Clarkston Elementary School

My daughter is in 5th grade and has been attending this school since Kindergarten. We are really lucky to have such a great school so close to our home. I have been involved with projects working with nearly all staff, all grade levels, and numerous parents. This year began with a former teacher being promoted to principal. He is really dedicated and has a great attitude. I don't agree with other parents about the former principal but that's the past. I have always been welcomed to visit anytime. I can see checking in with the office as the students have a very busy schedule and may be testing, at gym class, etc. These students do amazing things. I tutor students from private schools who are not performing at the level of these public school students. I believe that you have to take action and everyone needs to contribute whatever they can towards their school's success.
--Submitted by a parent

The connection the staff have with the children and the children with one another is one of warmth, acceptance and respect. There is definitely a commitment to academic excellence combined with an enjoyment of childhood at Clarkston Elementary.
--Submitted by a parent

Great teachers, great programs. A commitment to academic service learning. We love it!
--Submitted by a parent

Quite honestly, Clarkston Elementary is a good school. The principal is (as a previous post mentioned) very prone to talking to parents like they are kids and that is very much not appreciated. She is young and thinks she knows it all and refuses to really and truly listens to a parents request and the reasons behind it as well as the concerns about thier children. There are a few teachers there that really in my oppinion should definitely NOT be teaching but 95% of the teachers there are fantastic! One thing I REALLY oppose is that you have to have prior approval to be able to visit your childs classroom...kinda makes me wonder what goes on behind closed doors.
--Submitted by a parent

I love the family connections at Clarkston Elementary. I believe that this family spirit comes from the parents of the students who attend. Clarkston Elementary has some phenominal teachers as well as some terrible teachers. We have some extremely devoted teachers which is such a blessing! We have been fortunate to get a couple of them but we have also gotten a couple that weren't motivated to help the students or just burnt out in their position so those years have been deemed wasted years for my children. The principal is a wonderful person but she is extremely political. She speaks to the parents as though we are students and don't have the smarts to understand, but she is a wonderful individual. The school pretends to appreciate the parent involvement but most parents feel that they see the parent involvement as competition and lose sight of what's most important, which is the students.
--Submitted by a parent

Clarkston Elementary is a wonderful school. The teachers work with the children their current level(s) and rejoice in the children's accomplishments. The teachers will not hesitate to tell the parents where they need to work with their children to help them excel. The level of parent involvement is overall very high, with it seems about half of the parents signed up to be room parents. The only somewhat negative that I can see is that there are several very young new teachers and a young new principal. The children love them and they seem very capable, but I sometimes feel that maybe the teachers don't always understand the point of view of the parents and the difficulties of following through at home with everything the teachers want, such as homework for the reluctant Kindergartener, etc.
--Submitted by a parent