Bel-Air Elementary School

GBES is an exceptional place where students and families are welcome. The staff at Governor Bent is dedicated and hardworking, always going above and beyond to support every student. They foster an inclusive environment that works with English Language Learners, students with disabilities, and Indigenous students. We are truly a community school by providing resources to families.We commitment to social-emotional learning (SEL), which helps students develop vital life skills, including the school's core values of "Solve Problems, Show Respect, and Make Good Decisions." The school also has a great sense of community, hosting fun events that bring families together, like the Pumpkin Run and the Festival of Lights.The students and school has also shown progress academically. Attendance rates are improving, and students are achieving notable gains in both math and reading. The school’s consistent improvement in iReady and iStation scores. With a fantastic staff, a strong commitment to both academic and social-emotional growth, and a strong sense of community, it's no surprise that GBES is the place to be!

This school has been a disappointment for 2 school years now. We came in a little late in the year from a school in Las Cruces that was wonderful. This school is so unorganized we came on the first day and they had no idea who we were so they sent us home and told us to come back tomorrow. I'm glad they helped me get my son and IEP but then the next school year starts and they waited 2 full days to implement the active IEP for sped students so they were in general Ed for the first 2 days of school. I found that extremely inappropriate especially for my student who has social emotional disabilities. The bullying at the school is horrifying. My son has been beat up a total of 4 times now by different students. Supposedly they have social emotional learning classes daily but they refuse to acknowledge that they are not working! The staff at this school are uncaring and unprofessional. They are rude to parents and dismissive. I can't wait til we move so I can get my kids out of here.

In my short term as a teacher I fully was impressed with the mission and vision of the founder and school. Instruction was fully supported and the faculty very professional and collegial. The behaviors were insufferable, however, and poorly managed because of lack of administrative scaffolding and standards that a larger system would support. Such is the charm of a charter school that promotes and promises an attractive student to teacher ratio. The information missing is the fact that students that require services aren’t fully supported, and when not fully supported behaviors arise. These behaviors cannot be adequately addressed. As such learning will fall below the standard being sought from a parent. A lot of the population were of a lower economic status, military family, APS expelled or disenchanted status. So, not the cream of the crop despite the misleading of lottery process. Do not be mislead of the charm of a school’s mission or focus. This one is no different.