Great school in risd. Neighborhood school that focuses on academics and extras . You will be happy…read moreif your kids are lucky enough to attend

Everything you need to know about the school: the school has ongoing difficulties hiring qualified…read moreteachers, which is a critical concern. The math teacher and the IB coordinator resigned last March, and as of December, no permanent replacements have been appointed. The teacher currently covering these responsibilities reportedly has no prior IB experience. Assigning teachers without confirmed IB background to senior-level classes raises serious concerns about the quality and continuity of instruction. The chemistry teacher taught online for half a year because the school was unable to secure a visa. Another teacher was hired in the middle of the year; however, the school has not provided any information regarding her IB experience or certification. This lack of transparency makes it difficult for parents to assess whether IB standards are being met. The school's salary and benefits package appears to be uncompetitive within the local market, which may explain the hiring challenges. At the same time, the school continues to allocate funds to cosmetic updates such as repainting facilities and redesigning the website through third-party contractors. This raises reasonable questions about budget priorities. Overall, student academic outcomes do not appear to be the school's primary focus. Additionally, it is publicly known that the director's wife works in UX design; beyond this, the rationale for the recent urgency to redesign the school's website remains unclear.

Imagine, just for a second, that you live in a different world…read more In this world, when you are traveling in France or Canadá, your child can have a conversation with adults or other kids in French with such a pure Parisian accent that no local would ever suspect that he/she did not grew up in France. Imagine a world where in highschool the honors class is the entire highschool, 9th graders present the College Board "AP French" exam and every single 9th grader gets a solid 5 (max AP grade). Imagine a place where AP courses and IB (International Baccalaureate) or FB (French Baccalaureate) diplomas are not mutually exclusive and, 1370 SAT and 30 ACT scores are the average. Sounds like a familiar place? If it does not then you should consider DIS for your kids.

My daughter has been going here for a year and I am so happy with it! The teachers are so sweet…read moreand they know all the kids by name whether or not they are in their class. They have a toddler shaded playground, a scooter room, and lots of arts/crafts. This is a great school for music, singing, finger painting, playground, holiday parties, playing games. If you want a montessori, tri-lingual, organic option, look elsewhere. For a great school that gives your tots a good foundation, look no further.

Amazing school, amazing teachers, I love Lakewood Elementary. They have a great playground for kids…read moreand perfectly safe, they have the lunch line (chicken nuggets on Tuesday, and Pizza on Friday) with amazing staff and great cooks. They have counselors where kids could talk to them and the counselors give them lessons about bullying, drugs, etc. They also have a TAG (Talented And Gifted) program, to get in kids take a test and when your in you do lots of projects and get to hang out with friends.

This school is truly amazing! It has the most community spirit and level of parental involvement of…read moreany school I've ever seen. The classrooms are inviting and well-planned. The depth of resources sets the opportunity for our kids to thrive to their potential. A huge percentage of the students qualify for talented/gifted programs. Our child is in a life-changing Total Communication classroom for children on the autism spectrum or those with other language processing challenges. The teacher is lovingly invested and amazingly effective. Lakewood has excellent communication with the parents and frequent activities for family such as the Dad & Kids campout and the recent Fall Festival. The PTA is unparalleled and dynamic. It has been a blessing and privilege to be part of this wonderful school.

This is the Wildcat Ram Stadium. It is home to Lake Highland Wildcats and the Berkner Rams. It is…read morea pretty nice facility with artificial turf and holds about 8800 people at its capacity. It has a nice press box and scoreboard. It is well lit at night, though truthfully the parking lot could be better lit. I have come here for a few football games, most recently last night. My concern is that they many times shut down the visitor side and put both teams fans on the same side. There simply is not enough parking on the home side, making it a long walk on the outside of the stadium for anyone having to park on the visitor side, like my 90 year old mother had to do. Another issue I had was with the attitude of some of the security team for RISD. Families with handicap members could not sit as a family in the handicap area, even though the area was not full. It seems very "NOT family friendly" to me. I would maybe have understood if they did not have enough seating, but I assure you they did. There just needs to be some common sense exercised and there wasn't. There was not even kindness about it. Additionally, we and several other families of players like to stay in the stadium until the coaches finish talking to the players after the game. That is not an uncommon practice. What is not common is being thrown out of the stadium immediately after the game so we can't wait for the players. Another reason I like to wait is so that I can help my elderly mother navigate the stairs without hindering foot traffic. But not here, they told us we had to go and go right then. Once again, no kindness or compassion. RISD, you can do better, and should want to be better. Review #2149

My son is 1 and has only been here for a few months but he absolutely loves it. I think he'd prefer…read moreto be at daycare than home The staff is so warm and welcoming. You can tell they really care about the kids they see each day!! My boy just got moved to the big kid baby room and he's so excited to get there and always smiling at pick up! Y'all are the best!! Price is great too!!

I love this daycare- besides normal kid drama amongst the children they communicate with me and…read moreanswer all of my calls in regards to my son. My son went through something at school that made the news and they called just to offer their support which is awesome!!!! They pick up on time everytime and communicate when they are closed prior to so arrangements can be made. Overall- I would recommend for sure.

My two children are thriving at Lakehill. They have been enrolled six years now. My junior in high…read moreschool son and ninth grade daughter have learned many valuable social, emotional, athletic, and certainly educational lessons. Moving them from Lamplighter was very timely as they were craving structured environments that had rigorous academics. I am thrilled that they have been able to pursue their passions - including theater, sports, volunteerism, so many clubs, and leadership opportunities. Don't let the small class size fool you, it is a blessing! There are tons of opportunities for growth and they encourage the students to shine based on their own merits. Contrary to that negative yelp post from way too many years ago (P.S. You can't blame a child's drug habit on the school. That's called observant & disciplined parenting), the administration keeps a close eye on the students and alerts the parents quickly to concerns or behavior shifts. I can confidently say that we have parented in partnership with the school to raise smart, respectful, creative, athletic, well-balanced students. And Lakehill's focus on college prep is indeed a strength. The college counselor Ms. Dondis is a highly acclaimed professional - even a sought after expert speaker in her field. We specifically looked at Lakehill because it offered nondenominational education with so many opportunities in a nurturing, structured environment with a solid academic track record. 5 Stars for great academics, sports, a great community of involved parents,and a caring administration!

My 7th grade nephew currently attends this school, and he has since he started kindergarten. He is…read morevery happy to go to school, participate in sports and service projects, and make and keep what are sure to be long time friendships, all of which are long term benefits of a smaller, private school education. I feel as though he is a mature, respectful, well-prepared middler who I expect to achieve a very sold, college readiness experience. In terms of technology, the school does use lots - iPads, laptops, labs..... fairly typical of what I expect from a school such as this. The most important part of my observation is that he is happy and likes to go to school. I'm impressed. When I lived and taught in Dallas, I had no idea what this school was until a colleague left my school to teach there. That was 1997 - and he is STILL THERE! Since then another friend left his school to teach there. At this point it got my attention. Then they hired a marketing director, and the school started appearing more and more in the paper - like a LOT. Service projects became popular and a mainstay, and it was clear there was a strategic plan executed that included some serious "play," which has paid off; all of these things, my nephew participated in. It's a best kept secret for sure. From a community member perspective, living in the Lakewood area was a good experience, and I was able to participate in their fund raisers (Trek For Tech, among others), even though I didn't have kids in the school. Overall, if you are looking for a private school, you may be immediately enamored with the "big 5 (St. Marks, Cistercian, ESD, Hockaday, and Ursuline), and there are HUGE merits to each of them, but Lakehill prep is not to be missed.