Castle Rock Elementary School

Administration has no school pride. I cannot complain too much because the teachers we had were really nice people but there is no consistency in the curriculum from different classes in the same grade. Some had almost an hour of homework every night and others had a little bit every month. The playgrounds are always full of trash even after comments from parents. I hated to see birds outside eating plastic on an almost daily basis. To me it seems like the administration is only there because they are paid to be and they think teaching at a DCSD school makes them look good. I had one child attend Lewis Palmer Elementary School for 6 years and it was a dream compared to this. (Can't say enough good things about LPES!) I feel that if I have my two younger children attend CRE any longer they will never have the ability to reach their full potential. I am going to do everything I can to change schools before next year.
—Submitted by a parent

Today 10/9/2012 my 1st grade son was punched in the face so hard the school had to call due to a large swollen lump on his cheek bone. He was punched at recess and I picked him up from school at 1PM. The school had not yet even identified the assailant. My son only saw he had a red shirt on and since his recess is only with other 1st graders that leaves just 2 classrooms the puncher could have come from. I was told they would look into the matter further and call me. Well at 4PM after school was already let out they still had not called me back, so I called them. I was once again told they were working on figuring out who punched my son. Other student also told them it was a kid in a red shirt, but they somehow were unable to identify a boy in a red shirt from just 2 classrooms. I feel that they are not taking this serious at all. I was warned about bullying at this school before enrolling...I wish I would have listened. I will update this review if I get results, but I doubt it.
—Submitted by a parent

I moved my kids from this school because of the principal, Kelly Ursetta. The teachers there are wonderful, but morale has suffered greatly since Mrs. Ursetta came on last year. Teachers are leaving, parents are pulling thier kids and changing schools...it has gotten so bad that there is actually a petition going around, organized by upset parents, in an effort to get Mrs. Ursetta fired as the principal. I would strongly caution any parent considering going to CRE to re-think that decision if Mrs. Ursetta is still the principal.
—Submitted by a parent

We love it here. The new Principal has been great! We came in mid-year and have been made to feel very welcome by the students and staff. My children are getting challenged academically. They are getting science everyday, as well as all of the other subject areas. The parent community has been wonderful as well. Very down to earth friendly people. I am so glad we made the move to CRE!
—Submitted by a parent

We open enrolled our child into this school because our neighborhood school had such poor reviews. I immediately got a bad vibe from the new principal, Kelly Ursetta. She continued to disappoint when I had emailed her regarding an issue that we had. She has a better than everyone type of attitude that really shines through. We have also noticed a huge lack of parent involvement. The parents don't seem friendly whatsoever & there is no parent support in our child's classroom. We have just been very disappointed in lots of ways, too many to list here. The only good thing about this school is our child's teacher, whom we absolutely adore. I probably would have taken our child to another school midway through the year had it not been for her.
—Submitted by a parent

The school is very advanced and the principal and staff are excellent. I would recommend this school to all. We will continue in this school and tell all our friends with younger children to enroll in Castle Rock Elementary.
—Submitted by a parent

sI moved my kids from another school into CRE last year. I now have 2 kids there, and 1 has gone on to middle school. I love this school, as do my kids. At the other school, my oldest child was so bullied, I feared for his safety. When everything is said and done, I was blessed to be able to get my children into this school. The teachers adore the kids. The office staff knows each kid by name. So far the new principal has been doing a great job. She did have some pretty big shoes to fill. My two kids that are there now are so happy. At the previous school when I picked them up at the end of the day, they were ALWAYS in tears. Now they're laughing, and I have to wait forever for them. I also see all of the teachers hug all their kids on their way home. I am so happy my kids are here. Their grades have gone up, and during summer, and fall break, they spent most of their time reading books. I am so proud to be a part of this school.
—Submitted by a parent

The principal is to "everything is wonderful, there are no problems" when the problem is her. My kids were at the school the first three and first two years of the elementary careers. They had great teachers except for the older child. The final teacher he had allowed movies every Friday in the classroom and one of them being Hannah Montana, PG13! Not appropriate. That teacher was also going through a principal apprenticeship. I was disappointed that the great teachers were not rewarded and two of them moved on due to poor upper leadership.
—Submitted by a parent

When I was in this school, I loved it. The teachers are amazing and the principal was very nice and helped out.

I have two children that attend CRE, a 3rd and 4th grader. My daughter has terrific teachers and is on or above grade level in all areas. My son has had the complete opposite. Poor teacher-parent communication. The only good information we receive is based on our requests. There is one member of the office staff that seems to always answer the phone. He is rude and painful to deal with. We have a 2 year old that will attend one of the charter schools in place of CRE. It's not worth the gamble.
—Submitted by a parent

My kids go to cre for about 4 yrs,they love it,my son got the best teacher in btrack,but my daughter is struggling in math,which my son never had a problem with,ithink it depends on the teacher what method she is using,to teach her kids,but overall i'm happy with this school.
—Submitted by a parent

The teachers make this school. My son has been in this school for 4 years. He has a teacher that I don't love this year, but the past three years have been great. The school has a lot of kids, but they manage it well. I do NOT feel that the school is unsafe. It is bigger than we are use to, but that does not make it unsafe.
—Submitted by a parent

The principal has no control over her staff. We RARELY see her and the office staff is always very luke warm when I go in. The school is really overcrowded and I think that makes it unsafe. My kids are not thriving academically and the teachers seem overworked and worn out.
—Submitted by a parent

Excellent school! Kids love it. Staff is very dedicated.
—Submitted by a parent

We moved to Douglas County from School District Twenty in Colorado Springs last year. We have found that although there are alot of students, the tract system seems to manage the volume of students at any one time quite well. Most of the teachers are superb. Our kids were in a top rated school prior to this one, and from our kids perspective they vote that CRE is better than their other school.
—Submitted by a parent

This is an excellent school and one of the best run in all of Douglas County. Highly recommend the staff and administration as being focused on the individual student needs.
—Submitted by a parent

I was a skeptic at first about CRE. It was nothing like the school we came from out east. But that can be a good thing. The teachers on D-track are awesome. The biggest thing is my kids are HAPPY and thriving. If you dislike this school why don't you volunteer and make it a better place. People are so good at criticism. I would like to see more parent involvement. I see the same parents, never the ones that are always gripping. HB
—Submitted by a parent

The academic programs are okay, but the availability of sports and extra activities are very good. The things that this school is terrible at are that the cleanliness is terrible! My 3 kids have gone to this school and have gotten sick because of the school lunch-which is very poor! They say they only have 15 minutes of recess and 10 minutes to eat lunch. I am very unsatisfied with this school and would definitely not recommend it!
—Submitted by a parent

My kids have been attending CRE for 3 years and they love it! Each year that we have attended the programs just get better and better, even with the tremendous growth. The teachers are top-notch. I commend CRE's staff for it's commitment to it's students and would recommend it to everyone. We have great specials programs, including a nationally acclaimed school habitat. We are now known as the 'School of Science and Inquiry', the first school in the district the officially support this initiative.
—Submitted by Laurie, a parent

The school is great both my children love the school and teachers. Both my kids have learned so much and are above average in all subjects. Every school has issues and most blame the school for the growth, the blame should be on the district not the school.
—Submitted by a parent