Hickory Grove Christian School

We moved to Charlotte last year from out of state. One of our greatest concerns was finding a QUALITY CHRISTIAN school for our children. Hickory Grove Christian has been OUTSTANDING in both academic rigor and spiritual formation. My kids have found the teachers to be engaging, intelligent, demanding and fair. The spiritual climate has proven to give my children a solid and firm foundation built upon a Christian worldview. My wife and I are grateful and know our children are being educated to a level that will help them advance educationally and will prepare them for life.
--Submitted by a parent

I went to school there from 5th to 6th grade and part of 7th. This was a great school at first, but my positive thoughts of the school began to digress. I felt that I was being completely neglected when it came to academics, and even worse when it came to opinions. Because my parents were divorced and I didn't care so much for political opinions (in this example, Republican), I already felt that I was being treated differently. I was even told that because I said that monkeys may be smarter than humans I was a sinner! They cram their own ideas down your throat until you choke, and you can only abide by their opinions. They hate the idea of evolution, (for the first couple of weeks of school, we just learned that evolution was NOT real.) And you are not even allowed to read certain books like Harry Potter because it contains "blasphemy" and "witchcraft". I was bullied and left out all the time and was told things that should not be mentioned in this review.The lesson plans were stale, the teachers just drawled on about how much God has saved their lives for some points the entire class instead of actually teaching us something, and it was just overall terrible and even maddening!

My children have attended Hickory Grove since both were in K and TK and I would work 3 extra jobs to keep them here rather than send them to public school. It is extremely affordable so parents who are complaining that they do not like the education are more than welcome to pay more for a comparable education. My children are encouraged as growing Christians, challenged academically, and supported 100% by administration and staff. Regarding diversity...shame on the parents who are saying it is deliberate! We can be selective because we are a private school but there are entrance qualifications that must be met regardless of your color. If more parents of minorities would choose HG it would be more diverse. The high school prinipal is black for crying out loud! It is my wish that the academic standards would improve and become even more seletive and from my understanding our new headmaster is workoing to achieve just that. Regardless of what other say, if you want a quality Chhristian education for your child from Christian educators, look no further than HG. Is it perfect? No, as no institution made of man can be but they hold up God's word and that is wotth everything
--Submitted by a parent

HGBCS did not meet my academic expectation regarding rigor in my child's education during the few short months that my child attended. We moved from Georgia to North Carolina, and my child has attended private school since the age of 1 and has always received a very challenging and thorough education. After meeting with both my child's teacher and principal, I was not reassured that her individual need's were being met, nor would they be met. I left the meeting with no solutions to my questions nor any suggestions to address my child's individual needs. Her teacher questioned her extensively regarding the withdrawal rather than talking to me, the parent; with the prinicpal supporting the teacher's questioning the withdrawal from HGBCS. The only support that I received regarding my child was upon her withdrawal from the school from the Headmaster inquiring about the withdrawal.
--Submitted by a parent

This is a nice school and have nice teachers. However the school lacks diversity and does not participate in any scholarship or financial aid funding. It would be nice during these economic times, they would particiapte to help families as other Private Schools do. There need to be other opportunities for the students. Its ashame they do not read this site.
--Submitted by a parent

After prayerful consideration, we decided to place our child at HGBCS for Kindergarten for the 2010-2011 school year. We have been so happy with our choice. Her teacher is an absolute God-send and there has not been one day that has passed that we ever second guessed our decision. We hope to be able to watch both of our children grow up at HGBCS. We love it!
--Submitted by a parent

Do not send your kids here unless they are a good athlete, very intelligent or unless you have a lot of money and can pay for your child to get attention. All of the teachers and administration play favorites and should be ashamed of themselves. Most of the teacher do not even having teaching degress. Also a lot of teachers have been let go for having affairs with students and coworkers. ( They should give you a hint of what the school is like! Politics! Again I say your child will get neglected if they are only average.

I am a former student and graduated in the 2009 class at Hickory Grove. I also will tell you that i graduated with honors. I'm also what they consider a 'lifer'. so I was not one of those kids who just slacked off. Let me just say that Hickory Grove is not the school i would choose for my child. Just put it that way! HG does NOT prepare you for the real world. Most of the teachers/addministrators are filled with bias thoughts on the way they think the world SHOULD be. Not the way that it is! The academics are average! Just because you have a ton of homework and essays doesn't mean you are learning alot. I find that most the work i recieved was busy work. The school also has major favoritism when punishing. The school is AVERAGE! WASTE OF MONEY! Better off at a nice public school!
--Submitted by a student

The school is great, but they lack diversity. One can only question why there are so little minority students. With 97% White and 3% African American in 2009, it makes you wonder why. Are they not seeking minority students, are they being discouraged or could the admission testing be bias.
--Submitted by a parent

I have been attending HG since 6th grade, at first it was a great school, but over time I think they have lost sight of the 'big picture' the administration has become less concerned with the welfare of the students and more interested with stats. Not to sound like Im complain but some of the hw is crazy, and the English department is inadequate
--Submitted by a student