Ruby F. Carver Elementary School

Not good with bullying and truly having parent relationships with administrators.

Both of my children are enrolled at Pinchbeck Elementary, and their progress has been truly remarkable. We're incredibly grateful to the office staff, administration, and especially the kind and dedicated teachers who support them every day.I sincerely hope the school's rating continues to rise in the coming year — it truly deserves a 10/10.Thank you,Sayed

I’ve had two kids at Gayton and couldn’t bring myself to put my youngest there. The first time around, the administration and faculty were excellent - dedicated, competent and responsive. Those days are gone. Now students are floundering with inadequate support and resources. Physical assaults and perpetual bullying are permitted with no communication with or response to parents. Some teachers are not at all equipped to pick up on signs that kids are having trouble. Non-verbal exceptional education students with no emotional self-control are put in general education classes of 23+ students, with no appropriate teaching aides. Lessons are solely taught to make a sufficient number of students pass the tests (PALS, iready, SOLs, etc.) and the pursuit of educating kids to learn critical thinking skills has been abandoned. Project based curricula are gone. From the very start of kindergarten and beyond, the teaching is heavily dependent on children using tablets and laptops to establish an early neurological dependence on technology. The PTA is a social club for out of touch, status facade driven moms who are mostly busy with petty power trips and “fundraising” to benefit their local businesses with increased advertising and access to customers in the community. Teachers are burnt out and express feeling unsupported and unheard by the administration. Many of them have the potential to be wonderful if they were given the right circumstances.Administration is wholly unstable, with the principal leaving abruptly before the end of the first semester. My heart goes out to the faculty members who love their students. They and the students deserve better. If you have any choice, pick a different school, public or private or homeschool.

It has been a pleasure for my daughter and us parents to be a student at AAE. She has grown exponentially over the year in every aspect. The staff and the dean are very supportive and encouraging and has created a positive environment for students to thrive. I can’t be thankful enough for them for accommodating us.

Best Montessori school in the Richmond metro area.

Our daughter’s first year at Steward was truly transformative. Joining as a new student in her final year of middle school could have been difficult, but Steward made the transition seamless. During the summer before school started, the school introduced new students to one another and paired them with a current family, helping our daughter begin the year already feeling connected. Once classes began, both the students and faculty made her feel genuinely welcome. The teachers and administrative staff went out of their way to ease her transition and make her feel at home.The facilities at Steward also stood out to us from our very first visit and create an exceptional environment for students. From the Innovation Lab to the athletic fields to the cozy classrooms, every space contributes to an atmosphere that feels safe, comfortable, and engaging. One of the main reasons we chose to transition to private school was the overwhelming size of the public schools, and the smaller class sizes at Steward helped our daughter feel both at ease and actively engaged in her learning.The quality and kindness of the teachers were immediately apparent as well. It’s clear they genuinely care about their students and are deeply invested in their growth and success. At the fall meet-the-teacher event, parents experienced the instructional approach firsthand by participating in the same types of exercises the students had completed in class. We were struck by how engaging and thoughtful the teaching style was. Rather than focusing on rote memorization or teaching to standardized tests, the lessons encouraged students to ask questions, think critically, interpret information, and develop a deeper understanding of both the material and its real-world application. It was clear that Steward prioritizes curiosity, engagement, and meaningful learning over simply memorizing facts for an exam.As our daughter wraps up her first year, we could not be happier with our decision to join the Steward community.