Glacier Hills Elementary School

I agree that a sense of community for parents is a tough win here. Though I've made friends with other parents, the volunteer opportunities don't lend themselves to community building, primarily because the parents here are working, hard. The sense of community for kids, though, is amazing. DD doesn't like time off of school unless we have a major trip planned. She adores here teachers, is exposed to students from a variety of backgrounds, and is well cared-for in every aspect. The social climate has been carefully nurtured and it shows. I also agree that a certain lack of focus prevents the maximizing of all of the opportunities, but you can't have this truly creative, divergently-thinking, growth fostering environment if the group is hung up on every missed opportunity. Glacier Hills strikes a fantastic balance. It's not perfect, but it doesn't pretend to be. It's goal is constant innovation an excellence, and they reach it on a daily basis.
—Submitted by a parent

Glacier Hills is a fantastic learning community. I feel that my children have opportunities to celebrate diverse perspectives through the arts and science inquiry. Teachers are high quality, caring, responsive, and willing to go the extra mile to make learning creative, fun, and relevant.
—Submitted by a parent

Excellent facility, wonderful staff and teachers, great principal! Just couldn't ask for anything more!!
—Submitted by a parent

Glacier Hills Arts and Science Magnet School has wonderfully involved teachers and principal. Their focus on art and science is forward thinking and provides wonderful experiences for the students.
—Submitted by a parent

I love that when I go in to the school, it's peaceful and quiet, and all the children are having their needs met. I have volunteered there, and know that some of the children come from homes with big challenges. But everyone has a beautiful, peaceful, loving place to come to, with an excellent science and art curriculum. The school pays close attention to the emotional and social needs of the children, as well as to their intellectual needs. I love this school, and it keeps me in this town.
—Submitted by a parent

I admire Glacier Hills Elem. school because of the quality and expertise of the teachers -- they're above average. Their respect for the students is so evident!

We have two children in Glacier, having chosen this school specifically for its specialized curriculum and excellent staff. We have had only the best experience at Glacier. Each of our daughters was recognized before Kindergarten as being gifted and placed in the Enrichment program for students in K-2. This was one of our requirements for our elementary school, and we couldn't be more pleased. We have met so many wonderful educators and parents at Glacier, and we feel we've truly found a family there. Even after our children advance to the next grade, we stay in touch with their former teachers. Our girls are performing well above the state and national averages, and we plan to keep them at Glacier for as long as we reside in Minnesota.
—Submitted by a parent

I agree with the previous comment that they have fabulous programming & not taking advantage of it.Let aside encourage,they have no method even to identify unique yet obvious talents .This has led to discouraging talented kids from coming forward.Not much cooperation from teachers either. Looking for a different school now.
—Submitted by a parent

This school has some fabulous programming. But they don't know exactly which opportunities they want to take advantage of so sometimes it seems very disorganized. There is no sense of community. It's not a family like many of the other local schools. Granted they have kids coming from all over the district, but they should also be asking for parent involvement, I'm sure many parents would love to be involved. When they say there will be homework every week, there is no consistency so it's hard to tell what/how my son is doing academically. I see plenty of artwork coming home but not a lot of schoolwork. They still need to focus on the basics and decide the best way to incorporate the many wonderful opportunities that they have. I'm transferring my son to our local school next year so we can have that sense of community we love.
—Submitted by a parent

I cannot say enough about this school. My child has attended this school for two years and I could not have chosen a better school for him. They are a magnet school of Arts and Science but they take all other subjects just as serious. They identify students learning levels and teach to them. They also have a program that identifies students that are 'Young Scholars'. I am extremely pleased with the school, teachers and prinicpal
—Submitted by a parent

My son is a Fourth grader at Glacier Hills. This is our second year there. We love the magnet school aspect, he has a lot of opportunities to grow in the art's and science fields because of Glacier Hills. The prinipal, Jeff Holton, is fabulous. We recently had an incident with another student saying a racial comment to my son, Mr. Holton handled this matter immediatly. I really appreciate the professionalism that went along with his response to this matter. It let me know that he supported the fact that racial discrimination will not be tolerated in his school. That really impressed my family. My son loves it there and I will be sad after next year when he graduates fifth grade. I would recommend this school to anyone with mentally/physically challenged children along with minority children. The atmosphere is very warm and welcoming for all students.
—Submitted by a parent

Our family relocated here from Chicago and chose housing based on access to District 196 and particularly Glacier Hills. My third grader loves his school and we are very excited to see the level of committment by faculty and administrative staff.
—Submitted by a parent

All three of my children currently attend Glacier Hills. They all love their teachers, the lessons, and their fellow students. On my behalf, I love that I am asked to help with field trips, parties, and other activities at the school. Alot of parental involvment.
—Submitted by Melissa, a parent

My daughter has had an excellent school experience. The staff at Glacier Hills is caring, creative and dedicated. I like the fact that the school population is culturally diverse and celebrates its diversity. Students here are offered a safe and exciting learning environment.
—Submitted by a parent

We moved here in September of 2002 from Southeast Texas and were very impressed with the dedication to learning as compared to the school we came from. My child has been exposed to arts and culture that have not been available elsewhere.