Walnut Glen Academy For Excel

Highly recommended!
If you want you're kids to succeed then this is the school. Teachers are amazing here!

I like everything at WGA

i went to this school and it was a pretty bad school. Kids just fought and stuff and a lot of the teachers didn't really help me learn anything. To be honest they were kinda toxic

Aside from the principal, who I'm not incredibly fond of, and a few minor things that I think could be improved on such as curriculum (which some may be out of the teacher's control), and the increasing population of "neighborhood kids" (the magnet is supposed to have a higher concentration at this school and that has been decreasing), we have had a pleasant experience with the school. Having a GT kid in a regular school environment wasn't working for us, so when we received the letter stating a space had opened up, we jumped at the chance. My child is thriving in academics, even in areas that were previously a weakness. We have been blessed with incredible teachers along the way. That being said, there are issues here and many of these teachers have either retired or gone on to other opportunities when the administration changed a couple of years ago. Overall, I would send my other children here and would most certainly recommend the GT program to other parents.

I can only speak for the kindergarten experience the my child had as we made the wise decision to leave after that awful year. I had heard from many parents of GT children in older grades that if you can make it past kindergarten you'll be pleased with the school. I was so horrified by the kindergarten teacher Camille Berry and the way the Asst Principal at the time (no longer at the school as of school year 2010-2011) handled her very unprofessional and at times bullying behavior.

My GT child is not only very intelligent but also creative, imaginative, at the same time very well-behaved and obedient. If you have a child who may exceed her lessons, then beware. She will become indignant and pick on your child for ridiculous things. My child, who had never had behavioral issues of ANY kind in other child care settings, including her Montessori pre-school, gym daycare, and Sunday School was getting notes home nearly every day related to behavior with messages like "(child) not holding her pencil properly and writing with the eraser end. NOT OKAY!! (in all caps)" At first I took the notes seriously but soon realized that this was something personal against my child. She also recommended that my child be assessed for ADD. This is not only completely inappropriate but ridiculous, even laughable, to anyone who knows my child. For whatever sad reason, Camille Berry could not conduct herself appropriately with my 5 year old when she felt that my child did not fit inside her VERY TINY box and within the constraints of her very slow and controlled teaching style.

Parents of children assessed as "GT" naturally feel privileged to be accepted into this school and learning that the kindergarten teacher has a PhD is also impressive, but don't be fooled. There are better and more healthy learning environments for your gifted child. Fortunately we found ours and have had not one single "behavioral" issue (or any other for that matter) since our very unpleasant year at WGA.

I attended this Academy from 1988 through 1990 (fourth and fifth grade). I am now a new mom and was discussing elementary schools (and magnet programs) with other young mothers. I came to this site to see how Walnut Glen has been doing since my years there - which were fantastic for me as a student and very reassuring to my mother as a parent - and I was amazed at its current ratings and performance. They must be doing something right (er, I mean, correctly). Keep up the good work!