Glendale Preparatory Academy – Great Hearts, Peoria | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

I went here for years 1-9 before leaving for South Carolina, so I at least think I can write a decently valid review. Man, this place is like a box of chocolates; there are some really cool and nice people, and there are some not as great people. I can see why the reviews are mostly either 5 star or 3, for based on what teachers you get and people you hang around, you have so much variety in your experience. I myself had a mostly good experience. I had nice friends, the headmaster is a freaking awesome guy, and my instructors, it depends on who. I will try to give a good summary of different “types” of instructors and what to expect.
Strict: these ones take their job seriously. Like, really seriously (sometimes too seriously). They do not tolerate any messing around in there classes and are quick to pull out the yellow slip. Yet, you’ll find that most of them, once you get to know them outside of class, are extremely nice people.
Lenient: These people are a lot more, well, lenient in class. They will share stuff about themselves and are relatively open. They are calm and cool while still putting effort into lessons. It normally takes something “big” for them to start issuing detentions. Unfortunately, their leniency is abused quite often.
Scout: These ones are basically just like the strict ones, except they bring their non-tolerance into the hallways. These people are on top of everything.
“Geodes”: I call these ones geodes because when they lay down their first impressions, you think “oh no”. It’s like that for a while, but after you’ve been in their class for a bit, you start to realise how cool they are. I’ve generally found that if you put in the effort, you’ll have a great year with them.
Anyways, that’s a very general summary, as when you try to classify teachers in that matter, you’ll find tons of different sub categories. I rank my experience here a 8.5/10.

We are extremely grateful to Great Hearts. After attending Rancho Solano Private school, we were a bit scared of entering into a quasi-public school. Their approach to education and citizenship is stricter than many kids are used to, especially after coming from public schools. However, they are molding our children into great people that care about the material that they are discovering. I would liken the students to the kids from the movie, Dead Poets Society, where kids are self-motivated and anxious to understand the nuances of different thought.

I would, however, warn that if you are looking for them to be a babysitter for your misbehaved manner-less child, then you are looking in the wrong place. It is a school where it is “cool” to want to learn and excel. The truth is that not every kid is “Great Hearts” material, nor are all parents. It takes involvement and dedication on all parts.

But, what I would say is most impressive about the Great Hearts Schools in General, and Glendale Prep in Particular, is that when you see them at a sports event, the kids are respectful, polite, and extremely engaging.

Thank You GP for all that you have done for my kids and family!

I would give this a zero rating if possible. Would not recommend bringing your child here after seeing some of the concealed unprofessional behavior with staff administration members. We applied one month ahead of time in an effort to transfer our “straight A” student into this school. But we found out the hard way the school did not have the courtesy to review the application until the day of orientation, nor did they call or email us to response to the new student application . Instead, on day of orientation they indicated they are not accepting new 12th grade seniors at this time. Since then I heard many other negative things about this school which I I will not repeat here… I am glad to find there is other better schools in the area accepting straight A students..