My daughter and I moved from out of state this past summer, she was entering the second grade. I tried to stay optimistic about her attending Brown elementary, but shortly after her entrance to the school I realized the many shortcomings. Although the teachers and staff seem very nice, I am NOT happy with her experiences at this school and will be taking her out at the end of the year (if not sooner if it's gets any worse...).
I don't feel like my daughters being challenged with her school work at all. There's no way to keep track of my child's curriculum or communication between her teacher and I about her progress, the work she brings home is so simple it's pretty comical compared to her previous school or the work I do with her at home. I visited one morning to see how she was doing, the class was going over reading words but pronounced several of them incorrectly and was told it was right...
I've taken it upon myself to purchase multiple second grade curriculum books to do with her at home because I refuse to let her fall behind from where she was learning at her previous school.
The times I have spoken with her teacher she suggested I sign up for a class dojo app to be in tune with how my daughters doing... I have yet to receive an update or any correspondence from her teacher since I've done so. Her teacher seems to be more concerned with helping/coaching the Cheerleaders than educating/being involved with her own students.
There just doesn't seem to be any structure with anything, when there are school closings or "extended" holiday breaks (President's day for example...) the school doesn't notifiy the parents At ALL!!! No note from the last day before break, or call of extension, which is a hassle for working parents. The website has few updates about anything, during the winter months I didn't even bother using it, I had to check other school sites and local news about school closings/delays it was ridiculous... The only times I've been called were when I had my daughter out of school when she was sick and had already informed the nurse but they still had the automated message call me and even sent a letter to my home about her missing 3 days when I had already given them explanation/notes as to why...
I've read previous comments about the cleanliness of the school... I will say the outside of the school could use a spruce up/update, the inside looks like a normal school to me, the restrooms I entered were sanitary although I'm sure they're not always that way with kids. The lunch could be much better, I love that all the kids receive free lunch but it should be better variety/healthy foods, my daughter started asking me to make her lunches mid year and once I realized why it just gave me another reason not to be happy with the school. They should really make monthly calendars/year round of the lunch menu for parents who make lunches for their kids...
My overall disappointment with this school is how they portray organization/parent involvement, but in reality I haven't seen any of that since my daughter has attended and it's very concerning.