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.

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.

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.

This is where I went to elementary school a few years ago. Okay... maybe more than a few years ago…read more This review is more about the outside of the school, including the baseball diamonds, playground and the basketball courts than the education I received while I was a student. It's a small school located on the southeastern edge of Montgomery County. School looks pretty much the same as it did when I was there except the trees have gotten a little bigger and the playground equipment has gotten smaller and "safer". No more metal and wood jungle gym or brown curly slide. Nope.. that's too dangerous for the kids today. It's been replaced with plastic equipment that seems tiny. I stopped by because I wanted a large space to practice drone flying in case I crashed, and the baseball diamonds at my old school always seem appropriate. The grounds have been updated and appear much nicer now.. electric scoreboards, announcer stand with speakers, electricity in the dugouts, etc. Lots of room for people to hang out and watch a game on the main diamond, and still an extra one in the back that the well-worn track runs around. It's a bit of a drive from Indy, but if the weather is nice, this is a peaceful place for a picnic (during the summertime when school is out, of course) or to practice flying your drone.

My son just completed his ninth year at Holy Cross (K - 8) and if I had to go back, I would…read moreABSOLUTELY choose Holy Cross again. School: There were realistic ups and downs which you will find at any school (and in LIFE!) I loved my kid's classmates and teachers. The other parents are supportive. The school (and the parish) has a working-class vibe to it (more working-class, less country club), which I am VERY comfortable with, because I come from a family of teachers, police officers, & firefighters. The student body is diverse (the outgoing 8th grade class was ~30% children of color). Scouting and band are our two favorite extracurriculars! Academics are the focus of this school. I am a public school teacher in Champaign, and I feel like a lot my time and energy is focused on behavior issues (which, unfortunately, leaves less time for teaching and learning). The kids at Holy Cross are still "squirrels" but they are not running the show. The Parish too... The biggest plus is that the whole family is now a part of a greater, Christ-centered community. We are a mixed-family: one protestant, 2 Catholics. We are known and loved, through our child, and through fun volunteer work for the school and the parish. It's actually changed my life for the better. When my kid was in Kindergarten I was a Catholic by name-only, and pretty-much living my life as an atheist. Without anybody hounding or harassing me, just by attending Mass and learning how to pray I've willingly come back into full communion with the church... and it's better than ANYTHING. (If you're on the fence, church is not about rules... it's about love and worship). Come on in! And make sure you volunteer for all the stuff... working together makes it feel like you're part of the family. : )

Bullying, racism, and even online harassment were often ignored, and it felt like little was done…read moreto protect students. While some teachers were great, others came across as unfair or disrespectful. The school clearly prioritizes the preschool and elementary grades over the middle school. Middle schoolers spend almost the entire day on Chromebooks but get old hand-me-down devices from the elementary students, who barely use them. There were also very few activities or privileges for middle schoolers, making us feel overlooked. The cafeteria was another issue. Finding hair in the food happened more than once, which was concerning. Overall, I hope the school starts taking student concerns, bullying, and fairness more seriously.

Would like to take this as an opportunity to thank that staff at this school for all their efforts…read morein passing out the school lunches. And trying to lift the spirits of the neighborhood.

Geeze Louise, I wish something could be done about this overly obscene amount of traffic letting…read moreout of the lot. It's CRAZY!! And a lot of people are just drivers driving by, but they are in the mix with the cars pulling out of the school. It's absolutely insane, I tell you!! Lol I was sitting at the front waiting to pull out for 20+ minutes, because the traffic is hellacious. Don't get me wrong, we love our Garden City and this doesn't have anything to do with the school per say. It just isn't a great intersection. I hope one day, maybe one day, we can get with the program and take turns! Lol Who am I kidding?

Food was terrible and a teacher yelled at me so I got out in time out so not go here When they told…read moreme to eat I didn't want to to they turned the lights off and made me sad And they put me on the line and completely humiliated me