Parent & Student Voices

"Garden City Community School has been a godsend for our family.  This school is an amazing collection of compassionate, dedicated teachers like we have never seen.  We have one child diagnosed with Autism, another with Asperger's Syndrome and twins in first grade.  Garden City has reached out to our children, where they are, and encouraged their strengths while challenging the areas in which they are not as strong.  Because of the small class sizes, and the interaction between the different classrooms, our children have grown socially and verbally.  Our children come home, daily, with information they've learned from school, wanting to talk about what their teachers have taught them.  They feel loved and valued by the staff, and safe in the school environment, with the other children.  Cindy Hoovel has proven herself as a leader, and has made the effort to communicate with us in ways that make us feel valued and respected as parents and as a family.  GCCS's focus on the 5 R's - Respect, Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Reliability and Resilience, have strengthened our children as individuals and as community members - and they assist in parenting, at home, as well!  We trust Garden City Community School with the most important people in our lives - our children."

Nathan and Katie Coe.  
(parents of Alexzander, Gabriel, Michaella and Charles)

"The dedication shown by the staff at GCCS is inspiring. At GCCS my daughters have role models that I believe in. When I decided to enroll my daughters at GCCS, it was the staff bios on the school website and meeting the staff that really helped make my final decision. It is important to me to be involved in my daughters' school experiences. I have been welcomed and encouraged to participate in my daughters' classes and at all levels of school involvement."

Candy Wildt

"I never thought I’d hear my son explaining to me the differences between Incan, Mayan and Aztec cultures. He has become genuinely engaged in the learning process. Garden City Community School’s philosophy of facilitating learning works well for him and allows him to be successful in the classroom."

Laurel York Odell

"My son is a gifted and talented 6th grader who is absolutely thriving at the Garden City Community School!  Although he tested as being creatively gifted in his prior traditional elementary school, and had high ISAT test scores and was reading at a college level at the beginning of his 6th grade year, the traditional middle school approach was leaving him feeling squashed, unhappy, and beginning to truly hate school and learning. Our home life in the evenings were filled with hours of homework and stress and no time for connecting as a family, and despite his hard work and obvious abilities, he was starting to come home with D’s and F’s.  I saw his self-esteem and his love of learning disappearing and our family life deteriorating. Within days of starting school here, my son was back to being his happy, creative self, and the school-related stress in our family disappeared.  We found time in the evenings, again, to talk and read and play games, and to reconnect as a family.  Now my son enjoys school, has recaptured his love of learning, and is using his intelligence and creativity in an environment where they are encouraged and welcomed. His grades are back up and he is proud of his success, and I am proud of him. Thank you, Garden City Community School!"

Ester Zack

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Letters from our oldest students at GCCS to future students.

"To all children under 8th grade, 

I'm not going to say future student, because you might decide that GCCS isn't your kind of school. I am open to that possibility. However, if you do decide to come here, prepare yourself. GCCS is a very strange school. 

I'll start with math. A couple of years ago, GCCS was the only school to use the real life-based math book with 3 levels. Level one was 6th grade material, and level two was 7th grade. The last level was 8th grade. In these math books, you will deal with real life problems and learn how to solve them. 

We also do many art projects related to math. In fact, we do a lot of art projects related to anything. Once a week, we go to whole school community and different classes take turns leading it. We go to P.E. at the Boys and Girls Club. We get a break in the morning and a 30 minute recess and 30 minute lunch. This is GCCS. Decide if you like it."

yours truly,

 Soli

"Dear future student,

If you ever have to move schools or don't know what school to pick, you should come to GCCS (Garden City Community School). It's a great school for kids, because you get small class sizes and individual attention.

Those are some small reason you should come to GCCS."

Sincerely,

Isaac

"Dear future student, 

Diggin' the GCCS, aye? Well I could understand why. This school's pretty legit, yo. We're an arts-based school and we work a lot with the community. The grades are mixed, and I'm in the 7th/8th class. Our class goes on two field trips a month - at least we try to. 

My favorite part of the school is how laid back we are, and there's no stereotypes. For P.E., we go to the Boys and Girls Club every Wednesday. The grades range from Kindergarten to eighth grade. The only time we would ever have homework is if we didn't finish in class. Our school also models the 5 R's (Respect, Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Responsiveness, Resiliency) throughout the school."

Sincerely,

Brittany

"Dear future student, 

So, you're looking into GCCS? Well you should go to this school. It's a pretty cool school. I'm happy I started going here. I met some amazing people, and now I call them my best friends. It is a really small school. The staff here is really nice and understanding. Well, I hope you like what I told you about GCCS."

Sincerely,

Sidney

"Dear future GCCS students,

There are some great reasons to go to GCCS. Some of my favorites are:

1. Friends - there are a lot of good people who go to GCCS.
2. The playground - there is this big box that we go in and its called "the Cube." Well, that's what we call it.
3. The art studio - is wonderful. There are so many things you can do!
4. The book mobile - is really cool, because it's a library on wheels, so there are a lot of books. 
5. Field trips - are very fun. Some of my favorite field trips are when we walk to the library or when we go to the wetlands." 

with love,

Mackenzie

"Dear future kids, 

Here at GCCS we have plenty of work to keep us occupied. You have family-friendly homework & have lots of projects involving helpful people. They call these peace-maker projects. We have art on Mondays. Wednesdays we have yoga & P.E., and Fridays we read to children. 

It's not junior high, but it is a decent school. In fact, you have more fun here and more field trips than a junior high. In March, we go camping and take plenty of trips to Veterans Memorial Park and downtown Boise. This school is excellent and you should come!"

Richard

"Dear Future Student, :)

This school is the "bomb." 

Yes sir,  it's very small indeed, but I like it because it's an art based school and we focus on more of the creative side of the brain! :)

The teachers here are great. They help you with everything, even if it's drama. Our school's classes are combined like 7-8 together, 5-6 and 4-3rd, and so on. When we have P.E., we go to the Boys & Girls Club, and sometimes for science, we will experiment over at the wetlands. :) This is a great school. Hope you come!"