- Parent Review -
 Not Recommended
posted 09/26/07
I have two childeren enrolled in this school; it's a bad school. It is a one size fits all situation.
A.) While the CSAP scores are not terrible they don't tell the whole story. The amount of homework is excessive, approximatly 45 minutes a day beginning in second grade and stays about the same through the 4th grade, I am uncertain what amount the 5th grade has.
If your child has any learning issues the teachers are difficult to work with. In Colorado if the school suggests testing for deslexia or other similar learning disabilities the school must supply the additional resources needed to help the child. For this reason teachers are not encouraged to help the children to get approriate testing.
We were told by the kinder garden teacher that our oldest needed to attend summer school and we enrolled her, only to find out later over 1/2 of her class had been recommended to attend. We later discovered that the number of students who attend summer school directly affects the funding of the school.
There is at least one fund raiser per month. Generally speaking the childeren are all gathered together in an assembly to kick of the fund raiser.
Ultimatly many of the issues noted above come down to how the school is funded. I think they use a variety of methods to limit expenses which substantially undercut the education the childeren receive. We moved our children to a diffent school and have had none of the issues noted above.
B.) The art and music programs really are top notch
C.) I don't know much about the academic awards, but it is an elementary school so there really isn't much of an athletic program. They do have PE.
D.) They have a good library and the play grounds are nice. The class rooms are also nice. The lunch room is very small and as a result the lunch period is rushed; the childeren only have 15 minutes to each lunch and if they are not finished in that time they must throw their lunches away.
E.) While there apears to be a great of parental involvement, it is mostly a small and cliqish group that runs it. The PTCO is chaired by a woman whos child graduated from high school several years ago. Newcomers are not welcome.
Overall I would never recommend this school to anyone. There are two excellent schools with in 2 miles of Dry Creek - Walnut Hill and Homestead, both are substantually better.
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