Swim Meet Review!!…read more Edina Gators and Southview Middle School = GOOD JOB. Are you coming here for a swim meet? Things to know = the parking lot is small. There's a second lot on the east side of the school, and you can follow a path alongside the south side of the school to get back to the pool entrance. You can also park in the neighborhood. I've been to all sorts of meets here, smaller one session novice style, four session two day invitationals, and post season meets. They always seem to have a solid snack bar going, with real meal options like walking tacos and fresh fruit and baked goods and coffee, not jsut candy and gatorade. There are tables for people to sit at when your kid isnt swimming. (A gym too, but that's pretty typical) The building has a few nooks that you can walk to if you want to get away from all noise. There is a decent amount of seating. They sell programs, if youre into that. (Sometimes this means the program is not available online. Meh. I can work with that)

We have lived in different states and experienced both public and private education for 3 children…read more Moving to Minneapolis brought many wonderful school options- we started at a neighborhood public school and ended up at Carondelet. Nurturing, kind and urban. We've had/ and still have beautiful experiences not only at school but with families within our school community.

* No dependable bussing * No green space or field for…read morerecess, gym or sports * Gym only twice a week for upper * IT strategy that is infrequently updated and poorly supported * Sports program is intermittent - No plans for an ongoing sports program * No outside support * Ongoing bullying issues with no meaningful attempt to address them * No telephone support * Endless staff changes and long term temporary help * Catholic Church is shrinking financial support

My family and I have had such poor experiences at this school...My partner and I have had comments…read moremade to us that border on homophobic & racist by the school leadership, and our children have been excluded and neglected by teaching staff. We are a strict family and hold our kids to a high behavior standard, but when they get rambunctious in completely trivial ways the teachers and staff react excessively compared to how they handle the kids (who exhibit the exact same rambunctious behavior that manifests itself in the exact same ways) who, apparently, are more in line with their "vision" of how the school should look and the kinds of kids that "should" go there. We have had (mostly) wonderful, very positive experiences at other Minneapolis Schools, with (mostly) excellent academics and teachers...we wanted the montessori experience but this place makes a mockery of it's philosophy.

Armatage is really awesome and they have great teachers and a principle who takes good care of the…read moreschool. It is a great place to learn all subjects due to the Montessori aspect to it. They have great after school programs too, like the annual kids on broadway show where the third through fifth graders perform scenes of various musicals. Another program is the Armatage rope power, which is a program for kids third through fifth grade. Learning jump roping skills to perform them to the school. They have other after school programs that teach you things like ukulele and Spanish. We have thoroughly enjoyed the last 4 years there.

Our experience at Lady of Grace school has been absolutely wonderful. The school emphasizes strong…read moreacademics that includes an award-winning technology program all through the lens of christian values. It is a loving environment welcoming to all, with enthusiastic parental involvement and a wonderful student body. As parents we all know that kindergarten through eighth grade is an extremely formative time in a child's life. There is comfort knowing that our children are with teachers and staff that truly care about them. We consider Our Lady of Grace school to be a true blessing to our family.

My daughter has been at St. Johns for three years now (k through 2nd grade). She loves the school,…read moreand we find the small classes, small intimate student body, wonderful faculty, and stimulating music and arts program to be a wonderful learning environment. If you are looking for a Catholic school in the West Metro, give St. Johns a visit.

If I didn't (obviously) know better, I might think that Kenwood Elementary was a private school…read more The attention and love that every teacher shows the kids and the amount of involvement of the parents & families is on a scale I have never seen in an urban public school. To be fair, my comparisons are in Philadelphia and NYC but even compared to other public Minneapolis schools, Kenwood is head & shoulders above the rest! I've just returned from their annual back-to-school open house and BBQ. After the summer off, it was like a family reunion. My daughter will be starting 1st Grade and we are just thrilled. While waiting for our ride home, a dad and his son and my daughter and I were playing at the park across the street. The man told me that with the bus rezoning, his old address was no longer in the Kenwood bussing zone. So he checked out Jefferson...and then moved. To a new home, within the Kenwood bussing zone. That's how dedicated you and yours will become to this old-fashioned-in-the-right-ways and cutting-edge-in-others fabulous school. Every year they consistently score above every other school in the city- and they also take their arts education just as seriously as all the book-like studies. I once had a parent of a girl in my kid's kindergarten transfer her child to another school. When I asked why she said she thought it was "too clique-y". I highly and wholeheartedly disagree! Kenwood welcomes everyone, with open arms, regardless of ethnicity, race, religion or socio-economic circumstances. And I may be one of the few, but I do not like school uniforms and thankfully Kenwood does not use them. The one thing that kept me from giving a 5-star review are the school hours. 7:30 a.m. start time is just sooo early.......ugh! I'm editing this review as my kid is now in 5th Grade at Kenwood and I feel it's only fair to follow up in case parents of kids are considering Kenwood as an Elementary choice. Let's just say that the bloom has gone off the rose a bit since my last posting. To be fair, Kenwood and it's staff/educators are bound by the limitations that the Board of Ed put on them so I always try to keep that in mind--and because of that, and that the other complaint is actually more of a parent/neighborhood issue, I kept the stars at 4. I wound up having to hire outside tutors to supplement my daughter's education but because she is dyslexic. If your child isn't learning different, then thank your lucky stars and enjoy their curriculum (that sadly, since my last posting, is no longer geared as much towards art--they've lost their "Arts" status) but still has loads of cool things like an African drumming workshop, Taiko drumming workshop and field trips to cool places like museums and nature conservatories. The 5th Graders go on an overnight trip to Eagle Bluff which my daughter has been excited about since kindergarten. The media center uses iMacs that seem about 3 years old on average. The teachers are, for the most part, friendly and competent but sadly for you dear reader the very best, Mrs. Kohanek, retired the year after my kid had her. I'm sure you'll find your own favorite however. As for any special help your child might need, Ms. Kelly is very nice and has helped my daughter as best as she can but, we just now are only beginning to understand how the dyslexic brain "sees" and what a dyslexic student needs to thrive and, for my kid, and I feel confident in saying, any other kid, it's not Kenwood. But, to be fair, it's not any American public school that I know of. The social side of Kenwood is kind of brutal. Ironically, I mentioned in my first posting about a lady who said Kenwood was "clique-y". I didn't see it with Kindergarten. The kids didn't care who lived where or had what. The parents were all just meeting one another. It was wonderful. But by 1st Grade the lines were drawn. If you live in Kenwood, you are top tier as far as social status goes, and most of those parents are running the volunteer show--PTA., yearbook, Newsletter, helping with school plays, etc. If you're rich but live elsewhere, you're 2nd tier--of course being good looking helps too but not necessary. And the only color that matters at Kenwood is the color green. They are very "liberal". If you live outside Kenwood and aren't flaunting wealth- 2 bad. Those kids are at the bottom. You can try to volunteer, like I did, but I didn't get far. I never got replies to inquiries on times of meetings etc. Whenever I would email an exciting thing that my kid was doing (she acts in a troupe that brings awareness to homelessness) that they might want to mention in the school newsletter, I wouldn't get a reply much less get it run. A confidence boost like that would help my kid a lot. But who knows, maybe you'll get warmer neighborhood parents. I hope so.

My kids went to school here until 6th grade. Amazing teachers, rigorous academics, excellent…read moreencouragement and awards with VIP recognition. Great programs like having a "secret reader" come read to the kids (usually their parent of grandparent) very community driven and taught my kids to study! Highly recommend for anyone searching for a great school for their kid

Fantastic school. Quality education and teachers that care about the students and their progress.read more

Loved it here. Nice building, kids and teachers. They really care about what they do. Best lunches,…read moretoo.