Frontier Elementary School

Administration is horrible there. My child has been bullied by the same child for months now and so has other kids. Also child is giving death threats to this child along with students. The child is still allowed to be in class and they administration is sitting on their hands. The teacher is excellent but what can you do when administration would rather try and "reach" and help the child while 5-10 others suffer emotionally, physically(b/c the child has also hit and hurt others badly).. They do nothing but "talk to childs parents" and the child comes back next day to threaten again, only to end up in office the rest of day, not suspended or expelled. Shameful!
—Submitted by a parent

wow, I am somewhat surprised by some of the reviews. I had a child in preschool here with an IEP for a year and a half. We loved her teachers and she progressed very quickly to achieve all her goals and no longer needs an IEP. My older child has struggled with reading one year and math another year. Each year she received propper help and not only got up to her grade level but slightly exceded it. She loved her teachers and will miss the school greatly. They had an awesome art program this past year, as well as music (handbells and choir), and spanish, and a PE teacher who really cares about the kids. The only lacking thing i could see was parent involvement. It was the same small group of parents in each grade who do everything. All I can say is.....get involved!
—Submitted by a parent

What a sad, sad school. Teachers are crying & cursing. Parents are being told their opinions, concerns & student don't matter. Students are running a muck. Why is this Administration allowed to continue? In the classroom there is physical violence between students, but that is ok because the violent student is "special". When 1/2 the classroom are bullies who is protected? The "special" students! There is a "no fun policy" for the school. ANything that was fun has been squashed by the Principle. This is not a normal school or acceptable. The other schools are not this way. Why does district allows this to continue!? Why should our students be punished & left behind because of a Principle gone wrong? This is not right. WAKE up district. This school is so wrong in every way possible (but the teachers) ! Does there need to be permeant damage to a student before there is a change? I truly hope not. Please think of the students. Please think of the parents. Please think of the teachers. Please think of the staff.
—Submitted by a parent

Although many of the teachers here are fabulous, it doesn't make up for the Administrations lack of leadership! With such a lack of professional focus, the teachers (and students) here are constantly leaving for other schools and even other districts. It's important that an administrator looks out for what's best for kids and supports her staff. Unfortunately, Frontier does not have this kind of support. I would not send my child here or work there (I'm a former teacher of Frontier) until the administration receives some mentoring and professional development or until the administrators are finally asked to step down. Feel free to do your own research on scores, student enrollment, and teacher mobility!!
—Submitted by a teacher

I love this school! Great resources, friendly office staff, wonderful and caring teachers. My children are very happy here!
—Submitted by a parent

After 5 years, I moved my daughter to another district altogether, and the results have been amazing. Her new school identified and addressed the areas she was weak in, and her confidence and achievement have improved dramatically (in just 4 months). She had spent her entire career at Frontier as "a problem student" and was constantly labeled as ADHD, despite no doctor or psychologist assessment. Everything was geared around teaching to the CSAP, and not about creating successful adults. There seems to be constant stress and drama amongst the staff, and this seems to carryover into marginalizing kids who may not perform well instead of dedicating resources to help them improve. In fact, they have decreased the resources available to these kids. District 20 did not live up to it's reputation here.
—Submitted by a parent

The administration is very receptive and helpful. There is lots of opportunities in school and before/after for music, art, sports, science chess, and more. The teachers are very communicative.
—Submitted by a parent

I do not recommend this school. Most of teachers are nice, but administrators, especially principal is just not supportive. I had many VERY disappointing experience with her and we are moving my children to another school next year.
—Submitted by a parent

I attended Elementary School at this very school. Now mind you this was a while ago 1985-88 to be exact. However, as someone who is now embarking on the journey of becoming an Elementary School Teacher, it is more apparent each day that parent involvement and the incorporation of parents/guardians into the daily lives of their child(ren) as a student and one day as an educated member of society is key. I also take this opportunity to remind adults, myself included, that when blogging, responding, or just informing, we need to be examples to others, especially with how our words are used and/or spelled. I was appalled to see that the word 'principle' was misused in the last post by someone referencing the 'high expectations' of the school. We certainly all remember that the principal is always your PAL! The expectations of your students are high because they can achieve it.
—Submitted by a teacher

Great school! Principals, Teachers and support staff are all very friendly and supportive. Always willing to go the extra mile to help students with areas they are struggling with. Never had problems with the timeliness of receiving important paperwork as another parent/reviewer mentions.
—Submitted by a parent

Disorganized elementary school. School papers would go home a week after school activity already happened. They would rather hold a child back because they did not give a child enough IEP funding than give the child proper IEP.
—Submitted by a parent

My child spent k - 4th grade at Frontier. The staff was top notch. I was extremely impressed with Principal Tencick's ability to know each and every student not only by name but also by interests and siblings. Having moved to other states I can firmly say that D-20 is the most student centered school district my children have attended. The overall committment to the students is apparent from the central office staff to the crossing guards. As a parent I always felt welcome at the school and even my most minor concerns were always addressed.
—Submitted by a parent