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.

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.

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.

They do not do well with serving students with disabilities and do not correctly honor legal…read moreagreements that get your child to correct place and to the correct parent after school. If you have a student with special needs or have a family supported by court agreement, IPS would not be a good choice. The most vulnerable are, many times, left behind and staff accountability is low.

My Vote, My Voice. This is my polling place for election day. The staff is great and helpful. It's…read morealways nice to pitch in where I can and I am always happy to give my opinion if someone asks.

This is the only pre-k building in Decatur township and is broken into two wings for students…read more(preschool wing and kindergarten wing.) There are options for students who need assistance with life skills as well as developmental preschool classrooms. The school runs like a typical elementary and has severa support options for tuition, lunches, and assistance with other fees/activities. Parents are welcome to volunteer and attend events which their children. iPads are provided for technology learning, and Students attend STEAM, music, PE, and library throughout the week. If you're feeling adventurous, you can take a walk in the woods located behind the school and enjoy the sounds of nature or stop at the outdoor classroom. Additionally there are playgrounds surrounding the area ranging from simply swings, to small slides, to larger playground equipment.

I totally agree with the other comment. School of excellence my a**…read more They do make it quite obvious that all they care about is the funding they get for this that and the other. Yet put SO little effort into the kids or even teachers selection. My kids kindergarten teacher was fresh out of school, zero experience, no kids herself... & didnt seem anyone with experience was helping her out enough. She was clueless about most basic things that most other teachers do with kids this young... ZERO communication with parents... zero work sent home.... no weekly updates or emails.... hardly no daily grading or paper checking. I wasnt even allowing to come in and check things out for myself. I never had ANY idea what they were working on. I even suggested all this & just got sarcastic responses from everyone saying their doing their best. Also...the teacher herself, Ms. Selerno, made it sound like my kid was such a problem child & constantly in trouble. But my kid would always explain to me later that she never listened when something was wrong or when someone else was the one picking & bullying her... but shed catch only the end of it... after my kid reacted, and only call out my kid every time. My 5 year old literally said she feels like her teacher dont like her. I was heartbroken she said that...which means she felt that. Even in class pictures of them working... that the teacher would post... i saw my kid was sitting in the back of the class with her chair facing AWAY from everyone. LITERALLY. But usually if a kid is always acting up or hard to stay on track... youd think they'd put them up front & keep them close. Thats when I made up a reason to pull her out immediately.

This school makes its own rules. The staff act like they don't care about the kids or parants. They…read morehave meeting to hold a kid back with no parant there then email you. This school is all about the money. Ips is better then this school. I would like to give it no stars. Parants look in to this school before you send your kids here.