Tumbleweed Elementary School

My now 7th grader attended Tumbleweed K-6th grade as well as is sibling who is still attending. I never had a problem with any teachers but always felt as if the principals were always at conflict with each other, which affected the whole school. The old principals were replaced 2 years ago, and the new principals have shown excellent leadership, cooperation with staff as well as being magnificent problem solvers. They truly care for the state of the school as well as the students. In response to the parent who has a problem with your nephews teacher.... my children have never been a problem in the classroom, yet other children are very distracting and inhibit the teachers ability to teach as well as the other students ability to learn. Instead of taking your nephews word at face value, investigate and have a conference. It has been my experience that many times when the same child continually has problems with all of their teachers, it isn't the teachers, it's the student.

my daughters both attended Tumbleweed from kinder to 6th grade. My nephew now attends this school for fifth grade and I am not happy with his teacher. Yes, my nephew can be a handful but i feel that she has labeled him a trouble maker and is constantly harassing him over minor things. If a note is passed to him in class he gets in trouble for accepting it. If he is trying to do his work and is being disturbed by other students and he tells them to leave him alone, he gets in trouble for disrespecting his classmates. Teachers are not what they used to be at this school.
—Submitted by a parent

I used to be a student at Tumbleweed Elementary. I attended 1996 to 1998 and frankly I'm shocked at everyone's negativity towards them. I do feel it is the Principal and Vice-Principal's fault but it wasn't like that when I went there. The staff was always caring, the curricular challenging yet fun, and a wonderful student to teacher ratio. If any of you aren't satisfied with Tumbleweed, take it to the office...if you're not satisfied, than go to the Education Board.

Tumbleweed School has recently had a complete overhauling of staff, including an almost completely new set of teachers, so I feel a more recent and accurate review is due. Since September of 2010, Tumbleweed's teachers, administration and staff have been working overtime to turn around the negative culture of the school and unmotivated attitudes of the students. This change was hard for some people to understand and some parents even took their children out of the school because the expectations were "too high". However, the 92 point growth on the last CST put Tumbleweed on the map and now it seems that high expectations are just what this persistently low achieving school needed! A staff full of dedicated and hard working individuals who believe in their students has moved this school in a whole new direction. Congrats Tumbleweed, and keep up the hard work! Our kids need all of us!
—Submitted by a teacher

My daughter is in Kinder-garden at Tumbleweed and has a teacher she absolutely loves :Ms Ross. Which is the ONLY reason I even gave 2 stars. The office staff has 1 nice lady, and the yard workers are mostly nice, but the rest of the officials are beyond rude and could care less about what the students need to succeed, they are more concerned with putting the parents down in front of the child. (I have a disabled neice I care for & we Walk to the school nearly a mile & a half each way& sometimes are a little late & have been thoroughly chewed out for being an irrresponsible parent because they had to "babysit" for 5 minutes )
—Submitted by a teacher

The staff at Tumbleweed are great, both teachers and support staff. The office staff however have alot to learn about professional behavior. Most of the time they seem more concerned about their own personal matters instead of taking care of school and parent needs. One of them in particular seems to always be on her cell phone or shopping on the internet. The one that sits at the very front seems to be nice though. The Principal doesn't seem to have any idea what she is doing and has zero people skills. Apparently, from what I keep hearing, she lets the kids walk all over her when they get in trouble and sent to the office. She seems more concerned with hen-pecking her staff than taking care of student discipline problems. I think this would be a very successful school if they just had better leadership, and discipline.
—Submitted by a parent

My niece and nephew are currently enrolled in this school. This is quite possibly the worst school I've ever encountered. The supervision is substandard. My niece and nephew come home with bruises and bitemarks that no one can seem to explain. My nephew rarely receives homework. School is scheduled to end in a few weeks and my nephew has only brought home one Progress Report for the entire school year. Neither the teacher nor the Principal will return any phone calls. Really substandard all around. My niece's teacher, Mrs. James, is absolutely excellent but she seems to be the exception to the rule. The twins will not be attending this school in the future if their mother and I have any say so about it. Tumbleweed is so far below acceptable standards that it is amazing the school is able to keep its accreditation.

Tumbleweed School has an outstanding staff and wonderful programs. Student achievement is obviously their top priority. They do an outstanding job of communicating with parents. It is obvious that all staff truly care about each and every student.
—Submitted by a parent

the principal and vice principal are very difficult to deal with. I have seen the vice principal interact with the teachers and the students and she appears to have no respect for others. I am currently trying to take my daughter out of this school but the district is giving me the run around. there are certaing teachers however that are wonderful, Ms. Merson, Mrs. Fairbanks to name a couple. they go beyond what is expected.
—Submitted by a parent

The staff is unfriendly. The principal is difficult to deal with and not available to parents. There is no willingness to work as a team for the benefit of the students. I am very unhappy with this school. I have taken my son out of this school.
—Submitted by a parent

The staff and teachers can only do so much, if you have a principal who doesn't care or want to put a effort into improvement. Honestly the principal seems to have a huge ego issue. I guess it will always be a 'needs improvement school'. [We] are taking our children out of this school.
—Submitted by a parent

I belive that Tumbleweed School needs better staff members. The ladies that work in the front office seem to not know what is going on half the time. The teachers dont seem to care very much about the students... and they need a better leaerning program. I am very fustrated with the way the school is run. it took them almost 3 years to see that my son had a learning disability and the only reason why anything was ever done was because I had to quite my day job and home school him so that he could get the nessecary help from Oak Tree Learning center if I would have not done that I dont kno what would be happening at this time, know to me that is a problem.
—Submitted by a parent

My son has been in this school for two years and I feel this is a wonderful school with amazing teachers that really care about the children, and teaching them!
—Submitted by Jennifer Worch, a parent

A well disciplined, safe school. Teachers are experienced and effective.
—Submitted by a staff