Sadly.... I have to say I have experienced better for my son's education.... and he's only in 1st Grade!!
I don't know what to do exactly. I have emailed the school principal about my concerns and all I got back was a "we'll have our website updated shortly, sorry for the delay" ... that was 2 months ago and its not even updated yet!
Last year we moved in the middle of the school year, something no mother would want to do to her children, but ... life happens and you have to do what you have to do. We came to this school .... a school that has a uniform requirement (which was no big deal since we came from a uniformed school) ... but this school is different.... we show up and every single child is in street clothes. No set colors, no set standards of dress, nothing. I dont have a problem with street clothes, just pick uniforms or not one way or another and stand by it.
I asked if the kids were supposed to be wearing uniforms... they told me "yes, its our policy" ..... Well who the EFF is supposed to enforce it? I have a problem with a school setting rules and not following through with them, how the hell is my child supposed to learn about following guidelines and respect for rules when they cant enforce a simple policy of dress code?
One time he came home crying late in the year last year... he said his teacher mocked him and mocks the class sometimes. Being that he was so young I thought to ask him, "How did she mock you? Whats mocking?" ... and he told me of a story of the class trying to say something aloud and she copied their voice in a mean way saying they were wrong. This was in May and June - well after he was there for a few months, and now he is coming home crying and saying this?? I was wondering what was going on, what happened? I found out the teacher I knew he was happy with ended up leaving two weeks prior to this incident because she was a student teacher and her time was up. I didnt even know he was being taught by a student teacher until this because the school doesnt bother telling you this, and now that I find out he was -its his reg teacher who is being mean to a bunch of Kindergartners?
Summer comes and goes and I see nothing in the mail regarding what to expect, or what class or teacher he will have for this year in 1st Grade. They gave no flyer or newsletter at the end of the school year saying what to expect or when the office will be reopened. So I go to the school website.... NOTHING! I could make a better website! They have nothing filled out, just links that go no where and tell you nothing. Literally, nothing! I can't find info on teachers that teach my child - they give links to the individual teachers, but when you click on it - its just blank- nothing is filled out. There is no enrollment information. The calendar year, holidays, and events were from last year and the year before that, nothing on the current school year. And the links to have a "combined home and school relationship" are articles from 2001- before my son was even born!!! Their last school newsletter was from 2008 (ITS now the 2011-2012 school year!!!)
You can just tell they dont give a shit about the Home-school gap, and working with parents. Its really quite sad.
I called the school about a week and a half before the 1st day of school to find out something about what to expect ....- and its the same damn answering machine message as when the school year is in. It rings and rings and says to call back between the hours of business. It literally felt as if everyone just got up at 3pm on the last day of school, and left their desk with no worry or thought to the next school year. I understand budget cuts, and I understand that there is low funding to send a newsletter to everyone. But how hard is it to update the answering machine to: "Its summer time! Stoddard will be back to office hours on this date between these hours. Please call back then. Looking forward to the coming year!"
The only reason this review is two stars and not one is because the First grade teacher he has this year .... So far she seems to be great.
I hate how the school is run as far as policy and lack of an authoritative figure to enforce them, the website is beyond lacking to say the least, the lady with blonde hair in the front office is snappy and mean most of the time as if she cant stand her job, and the school does NOT do a good job communicating or building a bridge between home and school life.
I have tried to do my part- and will continue... but its so hard when you have no help from the school ... really sad too.
I hope to get transferred to another school this next year - maybe a school in Garden Grove as we live right on the border of Garden Grove and Anaheim.
- a truly disappointed parent. read more