Woodridge Elementary School

Woodridge happens to sit directly across the street from another elementary school. So overcrowding doesn't seem to be an issue yet at Woodridge. There is a new principal, so this is a year of adjustment for the teachers & parents who were sad to see the previous principal go. There is no assistant principal to ease the load. The school staff do a great job of providing support to the predominantly Spanish-speaking parents and students. There's a committed ESOL team and a bilingual parent liaison. Like a lot of public schools, there seems to be an over-emphasis on testing, a problem that goes beyond Woodridge. Woodridge has a large field where the children play at recess. There are no organized sports afterschool, although it would be nice if someday there could be. Woodridge has a full-time art teacher on staff, which is rare bonus. Some of the teachers seem very strong; others less so. I agree with the previous comment that there have been a teacher or two with chronic absenteeism/tardiness. There are also a few teachers who seem to be unnecessarily harsh or impatient in their tone. Behavior issues seem to have crept up this year. That may subside soon when there's no more Gr. 6.
—Submitted by a parent

I have worked at woodrige for several years. The staff is wonderful and supportive. The parents as a whole are not as involved as you'd like, the PTA is very small. There is a high turnover rate of children as this school, as many move in an out of the area.
—Submitted by a teacher

This school years ago had great teachers, now they have teachers who don't have the patience to teach and the teachers have bad attendance and are very unorganized. Teachers need to be teachers and need to stop trying to be friends and have favorites with the children. The teachers have to give respect to receive it. The principal is great they need new asst.principal and teachers who can handle what the school board issues so they will be able to teach the kids Most of the kids parents voluntarily sent their kids to summer school because the kids didn't learn much because the way the teachers taught.
—Submitted by a parent