Now that my daughter has concluded all three years at Great Neck I can weigh in with a big YES! 5…read morestars for me and I'm so happy she is prepared for high school. It's one of the best public middle schools in Virginia and is fully accredited. Great building that's newer. Awesome administration and faculty that care about their student body. As well super friends made that she carries onto Cox H.S. A highlight has been the AVID program that I would recommend. If your in the Great Neck School District count yourself fortunate. It is the strongest Middle outside of the gifted academy.

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.

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.

Overpriced, however considering the public school system it's either pay me now or pay me later…read more Let's face it the educational system in this country has been ruined by folks with 'perceptual errors' that tend to get nearly everything and everyone backwards. Unfortunately our public school system and kids have paid the price. Cape Henry is a fine school with good teachers the high tuition is probably a good thing because it keeps out the undesirables. I'm not saying they're aren't some rotten apples here, but they're capped and somewhat isolated whereas in the public schools the rotten apples often own the place.

Great experience at CHC. We have a Pre-k student who can't wait to get to school, and raves about…read morehis teachers and what he's learned. Wonderful school culture.

This school is a great atmosphere for children. Teachers care about their students! In Home…read moreschool Unlimited students get the individual attention they need for success. There so many extracurricular activities that appeal to children, again small groups where they can participate and succeed. My experiences include first grade and sewing classes.

Just attended mommy & me and music school for the first time this morning with my 15 month old…read moredaughter. She had an excellent time, and I can tell that she will learn a lot as we continue classes. Thanks Virginia!

all the kids here were sigmas, 10/10 school. miss kendrick was so nice. the gifted teacher here is…read morealso amazing

It's really good I'm in 5th grade and the teachers there are nice they have cool stuff at PE if…read moreyour me I would put your kid in this school!

Coming to this school I was already worried due to the reviews alone (that they now have turned…read moreoff). As a parent of a child with a disability, I am deeply concerned about the way Hermitage elementary school has handled my son's right to access education. Since August 25, 2025, my son has been denied safe transportation to and from school despite repeated requests and documentation from his doctors. On multiple occasions, I provided photos, videos, and medical notes showing why the assigned bus stop was unsafe. The elemenatry school has refused alternate transportation options and admitted at one IEP meeting that cost was the reason, even though IDEA does not allow affordability as a reason to deny accommodations. I requested interim educational services (such as homebound or virtual, sending work home) while transportation is resolved, but these were also denied. As a result, my son has been out of school since September 3, 2025, with no access to his education. At my son's IEP meetings, staff often omitted my concerns, changed documentation, or fabricated records in Prior Written Notices. In one case, they started the IEP meeting without me present & continued when I requested to end & leave. The school also sent a social worker and threatened unenrollment of my children after I began filing complaints -- which I believe is retaliatory. They also Moved my other child around to different buses without prior notice or clarification of where they'd be at and didn't want to clarify regardless of my safety concerns and principal urged social worker involvement again. That same child that is also identified gifted btw who always had ap/p when transferred to this school got dps on report card with no explanation and no response to why in the same categories that had ap/p prior at other school in the same district. Every child is entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) under federal law, but VBCPS hermitage elementary school has failed to meet that obligation in my son's case. Families deserve transparency, accountability, and equal treatment -- not stonewalling, discrimination, and retaliation. I am currently pursuing my case with the Virginia Department of Education, OCR, and more because this situation has gone too far. They unlawfully unenrolled my child.. Parents should not have to fight this hard just for their child to have safe access to school. What makes matters worse is the mistreatment of African American students/families, compared the high proximity of Caucasian students. If you are an African American family especially one with a disabled child, you need to look into the other schools this by far from my experience is the worst. I do not recommend this school at all.