Watertown-Mayer Elementary School

"The building itself is very nice and modern. The grounds are sub par. The parking lot is the worst. The have half as many spots as they could have by having these native grasses plated between each row which curves instead of being straight. The grass grows to 3-4 feet tall so guess what.....it makes it hard to see the little kid running in the parking lot. Any function they have, people are parking way out on the road. It makes it so I dread going there to watch my kid's performance. The administration is very much a 'who you know' thing and locals get the nod. The school had their principal removed several years ago for inappropriate behavior and then they promote a teacher to become the 'dean of students'. Probably not coincidentally the test scores and school rank declined steadily under her leadership. In an effort to be cutting edge, they implemented I-pads and let the kids take them home. This did wonders for limiting the children's social and communication skills. It also retarded development in writing skills and math since they no longer are given assignments on paper. Oooohhhhhh.....a cost saving measure perhaps? The middle school then has to pick up the slack and do so by piling on the homework but..naturally..they still have the I-pads. It could be so much more than it is sadly."

"The building itself is very nice and modern. The grounds are sub par. The parking lot is the worst. The have half as many spots as they could have by having these native grasses plated between each row which curves instead of being straight. The grass grows to 3-4 feet tall so guess what.....it makes it hard to see the little kid running in the parking lot. Any function they have, people are parking way out on the road. It makes it so I dread going there to watch my kid's performance. The administration is very much a 'who you know' thing and locals get the nod. The school had their principal removed several years ago for inappropriate behavior and then they promote a teacher to become the 'dean of students'. Probably not coincidentally the test scores and school rank declined steadily under her leadership. In an effort to be cutting edge, they implemented I-pads and let the kids take them home. This did wonders for limiting the children's social and communication skills. It also retarded development in writing skills and math since they no longer are given assignments on paper. Oooohhhhhh.....a cost saving measure perhaps? The middle school then has to pick up the slack and do so by piling on the homework but..naturally..they still have the I-pads. It could be so much more than it is sadly."