Groveport Community School

Do not send your child here! Trust me, your child's value is the money they get for him/her. Ask the school why at least 50% of the staff has left in the past year. Everyone is so fearful of angering parents because they don't want the money leaving the school, that kids and parents literally do whatever they want. This school caters to the problem parents and kids and the really great ones get ignored. They don't even give out honor roll awards.
—Submitted by a teacher

My son went to Groveport Community School grade 6 through grade 8. Grade six was good. Seven was going downhill. Eight was a nightmare. The school is now full of thugs and bullies. There is a huge turnover in the staff and they have no regard for academics. There is no incentive to do well and get decent grades. My son got straight A's in every term and at the end of the year the only rewards were for music and phys ed. We couldn't wait for it to be over! The lower grades may be fine, but they have big problems in the middle school.
—Submitted by a parent

If I were solely rating the teachers I would have given 5 stars! The teachers here care deeply for their students and have their best interests at heart. I have had 4 children attend this school. My son attended 7th grade in the preparatory building, after having a horrible experience w/bullying at a Cols School. The following year I put him in private school. To this day he says Groveport Community was his favorite. My 3 daughters attended in the elementary building. The plans of study, grading systems, expectations of parents & students, communication etc was always readily available & very clear. Im not sure why people would complain unless their child was disruptive & faced discipline, or maybe they are the type of parents who don't want any responsibility in their child's learning and expect the school to do it all. I also noticed a post below complaining of "miss spelling" words, and they misspelled the word! I have driven my children to/from school there & did not deal w/bussing. We are switching to CW this year, solely due to transportation issues & family changes. There were many shed tears but we will definitely keep in touch w/the staff & students we grew to love!
—Submitted by a parent

I am so happy that my child attends Groveport Community School!!! The staff here are really involved and care about the students.
—Submitted by a parent

Okay, this school was horrible. Mr. Swanson was great, and I had wonderful 3rd and 4th grade experiences, and then when the middle school section opened, it turned out horribly, I got out of there as fast as I could, classes made no sense, and teachers were mean and had no control over their classes. I don't remember a SINGLE thing of what I was taught in 5th grade there, though I remember most of the 3rd and 4th grade years....Mr. Neilson, that was not a fun experience...

My son is in second grade now and I have not had any issues with this school. The teachers have always been more than willing to communicate with me about any concerns and the administrative staff have helped when I have needed them. The only complaint I have is in response to below, the busing is ridiculous. My sitter will sit at the bus stop for an hour waiting on my son to show, and the bus driver themselves have always tried to force me to sign a form allowing them to just leave him at the stop unattended. I've never signed it and I never will, this is a dangerous world we live in and I love my son too much. I do really like Imagine schools, however we will have to switch by next year because of the bus situation and my daughter starting kindergarten. First Student Bus Services is a JOKE and I wish someone could report them to the BBB.
—Submitted by a parent

Today The bus driver had my five year of get off of the bus in the rain, blocks from his designated bus stop without his parent present!! When I asked fearfully "Where is my son?!" He said, " Back there somewhere I guess." How is this that a trained bus driver would let a kindergartener off of the bus in rain at a stop that is not his and far from his house with no parent or gaurdian present and still be allowed to keep his job? The danger of my child getting hurt, kidnapped, lost etc is so scary. All he could say ( not admitting any fault or offering an apology as I stood there teary eyed) was "He should have known that wasn't his stop and not gotten off." Seriously?! So it's not the drivers responsibilty to let the child off at the assigned stop and place them in the hands of the parent? Unacceptable. What is happening? Why is this sort of behavior allowed to take place? If you are going to allow your children to go to this school make sure you are able to drop them off and pick them up yourself or you may not see your child again.
—Submitted by a parent

One of the rules for leaving a review state " Names! Do not target specific individuals or identify teachers, students, or staff. This is for safety and privacy reasons." I imagine this rule only applies for negative comments so I'm going to be daring and give a few names anyway since what I have to say is all possitive! My son's Kindergarten Teacher Mrs. Rodgers and the Assistant at the front desk Mrs. White are just two of some of the wonderful staff at the school. They have been so informative, helpful and pleasant and I am so happy that they will be part of my baby's first memories of school. No matter the situation they have been faced with concerning me and my son they have handled it with care and professionalism. They both have motivated me to look into getting a degree in Early Childhood Development so I may work with children and their parents and hopefully have the same affect on others as they have had on me and my son!
—Submitted by a parent

Groveport Community School is a joke. The administration doesn't care about the teachers or students but is all about money in their own pockets. They expanded to 700 K-4th in a year because of profit but the teachers see very little of it. The principals don't like confrontation and will not deal with unhappy parents. Teachers are so pulled thin and then constantly belittled. In fact I saw several in tears throughout the year. The administration needs to be reported to ODE and need to get back to the focus of students' education and well being. I would never consider sending my student there again and its a shame because she had some excellent teachers. Oh plus they need to learn how to spell, the preparatory website has been spelled wrong for a while, and last year the sign out front had a miss spelling as well.
—Submitted by a parent

My son and daughter went to Groveport Prep Academy last year. I would NOT recommend this school to any parent. The teachers did not respond whenever I tried to contact them. I never knew what my children were learning in class because graded papers, tests, and quizzes were not sent home. Very little, if any homework.This is the first time that my daughter did not pass the state tests in ALL areas. The teachers make the children stand in front of the classroom to call parents when the teacher "thinks" the child "misbehaves" which is humiliating and degrading to children. Dress code is not enforced as some students were wearing PAJAMA pants and jeans to school on a daily basis. Major confusion in the classrooms and attitudes from the teachers. This school focused more on the negative than the positive. Not a good school at all in my opinion.
—Submitted by a parent

All 3 of my daughters attended GSC, the eldest two began attending from the 1st day the school opened. I was please with the school, teachers, Mrs. Dille in particular, and the principal, Mr. Swanson. HOWEVER; once there was a change in principal and office staff, and the prep building opened, eveything went down hill from there, INCLUDING test scores. There was no consistancy at all, and when my eldest daughter moved to the Prep building for 5th grade, i was EXTREMELY dis-satisfied. The 5th grade academy was a joke. Their idea for the 5th graders was to take one of the larger rooms, breal it down into 3 classes, which were seperated by a cubicle type wall. You could hear everything that was going on in the other classes, and the teachers had NO control. Back to C.C.S. I guess!!!!
—Submitted by a parent

I sent my daughter here for 1st grade only to find out she is behind for her age. Her class was over crowded, her teacher was overwhelmed and no one seems to care. I was taking all the time out to help her with spelling, reading, and math but she would get to class and not even have the spelling test given to her or the math assignments given to her. I spoke with the teacher about it and was told that she didn't have the time to give the tests. I took her out and sent her to Brice Christian Academy where she will have to repeat the 1st grade. I'm so upset about the whole groveport expericence because they didn't really teach my child much!!
—Submitted by a parent

I had 3 children that attended Groveport Community. My kindergartener had the most wonderful teacher! I loved the kindergarten experience. I also have a 3rd grader and a 7th grader. My older children were not challenged. My concerns were addressed by being told that they are preparing my children for a career center or a 2 year degree!!! This basically told me that they weren't going to challenge my children and that a 2 year degree was good enough. My children had all A's but we found that they were extremely behind when we moved them back to Groveport Madison. There are a lot of communication problems. When I pulled my daughters the Prep school was averaging in the 30% range for math and 50% range for reading. I regret my decision to ever send my children here.
—Submitted by a parent

i am a parent of two that this is there first year, i thought i had finally found the school i would be happy with.the principal of the pre buliding said all the right things i needed to hear,but as the year went on i see more kids running the school. some of the staff do not know how to take control of there class, i am so sorry i enrolled them in this school. guess i will go back to homeschooling them,
—Submitted by a parent

When this school opened it was a ok school but since the change in principals and office staff and the addition of the middle school, my child was just a number! This school has no disicipline! The school has no extracurricular activities, no library, it is dirty, the food is horrrible, my child has received rotten fruit and green hot dogs! When I mention this to the staff they brush me off like it is no big deal. They have been changing staff continuiously, and they do not inform the parents of issues in the schools whether it be violence or educuational. There has been weapons in the buildings and if my child had not told me I would have never known. Needless to say my child is not there anymore but parents need to know there is no eduaction is going on in this school!
—Submitted by a parent

My son is 5 yrs old and in kindergarten. This school has alot of problems,staff changing regularly-he is on his 3rd teacher-2nd librarian,and even the nurse quit, alot of troubled kids from other school districts attend here, I am at the school daily,I spend at leat 2 hours,The lunchroom is a scary process for any 5 year old-Only 2 or 3 teachers on duty-kids fighting,cursing-dropping food,going in & out of lunchroom unsupervised. Do not be fooled by the front door image-You need to pop in during the day and see what is really going on.A child put on a bus-and was not suposed to be, Alot of Teachers Aides not qualified.We will not be returning next year.
—Submitted by a parent

Groveport Community School has been a dream come true for my oldest son. We began schooling him at home via the Ohio Virtual Academy but found that it was not the right fit for him. GCS offered everything we were looking for and more. The staff is incredible, extremely knowledgeable and caring. The faculty and office staff are on top of everything, and always in contact with the families. My son is in 3rd grade now and his teacher is wonderful. She cares about the students and their education, and has created an environment where learning is fun. The activities are wonderful and planned so that many include both student(s) and parent(s). I truly feel this is a great school and one that gives a top rated education to all students.
—Submitted by a parent

For the past three years, my grandsons (totalling 4 now) have attended this school. I have been very impressed with most of the staff and their caring attitudes towards the students. I particularly like the way the students are placed according to their needs and not just their grade or age. Every student is given a chance to excel in regards to their own abilities. I am looking forward to what this year holds for everyone.

This is my second year and I have to childrent. I LOVE IT! They have an active PTO that is non-cliquey which is great for those who have felt shunned in the past..
—Submitted by a parent

my granddaughter attended gcs for kindergarten last year and had learned to read & write in the middle of the year at the end of the year she had finish in the top 1 % of her class. thanks to her teacher Ms. Dawid and thanks to all the teachers and both principals keep up the good work and we will see you next year thank you very much for being so kind and caring.
—Submitted by a parent