Before I begin let me start off by saying that this review is based solely upon my personal…read moreexperiences and my personal experiences alone, so without further explanation let's begin!. We arrived here for the ceremony! My grandson has moved up to the next level of education, he is now going from kindergarten to the 1st grade. The teachers and all the staff here did a great job today in putting this together. Thank you for all your hard work and congratulations to all the kids today as well.. And a special shoutout to my grandson Landon!!!.. Congratulations to my buddy! Keep striving, I Love you boy!!!....

This is definitely one of the best schools in the city of Portsmouth. The teachers are wonderful &…read morethe class sizes are great!

This school has been awesome forever. It is truly a "Leave it to Beaver" school, for those of an…read moreage to remember that sitcom. I was PTA President for 2 years in the late 80's/early 90's time period. And it was one of the most special times of my life. Becky Harvey was Principal. Ed Timlin, who later was the long time Principal at Arrowhead Elementary, was Assistant Principal. They were an awesome team. The staff & teachers were top notch. One couldn't have asked for better. Parental involvement, teacher & staff care, safety, nurturing, a location steeped in the history that was the beginning of the English colonies, and classmates who are eager to excel & learn.... This and more is what you will find at Thoroughgood Elementary.

I have been holding off on this review because I wanted to provide a balanced approach to this…read moreVirginia Beach Lower School. It is my opinion that this is one of the premier city schools, but am I being subjective in a 5 star rating of where my children attend. I do think that I am being fair and I will provide some details about the school, it's history so as to back up my rating. I will also provide stats on performance which is what ultimately determines a schools success. The school is named after Adam Thoroughgood the city's founding colonist who was an indentured servant that rose to becoming one of Virginia's earliest burgesses and later, a member of the Governor's Council. In 1635, he was granted 5,360 acres in return for the transportation of himself, his wife and 105 persons. One of his "head rights" Augustine Warner, is of particular significance. He became the great-great-grand father of President George Washington. The land that the present day school and Thoroughgood neighborhood sets on is part of that original land grant by the King of England which makes this area so special. The current Principal at TES is Dr. Cheryl Zigrang in her 14th year at this position. She is the backbone to this place of learning for children K-5. Her caring attitude and compassionate attitude is contagious throughout the caring staff that she manages. Her high standards of academics and consistent utilization of the kids remembering a number of rules and manners has elevated this school of 700 students into the "Best of Virginia Beach". Dr. Z has been offered promotions to administration and turned them down as her calling is at the school she one day hopes to retire in. The building itself is one of the cities oldest, constructed in the mid 1950's. Even though old it is very well maintained by long time janitor Mr. Harold Lawrence. It is over due for a new build out and the School Board recently approved a time table of 2016-2018 for a new TES. It will be put in the present day ball field while keeping the current facility in operation through construction. How about the performance of Thoroughgood. Well let's start out with saying it is a fully accredited school in the state of Virginia. It also has received the 2012 Governor's Award for Education Excellence numerous times and is without a doubt one of the cities top schools. Of course the benchmark the state of Virginia uses is Standard of Learning, or SOL. Consistently TES is not only one of the top schools in our city, but the state of Virginia. A snap shot of one piece of data, the 5th grade writing exam. Going back to 2005 and every year to 2012 Thoroughgood has exceeded district and state standards, thus one of the reasons for the Governors Award on a annual basis. When I say this this school is awesome, it's not just lip service. We had one of our children at a pricy private school in the area and discovered this is a great value, offers just as much challenge and is safe from of the schenanigan's that other schools are plagued with. Anyone reading this review and unsure about how to go about obtaining more info it is easy. Call the school and arrange a tour that will be conducted most likely by Dr. Z herself. We love our TES Flying Seagulls.

My daughter has now been attending Strelitz for over a year. She started at around 8 months old…read more(as a little bub) and is now 20 months old in an early years/toddler program. She is thriving. They are teaching her so much! She is loving playing, singing, reading, and running around. She has learned to sit at a table, clean up after herself, say words and sign "more" and "eat". I'm so impressed. They send us weekly newsletters with tons and tons of photos and there is an app for parent updates and so we can interact with teachers throughout the day. They are very responsive. There is also a nurse on staff at all times and the administration (Elyssa and Natalie) are also very responsive and attentive, knowing every single child's name in the halls (I am impressed). The staff for the babies and toddlers are wonderful, loving and caring people. Bianca, Janae, Raven and Marisol as well as now Jaime and Sydnee are all stellar and I am happy to have my baby girl in a location with such attentive and caring people. They are always coming up with creative crafts and fun, letting the children explore with their senses, and teaching them to be kind and caring individuals. My daughter is happy about coming here every day and that is all I need to know. My parents and her other grandparent attended their grandparents day together around the Thanksgiving holiday and were super impressed with the school as well as the teachers. There was a welcome reception and then activity in the rooms where the grandparents got to see their spaces and do crafts with them. They had made each grandparent a thoughtful, personalize gift with photos to keep and my daughter's grandparents are obsessed. The facility, as mentioned before, is wonderful. It's a large building with secured entry and security who take their jobs very seriously - they have everyone scan in (and a photo shows up) and if you don't have your fob you must show ID and be on a list. I know this bc once my husband used my fob and they hunted him down bc his picture wasn't mine. LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS. The school is K-5th grade and they take babies as old as weeks to care for. A wonderful, wonderful establishment. Well-run and the best I've seen throughout the area. I could not be happier that my baby girl is here.

Babies to 5th grade. I'm pretty sure it's the only international baccalaureate grade school in the…read morearea. They learn Hebrew at an early age which will help with language skills when they're older. Violin is taught starting at kinder. Kids of all faiths and backgrounds go to school here. Small class size. Very caring teachers and councilors that care about the kids. Playground, pool, fun gym time and after school activities. I could go on and on but... All I'm going to say is I'm zoned for one of the best public elementary schools in the area and continue to keep my kid in this school. They actually TEACH my kid. Not just plop them in front of a computer. Worth every cent!

March 2023: Emmanuel Episcopal Day School is by far the best choice we have made for our…read moredaughter's childcare and education so far. She enjoys every minute of lessons and doesn't stop talking about the activities and the friends she's made she comes home with arts and crafts that rival high schoolers. They have our daughter excited about second languages (Spanish), chapel, computer fundamentals, sign language and so much more! The teachers are very communicative and are really partners in the children's care and education, the center is clean and well-kept and the location is conveniently located. The rates are extremely affordable and honestly UNDERpriced in our experience. If you are looking for preschool, pre-k, or childcare in Virginia Beach, this is THE BEST program by far. We are so happy with EEDS, that we have begged for them to extend their programs into summer and into Kindergarten so our daughter can spend more time with them. Luckily, they are offering a few different summer camps and she will attend all of them!

this is GREAT early education experience. Adminatration and staff highly skilled and well…read moreeducated. the program is well implemented. love this place.

Staff are caring and good and my son's experience in the school overall has been fine, although…read morewe've had to move due to few inconveniences.

Granby is a great high school. The Admin team provides multiple opportunities for teachers to be…read moreinvolved in the decision-making process. We care about our staff! Furthermore, the principal regularly communicates important information with all stakeholders!

I have attended this school on several occasions, mostly for sports... football and most recently…read morebasketball. I must say this school gives a great variety of concession items and I love it here! I would like to think there is plenty of parking here. But on a few occasions, I witnessed people parking on the grass. So depending on the event, parking may be an issue. Nevertheless, we have never encountered parking concerns. The gym is rather small compared to most, but it got the job done. Our girls Varsity basketball Team defeated this school to move on to the next round of play this year. Overall, this is a good host school it just needs more space to accommodate the attendees. Restrooms were tidy - a big plus! Have fun and enjoy life :)

manor high discriminate against kids if they grades not right they can't go there if you miss to…read moremany days u cant go there if you fail SOL you can't go there even if you failed 1 sol u can't go they do not help their students this school will be reported to the school board day, discriminate against children at Manor High school

We enrolled our daughter at Virginia Beach Friends School for her 6th grade year, drawn in by the…read morepromise of small class sizes, individualized attention, and a school culture built on kindness. Sadly, our experience fell far short of those promises, and we made the difficult decision to withdraw her mid-year. Small Class Size Individualized Attention Our daughter's class had only six students -- something we believed would mean more personalized instruction and closer teacher-student relationships. In practice, that was not the case. Teachers were not proactively communicating with us about our daughter's academic performance or classroom participation, despite the fact that there were only five other students in her entire grade. A Serious Bullying Situation That Was Never Communicated to Us: The only other girl in our daughter's class made daily threats -- including saying she wanted to break our daughter's spine and throw her out of a window. This same peer also openly discussed self-harm in the classroom. These are not minor social conflicts. They are serious, ongoing threats that any school should be obligated to communicate to parents immediately. Our daughter started the year strong, finishing Q1 with all A's and B's. As the bullying continued, her grades began to slip in Q2. It wasn't until we proactively reached out that a meeting was arranged with the head of school, the educational director and the admissions director. During that two-hour meeting, we learned that the school had already been aware of this student's behavior, had met with her family, and had issued consequences such as silent lunch -- multiple times. We were well into late January and had never received a single call, email, or notification about any of this. That meeting produced a clear action plan: teachers would make a greater effort to connect with our daughter, and the educational director would meet with her individually each week to help get her academics back on track. Neither of these commitments was ever followed through on by the school. In the weeks after that meeting -- and after we informed the school we would not be re-enrolling for the following year -- our daughter began receiving write-ups for minor infractions: breaking a pencil, tearing up a piece of paper, not asking for help. We also received her Q2 report card, which included a D in PE. Not once had her PE teacher reached out to share any concerns about her performance or participation. In a class of six children, there is simply no excuse for that lack of communication. The pattern of events that followed our meeting, combined with our decision not to re-enroll, felt deeply retaliatory rather than supportive. We ultimately pulled our daughter from Virginia Beach Friends School mid-week and transitioned her to a public school to complete the remaining 2.5 months of the school year. It was not a decision we made lightly, but it was the right one for her wellbeing. TLDR: Virginia Beach Friends School markets itself as a place where children feel safe being uniquely themselves, and where kindness is the school's number one value. Based on our family's experience, those values did not translate into action. Our daughter did not feel supported, seen, or protected for a single day she attended. If you are considering this school for your child, we strongly encourage you to ask hard questions about how they handle bullying, how they communicate with parents, and how they follow through on commitments -- before you make your commitment.

We're in the middle of our second year at VBFS. Our daughter is thriving! She loves going to school…read moreevery morning, and is sad to leave each afternoon. The teachers and staff are all fully engaged and committed, and it shows. The teacher/student ratio is fantastic, with lots of individual attention. The only drawback for us is that there is no dedicated drama teacher or yoga this year. Our daughter loved the plays last year, and the yoga instruction, and misses both this year. But she has LOVES music, art, technology, P.E., square dancing, and Spanish, as well as her regular academics. We look forward to continuing at Friends School.

If I could leave ZERO STARS, I would. Grandson traumatized, not entirely bite he recieved by…read moreanother child, but by the length of time he sat screaming in pain, while teacher ignored him. My daughter noticed bite before I did...We asked teacher about it and she said she didn't know about any bite he might have recieved. She said she would look at tapes from the day. She reported back that he was bitten outside on the playground. She wrote a report with this information and asked us to sign and return report to her, not the director of the school. We contacted assistant director immediately. We gave assistant director the report, AND saw that it was signed by another teacher!! We asked to see tape and it turns out the bite happened right in classroom, where, again, our child was crying in pain and fear. Teacher patted him on the back and left him there. Teacher bald face LIED to us! Teacher still works at the center. Teacher who signed report in lieu of diector still works at the school. Something really wrong there. Don't risk your child's personal peace, safety and security at this horrible place. I might not have written this review, if we were contacted after director assured us we would be contacted with official and correct incident report, or even reminded us that backpack was still at the school. People in positions of trust have FAILED MISERABLY HERE.

I had two kids go through Basics Primary. After a couple of negative experiences at other…read moreestablishments, I was so happy to find Basics. The teachers and owner are welcoming and friendly. My children enjoyed the preschool and loved the summer programs. They are professional and provide a safe environment for children to learn and play.