Ocean Lakes Elementary School

This school has been rated a 10 most years. I had a fantastic experience here with my child. The staff and community here is extremely involved to a level you will not find at almost any other school in Virginia Beach.

My child has attended for three years now, and I will say the assistant principal is awesome.Teachers, however, will let you know their frustrations with your child and the classroom in general off the bat. They have no "chaos control", and blame it on COVID years. Two weeks into this school year, I picked my kid up from after school same time her teacher was coming out of school, and had the audacity to come to my car and say, Infront of my child, that "she is smart but not living up to her potential." And continued to degrade her Infront of me while telling my daughter and I how stressed she is. I work 60 hours a week as an Operations Director- if I complained to everyone how stressed I was and berated my team, my team would not be successful and I'd be fired. Teacher has made numerous comments to my kid that I find flat out rude, but the teachers paint a pretty picture when I call the assistant principle, so it's pointless. I work with a former Chesapeake principal who, when I discuss the issues I've had with the teachers here, told me to go straight to the school board and file a complaint, which was validating but sad at the same time. I've walked into that school several times and see/hear teachers have very negative discussions about their classes, which I feel perpetuates an overall justification to be desensitized to the children, harsh, overbearing and overly consequential. My daughter has called me from the nurses office several times, and when on the phone, I've heard teachers YELLING at children, obviously unaware of a parent listening. When my child has computer activities that have voice recordings, I can hear teachers yelling and being harsh with kids as well. The teachers are strict about bathroom breaks due to lack of security in the halls. They need a note from the doctor to let them go to the bathroom more than THEY think is necessary. My child has been physically bullied and the boys who have put their hands on my child faces no repercussions and my kid was still forced to sit at the same table and engage with them, even when I demanded she be moved. The teachers say "small problems should be handled by the kids" but how can you even say that with kids who are still learning emotional regulation? It was only after I told a teacher my child will hit back next time her bullies got her, that she actually listened. I worry every day how my kid is treated. At 7 years old, she is ALREADY stressed about school. Avoid if you can.

If you are a present parent and you advocate for your child, this is not the school for you nor your child. Being a spokesperson/advocate will cause you to receive backlash from teachers and administrators at this school. This school is supposed to be a prestigious school under the umbrella of an Achievable Dream. However, the only dream that is Achievable is not for the students but for the school in that they try to recommend programs for the students so that they can receive money. Communication between some of the teachers and parents is sub par. Please do your thorough research before choosing this school to register your precious child into.

As a former employee, I would not recommend sending your student here if you can help it. The school is not student centered at all. The staff does not have empathy for students or family or other teachers for that matter. This school does not seem to focus on student development. Its primary focus seems to be getting teachers and administrators promoted while making the day easiest for the adults. The communication is terrible. Sometimes the cause of the poor communication is lack of empathy, other times the lack of communication is due to flat out ignorance and pride. As a teacher, they attempted to ruin my career. I received evaluations with limited evidence to the findings. This building is extremely unprofessional, and no one is looking to improve it. They cover up broken policies and unsafe conditions. There are many unsafe conditions presented in that building. If your child must go here; my advice would be to check after the administration and teacher often, they will try to get away with a lot. Secondly, make sure you know how to contact your school board.

I had experienced this school for two years before we moved out of the area, and I would not recommend this school. My first experience with the principal was icy. I had no idea who she was at that conversation, and she came in so hard. It felt like she was attacking me as to why I picked up my child a little early a couple of days that week when I had written the reason on the sign-out sheet. She was rude and left me stunned; when she walked back into the office, I asked the security guard who that was, and when he said the principal, I was taken aback. My kids enjoyed their teachers. However, we got stuck with a teacher for our kindergartener who has a behavior disorder that the teacher wanted to ignore. I'm not sure how common it is for teachers to make late-night phone calls to parents or phone calls on the weekends, concerned about their child not smiling in photos, not listening, having to fill out think sheets, or getting text messages stating that the teacher isn't feeling well, and can I talk to my child to ensure they listen that day? Then, when called into a 504 meeting, the teacher disregards any prior events and states that the child doesn't have any needs of concern. I did not care for this school, and when I went into that meeting, it felt like the school/teacher was against my child instead of all of us working together to make the best plan of action for the child and the teacher. It did not seem like a school that was friendly toward children with disabilities. At the school we are at now, during the 504 meeting the school brought in their school psychologist. I went win getting ready to fight for my child, and when I left that meeting, it relieved so much anxiety to walk out of a meeting where every single person in the room was there to make it the best educational experience for the child, and everyone was on the same team. It was a completely different experience than the one at Red Mill. If we ever move back to the area, it will not be in a neighborhood zoned for this school.

Three Oaks is an incredibly nurturing, caring environment for my two children. The teachers really go above and beyond and it shows! School leadership is terrific and it shows in being selected as an Exemplar school. Wish my kids could stay here forever!

We are blessed to be part of the SJA community. I feel like my children are thriving socially and academically. The teachers teach at SJA because they truly believe in its core values. They teach with love and respect but hold our children accountable so they will be successful in the real world. I am forever grateful to this school and while no school is perfect, it is the perfect place for my children.

We are extremely thankful to Goddard (McComas Way) and very happy with our experience. The teachers and staff are excellent and took great care of our daughter (Mayurika). Wish every pre-school was like them!!Kudos to everyone there for doing such a great job!Neil & Sohini