Elmwood Elementary

"We are a military family and our son is finishing his fourth year at Elmwood Elementary School. The school is located in a so-so middle class neighborhood. It is very close to the city/county border which is probably why it has as many challenges as it does. We often pick up / drop off our son at the front door of the school. We do this to see his interactions with other kids. The school has a strict policy that no child may be left unattended at the school door prior to 0905. Yet 80 percent of the children in front of the door at 0900 are left there by unavailable parents. The school holds regular awards ceremonies for the children. This positive reinforcement goes a long way in encouraging children to do their best. On average about 40 percent of the seats for family observers are vacant. Now this may sound like a good turn-out, but the majority of the room is allotted for children. So in reality, only 50 percent of the children have someone attending. The school hosts many after school activities each year. I would say 1 major and 2 minor activities per semester. The major activities usually have about 1/3 of the children showing up. The minor activities are hit or miss. But what is most noticeable, if the activity includes dinner then it is well attended. If it doesn't then it is not.This ties into the location near the city / county line (city kids registered under a relatives address) and also the free/reduced lunch program. Parent volunteerism at the school is fairly low. Each class usually has 2 or 3 kids whose parents are the regular volunteers. You'll get sporadic help from the other parents. So there is a common theme here. The parents are generally not involved with their kids scholastic life. School is basically a day care for them. And I get that we all have jobs and other stuff going on. But the lack of effort by parents shows up in absenteeism, test scores, and behavior problems. The good news is that the administrators, teachers, and special educators generally care about the kids and their well-being. The principal Mr. Hogan, Vice Principal Mrs. Lewis, and counselor Ms. Rowdowski really do a good job considering all the challenges they face. They work hard and advocate for the children. They are accessible and effectively communicate what is happening in the school. So if you were to just go by the school score, you may think this school is on the verge of being a failed school. But for those of us that are connected to the school, we know that our kids have educators that care about them."

"We are a military family and our son is finishing his fourth year at Elmwood Elementary School. The school is located in a so-so middle class neighborhood. It is very close to the city/county border which is probably why it has as many challenges as it does. We often pick up / drop off our son at the front door of the school. We do this to see his interactions with other kids. The school has a strict policy that no child may be left unattended at the school door prior to 0905. Yet 80 percent of the children in front of the door at 0900 are left there by unavailable parents. The school holds regular awards ceremonies for the children. This positive reinforcement goes a long way in encouraging children to do their best. On average about 40 percent of the seats for family observers are vacant. Now this may sound like a good turn-out, but the majority of the room is allotted for children. So in reality, only 50 percent of the children have someone attending. The school hosts many after school activities each year. I would say 1 major and 2 minor activities per semester. The major activities usually have about 1/3 of the children showing up. The minor activities are hit or miss. But what is most noticeable, if the activity includes dinner then it is well attended. If it doesn't then it is not.This ties into the location near the city / county line (city kids registered under a relatives address) and also the free/reduced lunch program. Parent volunteerism at the school is fairly low. Each class usually has 2 or 3 kids whose parents are the regular volunteers. You'll get sporadic help from the other parents. So there is a common theme here. The parents are generally not involved with their kids scholastic life. School is basically a day care for them. And I get that we all have jobs and other stuff going on. But the lack of effort by parents shows up in absenteeism, test scores, and behavior problems. The good news is that the administrators, teachers, and special educators generally care about the kids and their well-being. The principal Mr. Hogan, Vice Principal Mrs. Lewis, and counselor Ms. Rowdowski really do a good job considering all the challenges they face. They work hard and advocate for the children. They are accessible and effectively communicate what is happening in the school. So if you were to just go by the school score, you may think this school is on the verge of being a failed school. But for those of us that are connected to the school, we know that our kids have educators that care about them."