Oakbrook Preparatory School

This school is horrible!!!! All the way to the principal! He's a JOKE! They have no concept of SAFETY for children that are put in their care from the time they step on their property til the time they step off it! We recently just moved to SC from out of state and thought this would be a good fit but my children defiantly will NOT be returning to Arcadia next school year. He is retiring and should because he doesn't care about ALL the students only certain ones. However when I called the Supertindent he was very apologetic and showed sympathy something the principal should have done. My youngest child attends another school in district 6 and I love that school along with the staff and principal. DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN TO THIS SCHOOL if you care about how they are treated and there safety.

If you can help it, please do not send your babies to this school.

Not at all impressed with our experience with this school. I would not recommend it at all. The front lobby is a HUGE safety concern!!! You are rung into the main lobby but then you have access to the main hallway to the left and right. At busy times the front office would not even notice you didnt come through the lobby and into the double doors to the secretary's desk. I feel like this is a bad situation waiting to happen. The front office staff is very unfriendly and loomed uninterested in helping me, barely acknowledge me and look at me as if to say "what do you need??" My child only attended a short amount of time, thank goodness! They did not challenge him what so ever. He was very bored. He came home daily with many, many worksheets, the same type of worksheet daily just a different letter or number being learned. He came home many, many days with randomly cut up and doodled on notebook paper, saying the teachers just told him to sit and doodle/cut up and glue notebook paper together. We had an issue where my child was hit by another student and i was not notified properly upon it occurring. I had to go out of my way to get more info into the situation. The teacher was very upset about this and took it out on my child, marking him red for behavior every day after i spoke with the principal about the situation when he had been marked green for behavior every day for 4 months.

My son attended this school last year. He gained so much independence and such a greater interest in learning! I would highly recommend this school to anyone who is searching for an environment that truly focuses on developing the whole child.

My family chose Westgate Christian School for our girls 3 years ago. We are so thankful that we did. I couldn't say enough positive things about the education they are receiving, the teachers and staff, the administrative team or the front office staff! Our girls feel loved every single day! The curriculum is rigorous and as a teacher of 14 years, I could not be happier with the education they are receiving. We have no doubt that we are exactly where the Lord wanted us to be! If you've been looking at private schools for your children, I HIGHLY recommend touring Westgate!

As a former employee, I have to say this is perhaps one of the worst schools in South Carolina. The administration is incompotent and vendictive. If a teacher dares to complain about something they are immediately targeted by administration and "Put in their place." A good portion of the students have stuggled in public schools. For some it's academics, for others its behavior. Many come to HPA to avoid being either expelled or sent to an alternative school. Once at HPA, their struggles continue but teachers are told to "get them through" so the school maintains its high graduation rate. Discipline is erratic at best and many teachers leave feeling tramatized. At least one teacher a year is fired at the behest of a parent of a child who would likely be expelled at a real school. The pay is low. The school takes a portion of each the money the state provides for each teacher's salary. As a result, some are earning $10,000 less per year than they would receive at another school. Teachers are also required to do service projects such as repairing structural problems in the school or deep cleaning the bathrooms. If you are either thinking of sending your child to HPA or working there, I strongly suggest you reconsider. The school puts on a great front, but behind the scenes it is a house of cards ready to fold.

I feel this school is a hit or miss. We knew people at the Greenville Green Charter who had a good experience, so we decided to try the one in Spartanburg. I wish we hadn't. My kid had three different teachers during his first grade. One of the three was great at communicating and supportive. I prefer not to mention the main one. She was on maternity leave for most of the year and was incommunicative even when she was working. We chose the school also because we liked the director. Then a new director came in. Perhaps well-intentioned, but clearly without much experience.Another significant drawback of this school is that it is located in a former retail space, which means there are virtually no windows. The playground is situated in the parking lot. Not having windows at a school or even a patch of grass (in South Carolina!) should also be a warning sign. Additionally, please note that the food quality in the cafeteria is subpar at best.The school has good intentions, but that's it. If you have the chance to take your kid to a private school or a public one with established teachers and management, I'd encourage you to take it.