Sope Creek Elementary School

Absolutely Terrifying! Avoid this school at all costs. Education begins in ones' home. My son attended Sope creek this past year, On the first day at bus loading coming home, he walked out on to the play ground and was with the after school kids.. No one knew where he was . He was suppose to be on the bus coming home. .My wife rushed to the school .., I was prepared to call the police.. My wife found him upon arriving , he was in the After School program outside. They didnt know who he was..either. Second incident: My son and another boy had to write behavior notes before being let out to play for the little play time that they do get. The teacher let him out.. at that same time the Sub Asst teacher had brought the other kids inside.. He was left outside by himself and had to knock on the school back door to get back in. Folks we moved here from my job in Asia, not knowing anything about Georgia or Atlanta.. We looked at Great Schools for advice on selecting a good school. Sope is rated 10 However I would score them 10 on Gross Neglect, Cruel and usual punishment, over working the kids and a general feeling of depression when you walk in the school. Education begins in the home
—Submitted by a parent

Overall, I was told the school has great teachers. Please think twice if you have a child with special needs. While I received glowing recommendations from parents, I do not recommend this school if your child has special needs. Again, please think twice...
—Submitted by a parent

The pricipal does not treat the parents with respect. Her philosphy is based on learning to learn, no focus on basic skills unless you count the CRCT, which is joke. Successful, experienced teachers are required to toe the line, or risk the pricipal's wrath. There are many great teachers if you are either lucky enough or volunteer enough to get one. The one day a week Target program is a poor substitute for challenging gifted children daily in the classroom. Subjects are taught to the slowest students, there is no attemp to teach to ability. My children's biggest complaint is boredom. The school feels like a prison -the bulletin boards are dull, kids marching along, perfectly spaced apart, eyes staring dully forward. Our experience hasn't been entirely negative. The vice principal knows the children and communicates honestly with the parents and we have been fortunate to have great experiences with teachers that were at Sope Creek prior to the current administration.
—Submitted by a parent

We moved to the area a year ago from Tennessee due to a job transfer. Before the move, I had done a lot of research on the area and the schools. I can say without a doubt that this past school year was one of the best my children have ever had. The teachers were so kind, and they really helped make the transition to a new school as easy as possible. I felt my children were really challenged, and they learned a lot this year. I felt that the administration of the school was very approachable and caring as well. As for the person that posted the comment on June 8, you birthed the child...it is YOUR responsibility to make sure YOUR child behaves. The teachers are overwhelmed with academic responsibilities, and yes they have HIGH expectations. I am very thankful the teachers at this school have high expectations. When the bar is set high, the children will rise to meet those expectations.
—Submitted by a parent

We moved to this area for this School. My Son just finished his kindergarten and moving to First grade next academic year. This school is good for your kids as long as your kids fits in to their school boundary and if you have a Boy really think twice before you move him to this school. Coz' the staffs are lazy to work with active, energetic boys and they just complain a lot about the child every other day instead of working with them. I had a smart boy who is energetic and the school doesnt know how to keep him busy and work with him. They expect parents to work with the child instead of school teaching the kids the social expectations. Developing social and academic skills should be part of the schools curriculum but they put lots of pressure on the kids and parents by not taking responsibility . They expect your kindergartner to behave like a Teenager and its frustrating for the child and parents. Even academically, you are expected to work with the child and they just tell you that they lack in certain areas and expect us to work instead of them doing it. Overall, if you fit in to the school boundary you can thrive if not, it's a bad choice for the kids.
—Submitted by a parent

Sope Creek is an extraordinary school. I have two children there, one of whom needs special services (language arts help). I cannot speak highly enough of the teachers, staff and especially administration and their caring attitude towards everyone's children. There are 1100 students, but you'd think it was a school of 200 with how plugged in the administration is to our children. My older child has an IEP and is served wonderfully by the special ed staff. I also want to mention, you see the admin staff all the time. They are very accessible and responsive. Also, your emails, calls or concerns are answered quickly and candidly. It is a great, great school.
—Submitted by a parent

My son goes to Sope Creek, and at the end of the school year we will be moving to another home in order to remove him from this school. The first year he went to this school, he had the most wonderful teacher and thrived. This year, he has a teacher that is just filling in a spot and that is too lazy to actually care. The administration may be wonderful, until you question them, even politely, about their actions regarding your child. The principal has consistantly ignored request after request for a private meeting regarding our issues, and we are now at the point were we are disgusted. I am extremely disapointed, considering we moved here from out of state, and chose this house in order to have our son go to this school because it is supposed to be one of the best. I would have to strongly disagree.
—Submitted by a parent

Excellent school! Good teachers! great admin and support staff. And principal will personally look into even an individual request/note sent to her attention. I disapprove some of (but not all) their fund raising activitiies. Boosterthon is absolutely criminal and should be banned from not only this school bur all schools.
—Submitted by a parent

We moved to this area specifically for the schools. Sope Creek is an excellent school. I really do not understand some of the comments regarding unattentive teachers. In fact, a couple teachers have spent hours with us working on special plans for our oldest son who tends to get bored easily with the overall level of work. Upsides are excellent academics in regular and advanced classes, attentive teachers (if you treat them well) and great kids. Downsides are overly aggressive parents (this is a famous East Cobb trait), an administrative staff that can be aloof and not attentive to individual needs and a lack of language and arts (typical of all public schools). Overall, we could not expect more out of a public school. If we wanted more academic options on languages or arts and less focus on politically correct social studies, we could choose to send them to a private school. However, with a few exceptions, these may not have a higher level of fundamental academic rigor (math, science and reading).
—Submitted by a parent

My two sons went to Sope Creek Elementary School and received an excellent education they are both in advanced classes in their middle and high schools and are well prepared.
—Submitted by a parent

My oldest daughter went to attended Sope Creek for 1-5. I have a daughter who is attending now and a child getting ready to join next year. We love Sope Creek. The schoool is inviting the teachers are positive and go above and beyond the call of duty. My oldest has ADHD and was treated wonderfully in the classroom and now excelled to Gifted and advanced placement classes at Dickerson. Yes there are alot of donations for things and request however I have seen a noticable decrease in the request for donation in the past 2 years. I am very happy to send my kids here.
—Submitted by a parent

I ended up pulling my two boys with ADHD out because they were segregated from their "typical peers" for 95% of the day! The majority of the staff had no understanding of how to teach students with learning disablities, and no care to change. I felt left out and not included by most moms, even though I chaired a committee in PTA. We need to stop segregating students! All students can benefit from working together! Test scores have become too important. We may be producing kids with high IQ scores, but at what expense? Compassion and acceptance for others are not measured on CRCT tests, but they are extremely important to becoming good people.
—Submitted by a parent

OOPS....I meant to say personnel on my below review, wish there was a better way to correct it?
—Submitted by a parent

Excellent school with tremendous opportunities for hands on learning and development. The school always tests well but just as important are the intangibles. My daughter graduated from Sope Creek with a love of learning and a strong work ethic and I couldn't have asked for more.
—Submitted by a parent

A great school for over-achieving, Ivy League bound students. If your child does not already fit this mold, look elsewhere as it's not a good fit for the average student. Also, I've never been in a school system that wants so many mandatory and pressured 'donations' for everything from t-shirts to field trips (even 'in-school' filed trips??). At times it feels like I'm paying tuition to send my child here. This is our first year here and I'm seriously considering making it our last.
—Submitted by a parent

Sope Creek is a superb school - the children are getting a fantastic education. Highly involved parents and excellent teachers.
—Submitted by a parent

My child is in 3rd grade, and 3 of his 4 teachers have been just super! We had a very challenging year with a tenured teacher last year - we all learned alot. We worked with the counselor about the teacher's opportunities, but it didn't seem to help. We are blessed this year with a super, wonderful, flexible, understanding, open teacher and are very happy. If you want a warm and cozy school, you should do your homework... 1200 students will never be cozy. True there are some 'elite' parents and those of us who work, and yes, most of the activities are during school hours. However, you make the time to be there for your child. I figure if you don't have to work, you should support the school. The new pricipal and counselors are great, as are the front office staff. The tenured teachers could use some continuing ed.
—Submitted by a parent

I can say this is a really good school academically but the level of diversity is very poor. Also there are very few options to get assistance for children who may need extra help. The teachers are friendly for the most part, but I truely agree there is some level of elitism, especially in the children.
—Submitted by a parent

Been sorely disappointed with this school. I moved here to go to this school, the administration is not friendly and want everyone to fit into their boxes. My children are on IEP's -they are wonderful with one child and A complete nightmare with another. I have been lied to by the principal, my son is with Special Ed teachers that are not certified in Special Education. It is a nightmare-I have heard great things about Cherokee County and other schools. Look there first.
—Submitted by a parent

Sope Creek no doubt is an excellent school. Both my kids are in this school. I like the teachers. No bad experience with the office staff yet. One of the reviews said there is economic rift in this school. But hey,,,who cares if someone is a millionaire's child as long as our child gets straight A's. I think as long as we do not bring this economic thing in our child's head everything will be fine. Yes, definitely I found some Parents snobbish....But who cares. It is indeed sad for a teacher to write a review saying she wouldn't send her child to this school where she works. As for volunteering ....I think Parents should back off and let the teachers do their job. Too much Parent volunteering in this school. Moms! go find some where else to volunteer if you have all the time in the world.
—Submitted by a parent