North Douglas Elementary School

LETS JUST SAY THE SCHOOL PROVIDES A FAR BETTER EXPERIENCE THAN WHAT THIS RATING PROVIDES. GOING FROM PRIVATE TO PUBLIC WAS A BIG DEAL FOR ME AND MY 4TH GRADER...HOWEVER, I THINK NDE PROVIDES A DESCENT STANDARD WHEN COMPARE TO OTHER PUBLIC SCHOOLS. SMALL CLASSROOM SIZE, FRIENDLY STAFF, SMALL TURNOVER OF TEACHERS, AND RELATIVE NEW SCHOOL, MY HUSBAND AND I ARE SATICFIED SO FAE
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter was in the special needs pre-k program here both for the 3 year old and 4 year old class. She had the most amazing teacher, Mrs. Lindsay Day, who was very caring helpful, and supportive. The speech pathologist was great, and honestly the school in general was awesome. We were blessed that this is where our daughter was sent to do her pre-k.
—Submitted by a parent

I'm very disappointed in this school. We unfortunately, moved into this district at the beginning of this school year. I have a 2nd grader and it seems as if they spend a good bit of time on the computer doing reading assignments. She attended another school in the county for a few weeks at the beginning of the school year and that school was wonderful. She had beautiful handwriting and was reading fluently after struggling just a bit in the first grade. All of that changed when she started at this school. Not to mention the bullying and carelessness of the office staff and teacher. This school needs to incorporate more reading programs into their curriculum. We will be moving into a better school district next school year. I wish I had found this site months ago before I sent her to this school. I'm also not a fan of the office staff including the principal at all. The policy on the bullying needs to be reevaluated and the kids should be made to feel safe while they are at school. Very disgusted!!!
—Submitted by a parent

I really reserved my comments until the end of the year. So I have to say with one child being advanced and one with mental illness, they are not responsive enough and ill-equipped. I had to ask the teacher about advanced classes and was referred to the following school year. My other child who is challenged with mental illness has been referred out without my consent to alternative schools. They have staff work with her from other schools without my knowledge and when I ask they do not now the full name of the person and their judgment needs improvement.
—Submitted by a parent

I like North Douglas, both of my children attend this school. I have to say compared to the schools they were attending before this school definitely gets an A. My daughters are both excelling tremendously. I am not as involved, but I appreciate the correspondence from the teachers. We are able to communicate via phone and email. They are always awarding the students when they do well. This helps with self esteem as a child grows. Would definitely recommend this school.
—Submitted by a parent

This is my son's second year at North Douglas Elem (1st grade). I am very impressed with this school. The first thing I noticed is that classrooms have an excellent student to teacher ratio. My son has excelled. They have a lot of parent involvement meetings and they have clubs for students to get involved in. I like N. Douglas so much that when I decided to move, I restricted myself to areas where he could continue to attend N. Douglas. There is definitely as sense of community. This school is highly recommended!
—Submitted by a parent

I don't know why there are so many negative reviews. Maybe the school has greatly improved over the years, but this year (2011) was my son's first year of school and he has been going to North Douglas. His kin. teacher is Mrs. Miller and she is AMAZING. I have met with a lot of the other teacher throughout this year and I must say the teachers really care and love their students. My son Loves going to school. The school also does a lot of fun things for the kids throughout the year. There is a lot of parent involvement and meetings! North Douglas is also a very clean and well set up school. My son had his classroom down within two days of going =) They also give a great lunch menu variety. I give this school all the stars and I'm sad that we have to move yet again, because my husband is in the military. If I had it my way, my son would attend this school until he was ready for middle school. I read these reviews at the beginning of the year and got nervous, but after going to open house I felt a whole lot better! Don't believe me, go check it out for yourself and I guarantee that you will like it =)
—Submitted by a parent

North Douglas is a pretty good school. My child is in the first grade and the teachers in first grade are wonderful! They really care about the kids! I especially love how friendly the first grade teachers are.
—Submitted by a parent

Principal and Asst Principal are non-responsive. It is very difficult to get 504 or SST in place because of this. There is no communication from Art, Music, or PE teachers with regards to curriculum, student performance, etc. School is not equipped to deal with children with mental illness. Teachers do not encourage children to excel, and strongly discourage testing for gifted education, even when it is clear that it is necessary.
—Submitted by a parent

I think North Douglas isn't a bad school. This is my daughter's third year at the school and she has been lucky to have very good teachers. I do feel like others the school could offer more challenging activities at the school. My other major problem is the schools lack of communication when incidents occur at the school.
—Submitted by a parent

I am very dissatisfied with the efforts of my child's teacher. I believe there are a lot of improvements that can be made.
—Submitted by a parent

I am an active parent who stays involved with the progress of my child and I like to work close with teachers to ensure my child has a fair chance at a quality education. The only thing I have experienced with most of his teachers are adults with short fuses who are only interested in showing how mean and hateful they can be instead of letting my child know that they could be approached when they are needed the most. My child is not even comfortable with asking his teacher for help in fear he will be yelled at or ignored when he raises his hand.
—Submitted by a parent

The Teachers in 4th grade are horrible. They have no tolerance for children and no patience. They don't show love towards them.
—Submitted by a parent

I think North Douglas is awesome. The teachers go above and beyond to help the students. My child loves going to school everyday. His teacher is educated and I am proud to send my child to school.
—Submitted by a parent

So far my child has had a good experience in the 3rd grade. I think the technology or lack there of is a big issue. I would like to no what is the school doing to hire better teachers.
—Submitted by a parent

I would unabashedly agree with the previous responses in reference to the aforementioned school. My three children attend this school and have since its inception. Since the school began i have felt very disconnected. My children are not allowed to talk during lunch and they seldom have recess. I look forward to removing my children from this school as i feel it's impeding their learning process. A terrible school to say the least. And it seems whenever there's a pta meeting it's cancelled. There hasnt been one all year.
—Submitted by ANDREW DENNIS, a parent

This is my 5th grade daughter's first year at North Douglas. I am very dissatisafied with the learning environment at this school. My daughter's teacher is awesome in that she tries to meet my daughter's needs, as well as other students. She takes the time to address any concerns I have. My complaint is not with her. In fact, the school needs more teachers like her. However, the school lacks technology, extra-curricular activities, as does a poor job in communicating with the parents. As an educator, I am very aware of the things this school is lacking. The school certainly needs to implement and enforce a school-wide behavior plan. What's even worse, my daughter is constantly saying how little she feels she is learning. This school is less that 5 years old.
—Submitted by Stephanie Grant, a parent

Some of the Teachers are too timid and some too under-educated with not much experience. Some of the teachers know how to teach one way but don't no how to make the kids learn. The school should have started with computers in the classes. This day in time computers are needed. The principal and insistent principal are nice.
—Submitted by a parent

My 10 year old daughter attends this school and I am trying to find a way to get her out of it. There is no outlets for these kids and they cant even talk during lunch. They have no recess and the teachers and staff are not putting the kids or parents best interests to heart. Beware!
—Submitted by a parent

My children have attended this new school since it opened two years ago. I would not recommend this school to anyone who is grooming your child for college. Only a few of the teachers have actually taught for more than 5 years. I have found no open, consistent communication. Teachers will not go thru great lengths to challenge and motivate. It is quite obvious they are just there to receive a paycheck. There are two teachers that actually have the passion that i was seeking. Students do not take art and music throught out the year, only a few weeks of the school year, which hinders creativity. Students are not engaged in computer learning that is necessary in today's world. Foreign languages are not taught. Absolutely no extracuricular activities. The principal is nice, but is definitely running a below mediocre.
—Submitted by a parent