Sunray Elementary School

Everyone is so kind and helpful. The teachers are amazing. The students are happy.
--Submitted by a parent

I have been a part of this school for the entire time it has been open-10 years. I have seen many changes, and many staff come & go.Our new administration is doing a great job & so are the teachers. Positive people do positive things for children who may not have all the advantages, and these people are doing a great job! I wish the ratings would reflect all of the many variables that this school has to navigate. I hope we can have better parent involvement in the future, and not just rely on the school staff to do it all. They are grosely under paid & not at all recognized for all they do. It is staff appreciation week so anyone reading this make sure to do your part to make the staff know how much you appreciate their hard work!!
--Submitted by a parent

My son just started kindergarten at Sunray. He seems to be doing alright after the 3rd week of school. The folks in the PLACE program are just wonderful, the director just cracks me up - she is super-duper superb with the tired school age kids awaiting the bell. It will be interesting to see how the school year goes, it's all new to me and my son's education is EXTREMELY important
--Submitted by a parent

My oldest child opened Sunray as a kindergartener and went to Paul R Smith Middle after graduating. I also have a second grader and a first grader both of whom attended kindergarten at Sunray. We had a lot of health issues with my second grader that really demanded caring, patient, creative teachers and boy, did we get them! Her first grade teacher brought her way up on her reading. Also, the new principal has a ton of experience whereas the old one, so I've been told, did not. One of the teachers told me that Mrs. Reins was great at delagating but didn't know how to do a lot of things. Mrs. Yerkey, the new principal, came from a school where the poverty level was the highest in the area but so were their reading scores! She's been teacher of the year and assistant principal of the year. They're excited!
--Submitted by a parent

My son has just started Kindergarten at Sunray. His teacher seems very nice, but my son is already bored. He likes the art component, but the academics don't seem to be challenging enough for him. It is the second month of school, and the kids are working on numbers 1-10, whereas my son is adding and subtracting two digit numbers. Further, I've noticed that many of the publications/handouts provided by the staff at the school and the PTA members have misspellings in them that aren't simple typographical errors. Despite the above, for Pasco County, I have to say that I am happy with the school thus far, and it is evident that the staff genuinely cares for the kids attending there. The safety component is very good and I really like the Raptor program.
--Submitted by a parent

I do not ever see the principal doing anything but asking the staff to either wait on parents or answer the phone when she is standing right there and she could just as easily help the parents. The teachers are great.

I have two sons at Sunray. My oldest is in fifth grade and has been there since kindergarten. We love Sunray. The staff is wonderful. The teachers give the children individual attention. There's nothing I would change. It's a great school.
--Submitted by a parent

The staff at Sunray is the best, They always look happy to see each and every student. They prepared my son for 1st grade and I thank them. He will be going to a different school, only because we move. We'll miss you all. (Keep smiling Ms. Wilson.) Ricky and Brittany's mom 2006-2007
--Submitted by a parent

My son was enrolled at Sunray Elementary from K to 1st grade (2004-2006). I have since put my sons in a charter school. What a differnce. They get a far better education in their new charter school then they did at Sunray. Sunray is so far behind compared to the charter school. My second grader has spelling words such as chrysalis, curious, butterfly. They have to know the definitions of the words as well as how to spell them. They learn foreign languages. They actually have science and history/geography classes as well. The only thing they learn at Sunray is whatever is on the FCAT. Nothing more. And they don't even do that great a job at teaching that. Best Bet: Put your child in a charter school. They learn so much more and get a better education in the long run.
--Submitted by Rosemarie Scordamaglia, a parent

I have had several probloms with this school. It is not a safe school.
--Submitted by a parent