Indian Hill Middle School

The staff members, teachers, lunch people, and principle are amazing the whole school is amazing with their amazing leaders

We love this school. Both of my children have autism and need a lot of assistance. The staff at Amity have not only bent over backwards to assist our children they are thriving. My older son is now almost caught up to his peers and my youngest is going from nonverbal to speaking. They have sensory room and a motor room. Amity is doing amazing work and they should definitely have a higher score than they have. Deer park is a small community but people are close and they care about each other. My son’s teachers go the extra mile with incentives to learn and to be honest I could not get them a better education anywhere else.

My children attended this school for many years. We decided to part ways with GSCM after a student made a threat to bring a gun to school and shoot students in the adolescent program. The initial reaction of administration was to do nothing and bring the student back to school after one day at home. Fortunately, several families escalated the situation to point that the school had to intervene. This is a fringe, Catholic school. It is not governed by the Diocese of Cincinnati. Therefore, the principal and school board are at liberty to make decisions that may not be in the best interest of students. Several decisions made in the past years protected board members and their children, despite them engaging in bad behaviors. One board member posted a letter that contained racist and conspiracy theorist-laden information and was not removed from his position on the board. I am saddened by the deterioration of this school since the founder, Dan Teller, retired. He was a stand-up guy ,who at one time created a sweet, nurturing Montessori. That is not the case anymore.

I went here as an international student. Everyone is welcoming. I met friends and faculty that are extremely supportive. Being in a small school also means more resources and opportunities. Cincinnati Country Day school also has a strong alumni connection, which provides student with thousands of job shadow and research opportunities outside the campus.

SUMMARY - This school is NOT for minorities or a diverse population - the principal, counselor nor 1st grade teacher handle diversity appropriately.1 PRO - Secretary and 2 of the recess helpers/aids were a joy!4 CONS - 1) School principal and the school counselor have shown us to not know how to interact with African American parents/students. Principal confused me with another black parent & then tried to apologize saying we both had on similar tops. Profusely she apologized knowing she was confusing 2 minority parents by our color. Counselor has unfortunately treated us rudely in her talk and interactions with us.2) School/parents are very clique-ish, especially apart from minorities. For 3 years I've been involved & volunteering. I volunteered for recess duty for months & suddenly was dropped off so that the scheduler’s friends could have "their" preferred days.3) 1st grade teacher (had our 3rd grader & now our 1st grader), did not treat our minority children with respect. Our 1st grade daughter has African American hair that enamors the other children. Her hair accessory fell out & another child had it. The 1st grade teacher threw it in the trash at her own admission because it was a distraction to another child. Why not save it for the parent instead of destroying personal property?4) Principal never replied to my e-mail regarding a mishandled situation of a computer screening, taking 1 child's word against ours. Our African American child was interrogated and his computer was screened 3 times. Our child was found to be WRONGLY accused. There was no punishment for the child who falsely accused. 5) There were bullying incidents on our child with with 2 separate children. However, all teachers that our son interacted with told me how mannerable, polite and helpful he always is. However they did NOT appropriately deal with the bullies who harassed him.WE TRIED FOR 3 YEARS TO HOPE FOR IMPROVEMENT. The school failed in this effort to treat our children fairly. As things have gotten worse they show to not provide a secure environment for our children.