Garden City Elementary School

Some of the teachers and staff are amazing and long time served. This is an affluent neighborhood school with structured and organized standards, good resources, nice building and playground, security and good support staff. Great PTA participation and parent communication. Just a few questionable teachers but overall an excellent elementary. Exceptional teachers include Houtz (K), Whitehead (5th), Richards (Librarian). Great chess club and family events.

This is an excellent school. We moved our child back to this school after trying another city school. The teachers, staff, secretary and principal are all amazing educators.

I think this is a great school for children who do not struggle with behavioral or learning disabilities. The principle lacks experience and tolerance for children struggling with mental health. She struggles respecting the opinions of others when dealing with situations where is child is a clearly struggling with mental health disorder and is quick to send a child home if she doesn’t have the staff to deal with the behavior.

We were worried moving the kids again, but read that south Roanoke county schools were great and that is an understatement when it comes to Clearbrook. The staff is great, the teachers care, and they invest in the kids. Don’t be afraid to send your kids here.

Send your kids to this school :)

Positive notes: The lead teachers that my children had were very kind and supportive. It seemed they were eager to teach and help my children learn. The nature studies program was an amazing component and the kids got a lot of outdoor time which is important. I loved that students from all grade levels interacted socially and educationally with one another. Regular parent involvement and ability to participate in classroom events was another positive attribute.On the other end, administration really lacks the behavior you would expect from employees of a Christian school. Very rude and condescending conversation that make you feel like a failure as a parent. There is very little tolerance for a child who even steps one toe out of line. This applies for children in their JK program (as young as 4). Unrealistic behavior expectations for such young children, causing them to encourage parents to make their child repeat the level unnecessarily. A lack of trained assistants in the JK program made this considerably worse. Overall, a lack of support amd patience from administration, with the teacher's having to follow suit.I wholeheartedly agree with other reviewers who mention a very cliquey atmosphere which is highly influenced by financial status. Basically, if the school wants you out, you will be pushed out by any means necessary, regardless of child performance. This is contradictory to their website which encourages families of all financial backgrounds to apply for aide and attend. There is a hugh push for donations from parents and grandparents for nearly every school function which sucks the joy out of enjoying your child's education and growth.All in all, we spent months reparing the damage that this school caused to my child's self-esteem, personality, and anxiety. My kids are much better off in their new school with zero complaints of "bad" behavior. If you don't want your child to turn out to be a perfect little robot with all of their individuality squashed, please do not send them here.