Horizon Elementary School

My children assisted this school for 2 years until just 2 months in to the 2012-2013 school year. I have nothing, but praise for Mrs. Hern ndez! She is the best 4th grade teacher yourchild could have and Mrs. Segrest is another great example of what a really good teacher is all about. Unfortunately my son's second grade teacher Mrs. Chance ruined most of the good vision that I had of this school. Although, I will not generalize just because of one. Never had my son had ANY sort of problems in school, but for some reason she would portray him as the most awful student there was. My son always loved going to school, that is until he started second grade with this teacher. My family and I moved to another location not within the school zone, week later, she had already notified the prinicipal in order to have them removed from this school. But you know what? THANK YOU MRS. CHANCE! Because now thanks to you my kids are in an awesome school enviornment, with REALLY great teachers who have nothing but praises for both of them and have gained great friends. My son is back to loving to go to school :) If you are able to have your child assist any school, it should be Heritage Elementary!
—Submitted by a parent

My son and i love this school! They offer so many opportunities for the students. The staff are understanding of each childs needs. You can easily walk in and be greeted and and helped with accordingly. They have and offer higher standards than most schools in the area that I have looked into. The staff teaches the students valuable lifes lessons as well as following up with them after they leave school for the afternoon. The parental involvment with this school is tremendous! And it wouldnt be as great as it is without them! Thank you for a fine establishment as well as a benefit to the students overall needs!
—Submitted by a parent

My kids love it and so do we. I have three kids going there and we've loved each of the teachers they've had. The gifted teacher, Ms Bero, introduces the kids to lots of opportunities and subjects. I've never seen any discipline issues. All of the kids there seem to fit in and seem to be learning at the appropriate level if not higher.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter just finished 6th grade at Horizon. We moved to Madison in 1991 and we saw Horizon built from ground up. We sticked around our house because we want to make sure when we have children, they will go to Horizon. It has been an excellent experience. My daughter is not the top, but she score 10th grade reading when she is only 3rd grade. When she finished 6th grade this year, I bought the 7th and 8th grade Math text book and she is able to answer the questions with little assistance. Parental involvement /support and PTA are great. Ms Johnson (parent), Ms. Green (parent), Ms. Rock (parent) help Ms. Vandagriff coach the Math team. The team won several awards. Ms. Bero does an excellent job for the ACE students. The Principals (all of them that is or were in office while my daughter is in Horizon) are great leaders. The teachers are all great. They all have different styles, but they are all well versed with their subject matter and enforce strict rules. Could not think of anything bad to say about the school.
—Submitted by a parent

We're finishing our second year here and it's been fine overall. The teachers seem strong academically, but some are rigid and some more flexible with classroom behavior and style. Gifted enrichment is very good for pullout - wish they had more than one or two hours per week. Great extracurricular programs but most only start at 4th grade and above - wish there were more for the younger students as well.
—Submitted by a parent

Horizon Elementary started off as a great experience. My daughter has been there since the beginning and she is now in the 4th grade. The last 2 teachers she has had were awful! They focused more on trying to be a peer with her rather than setting boundaries. Once a child treats them more like a peer, rather than a teacher, then and only then do they choose to get parents involved. The children run loose all day long without adult supervision. On many occasions I have gone to the school, only to find children roaming aimlessly in the hallways. I moved to Madison just because of the 'great' schools. I have been sadly dissappointed. I am now relocating because it is ridiculous to pay to live in Madison for the schools when the schools are only going to let you down. Case in point, Discovery Middle.
—Submitted by a parent

I strongly disagree with the negative comments left below. Dr. Ricci is an excellent administrator who strictly enforces all guidelines from local as well as state departments of education. In reference to the office renovations the Madison City Schools that I have visited also have the office inaccesible to the public. When Dr. Ricci was asked regarding this matter she stated that regulations required her to ensure safety and privacy of staff and personal information. She's always has been open to any questions that I have asked. I have had three children at Horizon Elementary and they have received awesome instruction. I am thrilled with the current teaching staff and administration.
—Submitted by a parent

The posting about blocking off the office area is not exactly true. The office area has seats for parents and guests; however, parents and guests should have never been allowed to enter the office area where the secretary and office attendants sit. The office area that is not blocked off contains private student and faculty information that should not be viewed by parents due to privacy laws, etc. There is no other elementary school in the Madison City School System with an open office area, so I am not sure why this is an issue. This open office area has been a concern long before Dr. Ricci came to this school. Dr. Ricci does take the safety of privacy of the students seriously.
—Submitted by a parent

The teachers here are excellent for the most part. The principal however, Mrs. Ricci, is a very poor administrator. She is rude to parents, teachers, and students. She has blocked off the office to where no one can enter. It is not a friendly and open environment. She has changed the environment of the school in a negative way. It is a shame to see what has happened to this school since she came. Again, the teachers do a great job but the principal needs to go!
—Submitted by a parent

My son just recently stared attending this school. He is in Kindergarden. We moved right after Thanksgiving break. At his previous school he had been coming home with frown faces every day. ( as you can guess thats really bad) You never really saw how much work he was doing and he could never tell you what he had learned. I had mulitple parent teacher conferences with his teacher about him and nothing ever improved. He has been at this school now for several weeks and has done a complete 180. He has gone to almost everyday day he gets greens( great job) and he comes home with all this work he has done throughout the day or week and can tell you every day what he has been doing. He loves school again where by the time end left his old school you had to force him to go. I
—Submitted by a parent

My son was at Horizon for 4 years and my daughter is currently a student there. They have both enjoyed it. Great parent involvement, good PTA leadership, and caring, dedicated teachers. The only drawback is that this system (like or better than most in AL) only offers art 1/2 the year, once a week, and music 1/2 the year, once a week.
—Submitted by a parent

Horizon Elementary has been a great experience for our son. The teachers are excellent and the class sizes are small. I can't imagine my son getting a better education anywhere else.
—Submitted by a parent