How do I write a review?

Write about your first-hand experience, not what you heard from other parents or neighbors. Be specific. This comment describes a parent's personal experience in detail: "My child's teacher gave him lots of individual attention when he struggled with reading in the third grade." This one does not: "Everyone says this school has great teachers who love children."

Who can write reviews?

Parents! We also accept reviews from teachers, administrators, staff and secondary school students who have attended the school in the last three years. We do not accept reviews from elementary school students or reviews from secondary school students about their elementary school experience.

How long should a review be?

At least 10 words and no more than 150.

What kinds of reviews does GreatSchools reject?

We invite a range of opinions about schools, both positive and negative. We strive to keep our Parent Reviews responsible and respectful. We will not post negative reviews that contain obscenities, hateful language, unsupportable factual statements rather than opinions, or accusations that anyone has committed a crime ("Some of the teachers are child molesters.") Don't make a negative comment about a specific teacher by name ("Mr. Smith is a terrible teacher.") or in a way that the teacher can be identified ("The fourth-grade teacher is terrible."). Please express your criticisms with civility and without insulting language. If you believe you have any evidence of any criminal conduct, you should bring such matters to the attention of law enforcement so that any allegations can be properly investigated and addressed.

This policy is not intended to and does not create any promise or agreement with anyone who wants to post a review with this site. We reserve the exclusive right to determine what is and is not an appropriate post. Regardless of our policy to reject non-conforming reviews, you remain solely responsible for any review that we agree to post.

Do I have to give my name?

We encourage you to give your name because that makes the review more believable, but you don't have to.

What happens after I submit a review?

Your review will be read by our Parent Review editors, and it will be posted if it conforms to these guidelines. This may take a few days. If your review does not meet our guidelines, we'll send you an email telling you why and inviting you to revise and submit your review again. GreatSchools.org reserves the right to refuse to post any review that does not meet our guidelines.

Will GreatSchools edit my review?

No. Our editors will not correct spelling or grammar, so we encourage you to do that. If part of your review does not meet our guidelines, we'll send you an email asking you to revise it.

How many reviews can I post?

We allow you to give one review for each school that each child attends. If you write a second review for a school, it will replace your old review as long as it meets our guidelines.

What if I review a school but want to change what I wrote later?

You can write a new review, and it will replace your old review as long as it meets our guidelines.

What do I do if I see a review that I think is a problem?

Please let us know.

For more information, please read our complete Terms of Use.

Sample reviews:

"I have two children currently attending this school. It is a warm and caring community with wonderful parents and wonderful teachers. The quality of the instruction has been great and my kids have been challenged and pushed to do their best consistently. Parent groups like the PTA and Dad's Club do an amazing job of fundraising and building a sense of community. In addition, the school is a community where kindness and respect do not take a back seat to the curriculum. It is a wonderful place for my children to spend their days and I am pleased to be part of such a great community."

"The parents at this school have worked very hard and have fought tooth and nail to keep desirable programs, like art and music, afloat. And of course, the kids are great! Unfortunately, leadership is lacking at this school and the teaching my child received was very uneven. Personal experience with some teaching staff was extremely unprofessional. A small school like this one doesn't afford much choice when teachers aren't meeting your child's need. And the principal is doing very little to weed out those teachers who are just "biding their time," while they waste the precious time of the students they are trained professionally to serve and inspire."