Creekside Elementary School

I would refrain from enrollment at this school if you can help it. The academic progress of the school is subpar at best and the mindset is quite damaging to the minds of children who want to learn. The principal seems like she is only there to get a paycheck, and communication is very poor! You must follow ALL of their rules, but it seems like the staff can do whatever they want and how they want.

My child has been at ridgewood elementary for only 4th-5th grade but she has done so well! And she has told me that she wishes that it went up through college and I think it is amazing and they feed your kids for free and have very good learning and teaching for every grade your child would go to in elementary school so in my experience I think that they have done amazing with my child’s learning

I am familiar with the Montessori approach and materials and was excited to have our child join the Extended Day (Kindergarten) program in one of the Primary Classroom at Greenville Montessori School (GMS). Our experience at GMS, however, was not good. Below are some of my observations:1. Art and music offerings in the Primary classroom at GMS were limited to non-existent. For instance, unlike other Montessori schools we have experienced, there was no singing or learning of songs in our child’s Primary classroom.2. The teaching approach was highly technical and the learning environment was very dry. This might be OK at the elementary level, but not in a Primary class for pre-school and kindergarten level children.3. There are three Primary classrooms at GMS and each has a lead teacher and an assistant teacher. The communication style of the lead teacher in our child’s Primary classroom was very defensive, unprofessional and at times politely condescending in response to parental concerns. It was thus difficult to have conversations with her. 4. A core tenet of the Montessori approach is genuine respect for the child and their concerns. I did not see this quality in the lead teacher of our child's class. During one instance, I witnessed the lead teacher speak down to my child without empathy, respect or understanding of the child’s concerns. It was very jarring to see this at a Montessori school.5. The GMS Director was defensive in her communications and ineffective in resolving issues.

I liked the teachers when I attended, and the people were effective to the community. They had chapel every Wednesday which was beneficial to the children and teenagers attending Christ Covenant School! I would recommend for middle school.

The school is OK. I absolutely feel like my children are safe when they are at school. Our family was very disappointed with class size (31 students in 5th grade this year with only 1 teacher, 25 in kindergarten with only 1 teacher). Class size was too large last year as well and we were hopeful the school would hire additional teachers before this year started. There are good things about the school--safety and good music program are the two that come to mind. It is hard to get past the class sizes for me.