Mission Avenue Elementary School

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.

Our two daughters have been a part of this wonderful school community for three years where they have benefited from high standards in behavior and academics. Most importantly, they are growing spiritually in a positive and supportive community that encourages them to love Jesus and develop a personal relationship with Him. The sports program is well organized and teaches good sportsmanship and keeps students physically fit. The teachers have inspired my daughters to play school at home!

Oak Grove is okay for elementary, but quite lacking for middle and high school. The STEM program is abysmal, and the student's standardized test scores in math and science attest to that. Grammar and writing programs are excellent, but the subject matter and reading material as the students progress to higher grades are boring and tedious. Many of the teachers do not use the classical method to teach, and there are teachers who are not certified to teach at all. Sports and arts programs are pretty much nonexistent. The school has been renting space in a church for like 15 years now, with no hope of ever having a permanent building, so students never get to hang their artwork on the walls, leave their science projects on display, etc. They have to schlep all their books and materials back and forth between school and home, and the "sentinels" have to police every piece of loose paper or pencils, water spilled, or anything left behind they aren't allowed to leave one shred of evidence that they were ever there, lest the church has a fit. The headmaster came from another school that had no strategic plan, and he brought that same lack of skill and planning to OGA. So there is really no plan for a permanent school. The description of the school is grossly inaccurate also. This is not a non-denominational Christian school. This is an Evangelical church ONLY school. Families will be looked down upon for being Catholic, Orthodox, Presbyterian, Methodist, etc. Evangelical students will make negative comments to non-Evangelical students, how they are wrong, etc...and there is very little done about it, bc the teachers and admin agree that there way is the only "right" way. There is a strict, but unspoken but very thinly veiled code there that if you aren't part of a working dad, SAHM trad-wife family, you are lesser. There is also a very strong current of right wing political sentiment, and quite a bit of hierarchy among students whose parents are deemed more important due to money or having a special standing in church, etc.