Tollgate Elementary School

I have two daughters that currently attend Tollgate Elementary. One daughter has special needs, has been diagnosed with Aspergers. She receives tons of help from the Tollgate family, as well as receiving help outside the school from different support facilities, at my expense. I did have both of my daughters in a charter in APS, and unfortunately could not get the assistance I needed. I have always commended the team at Tollgate for their assistance, and continue to thank them for helping my daughter proceed toward her goals and set a expectation to her future daily.
—Submitted by a parent

how many parents have a child with ADHD? What would you do, as a parent, if you got a phone call from the school that says...come pick up your child, he/shes acting out again and they are no longer welcome in this school until a Dr. can tell us what to do with them!! They are basically saying they can't do their job! If I were that parent, I'd be calling the news channels and reporting them. Spread it all over the news that the teachers at Tollgate Elementary cant do the job they were hired to do! Hundreds if not thousands of kids are diagnosed with ADHD and this school kicks them out because the Principal, Vice Principal, and the guidance counselor cant handle them!!!! OMG what is this world coming to if your child can't get the education they need because they have ADHD! Tollgate you should be ashamed of yourselves. You don't deserve to have your job if you can't handle an ADHD child. Your solution=kick him out so we don't have to deal with it! IT'S YOUR JOB TO DEAL WITH IT AND TO EDUCATE ALL CHILDREN! SHAME ON YOU.
—Submitted by a parent

Tollgate was once again awarded the Center of Excellence Award. This is two years in a row that this school has gotten this recognition. We are so proud!
—Submitted by a teacher

I think this is a great school. The teacher who made bad comment listed below must have not made the cut. I know that the principal hold very high standard for teaching. If you do not perform she will not keep you. She listens to the parents a lot and what they say about the teachers.
—Submitted by a parent

I have had two kids go through Tollgate now and I feel that there has been a lot of changes in the last two years. I like the direction they are moving in. But the best part of the school is the teachers. I love the teachers they have. I think they are gold.
—Submitted by a parent

Both my children go to Tollgate. My daughter is in 3rd grade and my son is in Kindergarten. The teachers are great and care about the children. Even though APS don't generally have a high academic performance rating by the state and the teacher to student ratio is a bit high, the teachers here deserve a lot of credit for how well they manage the classes. The principal is very nice and the vice principal is awesome. He is always ensuring the safety of the kids. In the last 3 years I've seen only improvement at tollgate. If only tollgate would allow volunteer parents to be involved in classrooms, I think in a few years they could rise in their state academic ratings to a high level.
—Submitted by a parent

I am currently a teacher at this school and think its an amazing place to send your kids. Tollgate's teachers put their students first and will do anything to help their students to be successful in their classrooms. We have been recognized as one of only ten schools in Colorado for growth of students for three years in a row on CSAP. Way to go Tollgate!
—Submitted by a teacher

This is a horrible school. I was a teacher here a few years ago-the principal only cares about the image of the school and data, rather than her staff or the kids. I've never seen such a poorly run building in my life. There are a few teachers who really care about the kids, but by and large it's a really negative atmosphere. Send your kids elsewhere.
—Submitted by a teacher

My son is on 1st grade he loves the school but I'm not so happy about having 26 kids on his class; to me that's a lot of kids & I noticed my son is going backward with his reading & writing. We work together at home as usual. He is a smart boy, took him a few months in kindergarten to write & read, now I can see something is not helping him, not sure if is the teacher or the fact that she have to deal with 26 kids at the same time.
—Submitted by a parent

This school is very good for children with disabilities. The staff is very understanding and works with the parents.
—Submitted by a parent

i think tollgate is a great school the staff cares about the children. the teachers that my child has had were great and wanted her to do well and she did. so said her test scores so i think they need a better rating i would give them a five at least
—Submitted by a parent

My son has attended kindergarten and 1st grade at Tollgate. He has repeatedly told me 'school was bad, I learned the same thing again today.' I liked Tollgate's all day kindergarten program; however, once in first grade, the all day kindergarten students were divided up into classes with the half day kindergarteners. The vast majority of kids in my son's 1st grade class did not attend the all day kindergarten and are not as far along in reading, writing and math. I feel that the advantages my son received from attending all day kindergarten have been completely negated in his 1st grade class. In fact, it s almost worse, because now he is bored in school. Just to give one example: In kindergarten, my son had homework every night (distributed on a weekly basis). In 1st grade, homework is sporadic, usually one assignment every two weeks or so.
—Submitted by a parent

I have a child who just completed 4th grade at Tollgate elementary. In 1st and 4th grades, we got TERRIFIC teachers - unfortunately, in 2nd and 3rd grades, we got awful teachers who didn't really care about their students at all - in fact, in 3rd grade, the teacher left the school without a word and the class was broken up among the rest of the 3rd grade classes. All the children fell behind and very little was done to get them on track. The teacher/principal relationships also seem to be very sketchy. There seems to be a lot of teacher turnover.
—Submitted by a parent

One of my children attend Tollgate Elementary in Aurora at this time. She has been going to this school since first grade. She will be going in to the 3rd grade this fall. Her first 2 teachers have been outstanding. They encourage the children to do their best! I have had some concerns regarding the leadership there and the activities they provide. I would like to see more team encouraging activites. Overall I think Tollgate has teachers who care and are concerned about our children as people.