Edgewood Elementary School

Edgewood excels at teaching reading, writing and music. From the very beginning, they teach a love of reading, and this emphasis continues throughout the elementary school years. Students are in and out of the Edgewood library all day long, and whenever they have free time you will see them pulling out a book to read. The music program is amazing. The kids learn to sing, play instruments and read music. The strong music program in elementary school is one reason that the Homewood High School band is one of the best bands in the country. I do have to agree with another reviewer that teachers seem to be oblivious to some of the social dynamics on the playground. While the kids get a lot of lectures about not bullying, none of the kids thinks they ever bully anyone. I have found the teachers very willing to help with these kinds of problems when they are made aware of them, but teachers can't hear all the comments kids say to each other in the lunchroom or on the playground. The enrichment teacher with a sense of entitlement who was mentioned by another reviewer has since retired. The enrichment program still seems to be for kids who are already benefitting from school.
—Submitted by a parent

The years that my child attended Edgewood were not happy ones. My child is bright and kind, but had a difficult time making friends. The enrichemnt teacher was not a very kind woman. She trained her chosen children to be champions and essentially conquer anyone that got in their way. The kids in this program were not all gifted, but they were high achievers(most experts would agree that high achievers are not always gifted learners).Through the years, many of these children developed of sense of entitlement and turned out to be very much like their teacher. There was poor supervision on the playground and at PE --a great deal of bullying took place over the years. Once notified of the situation, the principal, Mrs. Simpson, always took care of it. My problem with that situation was that it had to be brought to their attention first -- either they were completely oblivious to such conduct among the students, or they felt it was okay for certain students to treat my child with such disrespect. I am sure that many will disagree with my assessment of of Edgewood, but unfortunately this was our experience. This makes me rather sad because you only get one chance at being a child.
—Submitted by a parent

A really great school with caring teachers. Teachers aren't educated beyond their intelligence, they are very grounded. I saw an earlier post stating how 'Christian religion strongly emphasized', 'traditional gender stereotyping' and 'behavior rules' as negatives? Negatives?! Really? Wow, that's pretty much why our child goes to this school.
—Submitted by a parent

Edgewood is a great school with great leadership. It has an excellent Principal followed with an outstanding staff. This elementary school really sets the stardard among public elementary schools in the Birmingham area.
—Submitted by a parent

Spanish is only offered once every six weeks for about 45 minutes. Hardly worth mentioning and not effective. Other schools in the systems nearby have a language twice a week. Research shows that the earlier the better regarding development of language skills and learning a second language.
—Submitted by a parent

Actually, students are taught Spanish k-5 at all of Homewood City School elementary schools by a certified Spanish teacher.
—Submitted by a parent

Loving environment with caring teachers, some of whom are absolutely excellent. Great art, music and library instruction. Tremendous parent involvement. Negatives: Minimal foreign language instruction. Candy routinely given as rewards. Christian religion strongly emphasized. Traditional gender sterotyping. No math, chess or science extracurricular activities. My kids loved it, but I wished the school emphasized creativity and academic achievement more (and didn't spend so much time on behavior rules--like not talking in the bathroom).
—Submitted by a parent

The school has very strong parental involvement. Academic instruction is excellent with my children achieving above average ratings on standardized tests. The principal leadership is new. This has been an area of concern for us. We feel that there should be a more seasoned level of leadership at the school.
—Submitted by a parent

I have been amazed at Edgewood Elementary! The teachers are creative, caring, and top-notch. The music, art, Spanish, and PE areas are the best we've seen. The children are ahead of the game at this school because they learn so much in fun ways. The parents are very involved and it makes this school have a family feel. I have been very pleased with Edgewood!
—Submitted by a parent

Edgewood is a remarkable school. We moved here so our daughter could attend. I have never met a more caring group of teachers and the principal sets the standard for excellence. Sometimes I wish the teachers exhibited more control in their classrooms, but that's really the only complaint I have. This is an excellent school and we're fortunate to have it for our children.
—Submitted by Amber Carpenter, a parent