremely out of touch with what’s happening in our classrooms. She is unable to handle being questioned about any of the decisions she makes and never accepts responsibility for anything. There is a very high turn over rate of teachers at this school and it is solely because of the “leadership”. They have failed teachers and students every step of the way. While the admin seems to have good intentions, they have no idea how to lead. The students and teachers are fantastic and deserve so much more than they have been receiving at this school. Most teachers at this school are incredibly hard working and passionate about what they do.

As a concerned parent, I strongly advise against enrolling your child in this school. Student safety is not prioritized here. Bullying is a recurring issue, and unfortunately, there are no effective consequences or interventions in place to address it. Incidents are swept under the rug, and parents are left in the dark without proper explanations or follow-up.The administration is unresponsive. Attempts to meet with the principal are ignored or deflected, making it nearly impossible for parents to voice concerns or advocate for their child. The lack of transparency and accountability is deeply troubling.Children deserve a safe, supportive learning environment. Sadly, this school fails to provide that. Until real changes are made in leadership and policy, I would not recommend this school to any family.

This school's reviews have been disabled on Google. Am unable to warn others with public review there, and on Facebook page it's apparent that rose-colored reviews are scheduled on same days, multiple at a time from family, friends of, and employees of school. Years of deleted reviews on Facebook then, all at once, 10 positive reviews on the same day, conveniently timed at the end of school year to increase enrollment for upcoming year. Why would a school that has been in operation for 50 years change their name from "Bible Baptist School" to "Matthews Christian Academy" and rebrand if they had built a strong reputation in the community? We moved here and had enrolled when we found out. A family told us their kid was held back THREE TIMES and was a normal kid. They tried to boot our kid out of first grade half-way into the year despite having good grades on record at the time because they claimed that our 6 year old could not "sit still during instruction." Use letter grades to grade first graders which is unusual for age and assign several homework assignments daily, usually 3-5 differing assignments and tests. Noticed that many classmates were older and likely had been held back. Class size much higher than anticipated, over 20 children (22-24 range) for first grade with teacher and assistant although had advertised small class sizes. Only had resources to serve 20 students in next grade up because only had one teacher for second grade, meaning not every first grader was making the cut and ours was on that list, obviously wasn't a teacher's favorite. School is not operating in best interest of prospective families as they attempt to over-enroll first graders in scheme to gain more tuition funding. Few first graders will inevitably be failed or dismissed from school with very strict, anal retentive first grade teacher. Failed ones make more money for school in long run. First few grades are 24-15 students then taper off as grades go up, class sizes get to 5-7 by high school graduation showing their low retention. High teacher turnover. Over 80% students are international probably due to local reputation. Had costly extra assistance from outside school, unfortunately teacher, director and elementary coordinator had clear agenda against working with us as parents to help our kid. Will never enroll in another Christian school as a result. Terrible for our child's confidence. We are trying to repair as we move onto future educational endeavors. Please beware.