Birney Elementary School

This is an excellent school with passionate administrators and teachers. Parents are very involved as well. The PTA is in touch with the needs of the school students as well. My two kids go to the Pre K and K and are performing adequately. They send them home with plenty of homework.
--Submitted by a parent

this school make me a better learning in school and it buitls me a best worker

Supprise to hear the comment posted April 13. That parent obviously did not join the PTA. Birney offers everything she was complaining about. Birney Elementary is a great school. With great teachers.
--Submitted by a parent

My transferred to this school this year and I did not what I learned about it from the start and to this day do not like it. I have never met his teacher. They do not have socials for the kids whether it be Halloween,welcome back to school, or end of school year like his previous school where not only did I know but my son and many of the students knew the principal very well. He was very hands on and really seemed to sincerely care about the kids not only learning but having proper behavior even in fun settings. Birney has weird rules, they do not nourish parent/teacher relationships, they leave kids standing outside in the cold even after the doors are supposedly open. I've seen them let in a teacher and make the kids wait outside and I've seen kids inside because their parents work there running around while other children waited outside in the cold. They DO NOT CARE much but mostly if someone breaks the rules, is late, or does not have the 50 pieces of required paperwork for various things. I am seriously considering seeing about transferring my son out of this school and would not recommend it as it is currently run.
--Submitted by a parent

My step daughter came to this country unable to speak English. We put her into second grade. Birney has a special language teacher who worked with her every day. I was quite impressed how hard the school worked to integrate my daughter into the "normal" classroom. The school works hard to get everyone involved in school activities and your child's education. I'm not sure that the homework is very challenging, however. She's in 3rd grade now and maybe I'm being overly critical as to how much homework 3rd graders should be doing. I'm overall happy with the school.
--Submitted by a parent

One of my son's started Birney in K. He's now in the 5th grade. He has always met or exceeded the standards on the CRCT. I'm impressed with the care and attention given by the principal and her staff. The teachers are always approachable. My other son left Birney 2 years ago and was more than prepared for middle school. In fact, he received top honors at a school which ranks 9 on this site. No complaints from me.
--Submitted by a parent

My grandson entered Birney in the 3rd grade with a 2.0 reading level. He was in a class size of 12, and an assistant teacher in the classroom full-time. He didn't enter the school until October 2006. He is presently on a fourth grade reading level, and passed his national exams. I believe and know his teacher used multiple strategies to bring all her students up to grade level in reading. Now, he feels good about himself, and wants to read everyday and for everyone he comes in contact with. The staff at Birney, I trust, cares about the children and their academic advancement. You will not be disappointed; even their extracurricular activities are involved and developed to enhance the childrens' cognitive thinking, and social skills.
--Submitted by Jocelyn Robinson, a parent

My son has attended Birney for Kindergarden and 1st grade. I've been very fortunate to have wonderful teachers for that period of time. His current teacher really took a lot of time to prepare them for the CRCT test. We are moving and have to change schools. I will miss his 1st grade teacher.
--Submitted by a parent

I have a child who just completed the 3rd grade. I was very impressed with the overall attention my child received from her teacher this year. Her teacher is an experienced teacher with a caring heart. My child's reading level has exceeded my expectations. She is reading on a 7th grade level and doing math on a 6 grade level. She has a great desire to read without me telling her. She lives to go to the library. I do not wait for her teacher to send her to the library, I take her myself to a public library. After all, I am also resposible for her education. Not just her teacher alone.
--Submitted by a parent

I have a child going into 4th grade. I was pleased with K through 2, but 3rd grade was a tremendous disappointment. The teacher constantly ate in front of the children, did not take them outside to play until mid April, never would send home a spelling list even when asked to by parents (kids had to copy off the board), and was basically quite lazy. I took great issue with the fact that she did not get them to the library often enough to participate in the Accelerated Reader Program. Also no notes were sent home when lice was found on another child. The entirety of the 3rd grade class had several weeks of 'silent' lunches, unable to even get to know each other in the beginning of the school year. A few, when they got in trouble, also had to eat on the floor on the stage in the cafeteria. No tables. No chairs. Also many memos were sent home late, and with outrageous spelling errors. Hopefully, Dear Lord, this will be a better year, although I hear many of the best teachers have left. In my humble opinion, if it was actually done the way it was supposed to be done, the America's Choice Program is a sham.
--Submitted by a parent