Great River School

1326 Energy Park Drive

School District

Great River School
Grade

7-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:14
Type

charter

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on October 12, 2021

It might be a good fit for some, but you should be cautious if you have a child with special needs .
Submitted by parent on January 23, 2021

Our child is so thoroughly respected, and I see the teachers treat students with thorough respect. For our black boy, I never imagined a school could give him such confidence, or rise his self-perception so thoroughly these past 3 years. We have had our concerns over the year heard, respected, and addressed with action. The school encourages independence and responsibility in students, and we have found the leadership of the elementary program straightforward and clear. Sam O’Brien, the school leader, has gained our trust and confidence to lead through difficult challenges, and keep our child and family included and celebrated.
Submitted by parent on January 28, 2019

My husband and I are ardent supporters of Montessori education and have been for over a decade based on research we did when our older daughter was a toddler and on our wonderful experiences since then. Great River School is growing due to high demand but it maintains its core principles, bonding experiences for students, and community events for families. I am so happy that Great River is an option for us. We moved from Wisconsin to Minnesota so our daughter could attend.
Submitted by parent on December 20, 2018

A fancy package, but a lot of entitlement. If you want to be active in your child's education this is NOT the school for you.
Submitted by parent on November 08, 2017

There is a big transition in learning/teaching style and load from an elementary school to a middle school. Traditional American math education is "carefully watch the procedures and copy them in practice" to master the skills. I am glad that some trials happen in this school. In a survey by TIMSS in 1993-1995, it was revealed that "Japanese teachers believe students learn best by first struggling to solve math problems, then participating in discussions about how to solve them, and then hearing about the pros and cons of different methods and the relationships between them. Frustration and confusion are taken to be a natural part of the process, because each person must struggle with a situation or problem first in order to make sense of the information he or she hear later. constructing connections between methods and problems is thought to require time to explore and invent, to make mistakes, to reflect, and to receive the needed information at an appropriate time." On the contrast, U.S. math teachers act as if confusion and frustration are signs that they have not done their jobs. US parents and students are used to this culture, which makes math learning less challenging, of less fun, and deprive students of chances to honor mistakes, to become more resilient in learning. So basically, this is a cultural issue. After all, education is a cultural activity. If we want to foster talents of problem-solving and creativity,... I guess we should look the following words again "Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge."(Douglas MacArthur’s Prayer for His Son)
Submitted by parent on May 04, 2017

For our daughter who is athletic and popular, its been a little too small for both athletics and for her social interests. For our son who is small and cerebral, it was a difficult two years which we chalk up to a whole bunch of lessons learned. I would not say I regret sending them there, but I would warn other parents about making sure their children are a good fit for the montessori learning style and that they have thick enough skin and tactics to learn in a sometimes chaotic learning environment.
Submitted by parent on August 06, 2014

Great River seemed to be a good school at first, but once my child reached high school (A3), the work demands became unreasonable and the support was negligible. There was a general willingness to help my child, but no skills to do so. No flexibility with a very rigid curriculum. They seem to be so self-involved with the Montessori notion of education and they seem so impressed with themselves and their approach that it colors their ability to modify assignments in a meaningful way for kids who have special learning needs. They tried to modify but it still left him overwhelmed and didn't offer an alternative to a watered down version of the content rather than figuring out a way for him to still learn and enjoy learning. They conveyed an overall sense of failure to my child. After he left, his desire to learn came back and he now is an interested and interesting young man.
Submitted by parent on January 26, 2014

As a student in the A1 I find that most of the teachers show no respect for there students, the teachers don't care about there students actual learning. The school does not seem to prepare you for the real world they only prepare you for working as a day laborer. You can only be yourself if you fit into the great river personality. finally the teachers grade you only on your ability to do busy work at ridicules rates. and if you want to be able to do anything after school you can forget it as there will sometimes be as much as 3-4 hours of homework and only an hour of it will actually ever help you. If you are unable to do this you then get locked inside a small room for lunch. Lastly the administration is clueless and irresponsible. Please do not send your children here if you care about them. -A concerned A1 student
Submitted by parent on January 25, 2014

Our son is really enjoying being a student at GR, it's his first year (9th grade) attending and we are impressed with the great teachers,just a wonderful community to be apart of. We are so proud to be apart of GR!!!!!!!
Submitted by other on January 25, 2014

I have gone to this school for many two years and I love it. It has been a great learning place
Submitted by other on January 16, 2014

I have attended Great River School for two years and i have found it to be a healthy and nurturing learning environment. I came from a public middle school and found Great River to be much more welcoming and community centered place than my previous school. Great River has helped me develop as a student and a person through key experiences and hands on learning. Communication between students and faculty is also very present and the faculty makes an effort to work with the students to solve problems in the community. Overall i have found it to be a lovely school.
Submitted by other on December 18, 2013

This school is terrible at working with teens. They had a policy where if you had one missing assignment you had to stay in from recess and lunch all week. Does that sound a school that understands teens? They also have 3 hour classes in which they expect us to be productive the entire time. Sounds like a teen right? When i asked my math teacher Kira Donnelly if that could be changed she said it was non negotiable because it is a montessori policy. But guess what? Montessori was developed for younger children. She than went on to ask me to essentially leave the school. Me and several other people think it is part of a power play. My MCA math score dropped ever since I started going here. Also very disorganized and only good thing about this school is the community. I would not recommend this school for anyone unless they make some serious changes. This is a student trying to show you what this school is really like. Dont be fooled by the tours
Submitted by parent on September 30, 2013

We were so excited when our child won the lottery for this school for seventh grade, as we had heard so many wonderful things about the school. We were stunned, then, to be told, "We're really not very good with special needs kids. Maybe you should consider sending your child somewhere else." Sorry, but I can't give a good rating to any school that cherry picks its students in this way. Fifty years ago, maybe, but today, "for shame, Great River, for shame."
Submitted by parent on September 26, 2013

It is the perfect school for my son. Community learning environment, small classes, and personal and continous support from teachers and staff, are wonderful.
Submitted by parent on July 16, 2013

My son graduated from Great River School where he attended from 7th grade on. He is now entering his junior year in an academically challenging college program. He has excelled in college and credits much of this to his Montessori education that taught him to be a self-directed learner. The trips and other non-traditional high school activities were also great learning experiences. He still talks about some of the things he learned from those trips. Montessori education isn't for everyone, but it works well for motivated, self-directed learners. We are happy Great River was an option for him.
Submitted by other on March 21, 2013

We considered Great River for our child. We attended an open house and, on a separate occasion, received a tour. We found the teachers at the open house to be very impressive, and their academic program seems like an excellent option for some kids. We have been extremely unimpressed with the administrative members with whom we have had contact. They were unprofessional, and when we went on the tour, we had the distinct feeling that we were wasting their time. The person who gave the tour showed absolutely no interest in our child and was extremely slow to respond to our follow-up emails, etc. They acted like they are a private school, not the public school that they are, and they make it difficult to find enrollment targets by grade level for the upcoming year. The appearance is that they hold the information and don't want to share with people outside of the school. Board meeting minutes are vague and don't provide much information about what was actually discussed at the meetings.
Submitted by other on September 09, 2012

I am former student of GRS. It has not prepared me for college or life beyond high school. It is a horrible investment and a great waste of time. I regret going to GRS. I did not have to pay much to attend the school, but I would pay thousands to of not had the awful experience I had there.
Submitted by other on September 06, 2012

I am a PSEO student at Great River. They are super disorganized and judgmental. I showed up for orientation last week to find that I did not have a folder prepared with my MCA score and other information that a student would need. Being a PSEO student, I still need to go on the key experience trips and do CAS. I was surprised to receive no information on how to work CAS in the A3. I am very disappointed and I wish that I had gone to a real high school.
Submitted by parent on August 16, 2012

I have four daughters who have attended GRS. We are grateful for the community of parents, students and teachers. The school s emphasis on acceptance and respect for all is a welcome change from other schools my daughters have attended. Junior and Senior High students, girls in particular, can treat each other disrespectfully. The GRS staff and teachers work hard to prevent this from happening. The high school program, and the IB program in particular, prepared my oldest daughter well for a challenging four year liberal arts college. She is now a college junior and has remained friends with her GRS classmates and teachers. The special ed department is well staff and caring. The individual attention given each student is a gift. My daughters have thrived socially and academically. Lastly, the Montessori junior and senior high school education model places an emphasis on student driven learning. GRS s strengths include small, multiage classes, integrated subjects, focus on mastery bench marks, and NAMTA trained teacher guides. This is a unique public junior and senior high school that has served my daughters very well and I recommended it highly.
Submitted by parent on August 15, 2012

We had two children who began at GRS in 7th grade. The oldest left GRS because she was interested in the arts, the second stayed and has enjoyed and has benefit from the school in many ways. That say, I think this school is not for all students and families. it requires a self motivated student, values leadership, service, and critical thinking rather than areas of traditional schools, and a family that is open to the key experience (fall odyssey, j-term, bike trip, spring intesnsives) and is interested in being part of the GRS community. We can only say good things about the support that teachers and the community, (students, parents, staff) have given our son to make him an engaged citizen of the world. As many charters, GRS has limited resources for after school activities, but the drive the teachers give to those that exists is far beyond anyone expectation.