Bryant Elementary School

Our son is currently in 2nd grade and has been at JPB since kindergarten. We are very happy with his experience--the faculty, staff, and administration are friendly, engaged, and responsive, and really work to create a welcoming community for students and families alike. As other reviews have suggested, the curriculum is not as challenging as we would like, but the school does offer other enrichment activities that help to make up for it. Love the inclusion of Spanish as a special class this year!

I have had at least one child at JPB since 2009. The current principal and staff are amazing and responsive. My kids have always felt safe and loved. Any issues I've had have been quickly addressed. Once, I emailed a teacher in the morning about possible bullying issue and I had a phone call from the counselor by 9:15 and the issue was handled and we haven't had a bullying issue since! The current PTO president is amazing, welcoming, and committed to including anyone who wants to participate in PTO. I truly believe my children have been challenged and their teachers have gone above and beyond. Last weekend two of my son's teachers stopped by to watch him at his baseball tournament. They go the extra mile. My kids have enjoyed the extra challenge in QUEST with Mrs. Cowart this year, and this is one of the only schools in the county offering a chess club, science club, and math team all of which meet after school hours. My 5th grader loved hosting the Bear Nation News video announcements. So many extra opportunities. JPB just keeps getting better with this current administration, and they love their students.

Overall, I am very happy that we chose to send our kids to Julia P Bryant when we moved to Statesboro at the beginning of the school year. They are happy and learning. They have been able to be involved in many school activities (chess club, science club, math team). There are also other afterschool events (STEM night, reading night, quarterly homework helper nights for parents, etc). The principal is wonderful and liked by all who I have talked to. The teachers communicate as well as any I have experienced. The PTO is making a big effort to involve more parents and I have been able to be involved via the PTO as well as via the teachers.That said, we moved from a school that was in the top 1% in Georgia so I don't feel as if my kids are challenged quite as much - and they have commented on how many of their peers don't know as much. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It is not good to live in a bubble as we did before and the current experiences have opened up lots of good discussion in our home. On the education front, I try and give them a bit more to do at home (they don't get as much homework as they used to so it's not a big change). And on a related note, I have heard that the private schools in the area do not challenge students at any greater level (no; I have not experienced this but wanted to pass along the information).

We came to JPB with high hopes and we were let down on every level. There is absolutely no communication from teachers to parents or administration to parents. One of the biggest things is in their last school they were much farther ahead in reading and math, a whole grade difference. They were not challenged in their academics at all. As for volunteering, if your new to the area, forget it, you will never be asked to help. I was very active in my girls last school going in and helping but this school, not once, and I signed up for everything. I was never called. We only have one more year here and it can't come fast enough.