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.

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!

food is so bad and makes me sick they served pizza right and THERE WAS WATER OR SOME LIQUID ON THE…read moreBOTTOM OF THE PIZZA -0/10 and so much kids be spamming the N word.

horrible experience and they forced to eat donkey legs and yeehwwww and be very skibidi rizzread more

I'm writing this as parent with a child that had been recently enrolled, because I wish I had more…read morecurrent reviews before deciding to enroll my child in The Court House Academy. This school is not what it used to be. Years ago, it had a strong reputation and long-standing teachers who had been there for 20+ years. Unfortunately, since the administration changed, there has been a clear decline. All those experienced teachers are gone, and the turnover now is extremely concerning. The biggest problem is the constant teacher turnover during the school year. Teachers leave in the middle of the term, and the classrooms never seem to have stability. This has seriously disrupted the curriculum and, more importantly, it has made my child feel uneasy. Children need consistency to feel secure and ready to learn. When my child kept seeing new teachers every few weeks, it created confusion and a lack of trust in the classroom environment to the point that drop offs went to a happy and smooth process to a nightmare because she didn't want to be there. In our case, my child had five different teachers in just the first quarter of the school year. Since then, the Spanish teachers were continued rotating with no clear continuity. Because of this, my child did not learn Spanish at the level the school promotes. Honestly, she learned more Spanish during a one-month visit with her grandparents than she did the entire year at this school, which was very disappointing. What makes this even more frustrating is the lack of communication from the administration. Parents are not properly informed when these teachers' changes happen. We always find out after seeing the new teachers when we drop off, which does not build trust and leaves us feeling out of the loop. Based on our experience, I cannot recommend this school. The instability in staffing, poor communication, and overall decline since the administration change have had a real negative impact on our child's learning and sense of security.

When we first started coming to this school, they couldn't hold onto teachers. They were…read moreconsistently rotating through staff members. They also don't know how to assist children who are on the spectrum and send them home if they are too disruptive. Doesnt matter what you pay a week, you wont see that money again once its charged. They charge you an absurd fee if you are a few minutes early. They will call you to have your child picked up if the teachers cannot handle child like behaviors. They say they will charge half price on holidays, they always charge full price. Snowed in? Too bad you're still paying $300+ a week for daycare. The teachers we had that didnt up and quit were fantastic, its the admin that are the problem. If you look at the schools indeed reviews they are treated poorly by management.

It's easy look perfect on the outside, but everyone's true colors show at some point. Take it for…read moreme, a prior student who witnessed a lot firsthand. The school does not uphold to their "Christian standards" when it comes to behind the scenes. Very homophobic and not understanding or compassionate when it comes to mental health. I did at the school for 12 years and have seen too many situation handled extremely poorly and I am truly disappointed and disgusted by the things that they PICK AND CHOOSE to allow... I would absolutely consider their school to have an emotionally abusive environment. This school has deleted my review on their Facebook page. Seems they don't like negative feedback

Incredible school! My daughter is finishing up 3rd grade and is coming back next year! The…read moreteachers take time with their students, and the size of the classes lend to more one on one time with their kids. The administration cares and is involved in student life. If you are looking for a private school the cost is significantly lover then others.

Thaila was good to me perfect in every way. The teachers were nice the location of the school fit…read more The school is getting updates like a dock and a garden.

As a student here, it's a good school. Teachers are really nice, and good education…read more I'm about to go to 5th grade, and I am honestly excited. I never see bullies. Spacious. Great teachers! Would recommend.

This school is ranked very high in the Virginia Beach School District. We have a child attending…read morefirst grade this year. So far, the staff in the office and in the classroom has been friendly and helpful. It is an older school in need of upgrades, but overall it seems to be a very nice elementary school. My only complaint would be that my 1st grader eats lunch at 10:40am and then does not get snack in the afternoon. That is too early for lunch. So he goes 4 hours with no food and he is starved by the time I pick him up in the afternoon. I would love to see them change this.

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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.

My son has been going here since kindergarten. This is actually his fourth year at SJA. Removed him…read morefrom public school because the kids were just straight up bullies and my son wasn't doing well. Not saying he's a cry baby, but he would beg me not to take him to school. What was I to do? So I did my research and St. John was even recommended to me. Let me say that it has been a blessing. My son has improved his behavior, academics, etc. People want to criticize private schools because of the religion portion. Well, let me just say SJA has been open since August and not a single case. They have it all under control. I feel blessed and grateful my child is back in a classroom.

I loved my time here as a student. I went to school here for middle school from September 2010 to…read moreMay 2013. Not a day went by where I didn't enjoy having both faith and academics synthesized in such a way that bettered me as a person outside of school. The teachers were always willing to help the students after school hours and had an obvious interest in engaging the students in their schoolwork. I entered high school feeling well prepared socially, emotionally, and academically. My one wish is that I had more time in this phenomenal environment. I have a lasting relationship with this school today since my younger cousins go here now and am met with familiar and smiling faces every time I walk through the door. Love the school and the staff.