The parish offices of Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church are housed in this building which was…read moreSaint Charles School until it closed in 2009. The school building which holds their offices lies next to the church, not to be confused with the smaller building in between them which, I assume, is the former parish office. The smaller building is marked with clear instructions on the glass of the entryway to go next door to the school to visit the parish office. To enter the school, there is a front entrance at the street as well as an entrance from the parking lot. The main office is just to the right as you come in the front doors. I loved visiting this building. While I was sad to learn it is no longer a school, it's nice that it is being used and well-kept. I love the brick and architecture. As I waited sitting on a bench in the hall, I half expected a sister to come around the corner and tell me to get to class. Being here evoked memories of my own Catholic elementary schools where I attended. The library inside was a comfortable environment complete with actual chalkboards on the wall. Father Adam was kind, helpful, and had a great sense of humor. I highly recommend that you meet with him for any spiritual guidance or questions of the faith. I got a glimpse of the gymnasium when I walked down another hall to use the ladies' room. Both rooms also took me back to another time. To me, this is what a school should look like. The entire building gave me a sense of calm and safety as I had felt in grade school and added to my nostalgia. I imagined all the children that once walked these halls. Adding to the feeling of being shot back to second grade, I did get a bit lost in the hallways with all of the different entryways and hallways. I nearly exited out the loading dock ramp instead of the parking lot entrance, but that added to the fun of always losing my way in my own school as a small child.

All three of our children attended The Orchard School. We are very pleased with the education they…read morereceived and so are they. I've often tried to sift through all our years and determine what they most learned/received at Orchard and if I had to pick one attribute (and there are many), I'd pick confidence. They are all confident public speakers. For example, when my daughter was a junior in high school, she won an award that required her to speak at a dinner with over 400 people present. I tried several times to get her to practice and review her speech in advance, knowing that the previous recipient had a professional speech writer. In frustration, one evening she said, "Mom, I went to Orchard. Don't worry." She delivered a flawless speech without notes. They are all confident about their ability to learn. Orchard likes to say they help create lifelong learners and they do. Each of our children knows how to learn and they like to learn. They are all confident expressing themselves to anyone. In high school, their teachers observed that unlike many shy teens they were not afraid to ask questions and advocate for themselves or for others. And, this has continued throughout their college and post-graduate years. Orchard invites and teaches children how to respectfully approach adults. At Orchard, education is not just about science, English, history, etc. While these are important, it's also about helping develop good people and preparing them for the future.

This school used to live up to it's claims of meeting the child where they are, educating the whole…read morechild, fostering their individuality, etc. In the past few years I have experienced a tremendous decline in their ability to hold true to this, sadly. I give it an average star rating because these days is just a costly version of any typical, yet capable public school with the addition of arrogance in their approach.

My daughter started John Strange this year after spending her first three years in a Charter…read moreSchool. Her transition has been outstanding. This was a Grade A school when my sixteen year old went beginning her second grade year of school. The technology is top of the line. My youngest has only 22 students in her class, allowing individual interaction with each child. The teachers are incredible and love their job. Ms. Arduini, the Art teacher, is still there and recognized my oldest when we went to register her younger sister. The principal knows my daughter by name. There is diversity throughout the school and differences in culture are recognized. I just attended the awards ceremony to watch my daughter accept her award for Honor Roll and Citizenship (5 of out 5 for behavior). It was easy to get in, organized exclusively for the grade you were seeing and we were able to spend time and take pictures. As she got out of the car this morning for school, the principal said hello to her by name. Washington Township at its finest!

Can't say enough about how happy we have been with John Strange Elementary. My daughter has been…read morethere for 5 years now and this is my son's second year. We have had the most dedicated and wonderful teachers each year. The kids have been given the gift of passion to learn by this staff. They have a wonderful music teacher who puts her heart and soul into their arts programs. They put on some wonderful plays. The only complaints I have are across the board for all schools- lunch and recess are not long enough. I think it's important to focus on health a little more and i think encouraging kids to gobble down food and limiting exercise is part of the nationwide obesity problem. I think this school does the most with all the resources they have. I would love to see all schools and teachers have more money and tools to fix many of the problems that are faced in all of our schools.

Small town farm community school where you will have small classrooms and pretty attentive…read moreteachers. Majority of the teachers have seen/will see generations of families move through the system. The teachers here generally care and want the best for their students. There are options of Alpha/advanced learning, special education for those with special needs, honors students, multiple groups and clubs.... Athletics are also a highlight... facilities have continually been improved and upgraded over the years. Teams are fairly competitive and occasionally go all the way to state champs!

My grandchildren go to this school, they really love it, they are very open to family and share…read moreinformation all the time, my grandchildren are very sports active and they offer sports for all grades, now I would have given this school 5 stars but when a 1st grader sends home a paper about not being a tattle teller when they tell we are wanting them to not be afraid to tell on bullies, if someone touches them ect but then tell them they will get spots on their tongues if they tattle this is giving them mixed signals, they are 5 and 6 years old they do not separate them difference. I also do not think a teacher has the right to be over an hour late for parent teacher meetings when she is online selling her diet product when she is to be teaching. Other than these two things out of all the schools in the county this is the best by far.