Carman Trails Elementary School

I love this school,faculty and staff. My child is thriving and I could not be more thrilled with the care and leadership at Carman!!!
--Submitted by a parent

I really can't say enough about how much I love this school. It is warm and inviting. Carman Trails staff does an excellent job working to cultivate a community feeling for students who come from diverse backgrounds. All of our children have attended Carman Trails, some from kindergarden through fifth grade and overall our experience has been a positive one. I'm not sure why some people have written negative things here because we have had a great experience.
--Submitted by a parent

I bought the house within this school district based on the general rating of "parkway south". What a mistake. The staff shows me no organization skills, and no one seems to care about anything. I made an appointment to talk to someone prior to enrolling my daughter. When I took off from work to meet this individual on the scheduled date & time, this individual is nowhere to be found, and no one seems to know where she is during school hour.
--Submitted by a parent

I have three children all of whom have attended Carman Trails starting in August 2001 up to now (5/2010). I currently have a child attending Carman Trails who has just finished the third grade. We cannot say enough about how great our experience has been in having children attend this school. The faculty, for the most part, have been excellent and have truly done a fantastic job caring for our children academically as well as providing a safe and enjoyable place for them to grow. The principal; vice principal; office staff; teachers of art, music, and PE, and other staff have always been helpful, friendly and encouraging. Our children have consistently scored well into the 90th percentile in all subjects on standardized tests. My only concern has been that I do not like their current math program.
--Submitted by a parent

My 4th grader has been at Carman Trails since kindergarten when we had trouble even getting him to learn the alphabet. Now he is getting straight A's and is doing incredible on the standardized tests. I can't say enough great things about the teachers and staff - they continually go above and beyond what is necessary. We would definitely recommend Carman Trails.
--Submitted by a parent

I was very disappointed in Carman Trails Elementary School. The principal lacked professionalism in dealing with our concerns. Social alliances run strong within the school and parents are made to feel that questioning a teacher is wrong. The curriculum itself was very sporadic in structure throughout the year. All in all, very disappointing to say the least.
--Submitted by a parent

I have multiple children at Carman Trails right now and am very impressed with the whole child approach to education there. Too bad the rating is only test scores when Carman has so many invaluable assets. The teachers actually care about the students- what the children are learning and behavior. When I talk to the principal, I feel like I have her undivided attention and that my issue matters. I have kids in the single gender classroom, the mixed gender and with an IEP and each of them gets specialized attention to fit their needs. Every part of the school, the administration, the teachers, the staff and the parents are cooperating to do the best thing for the children. The curriculum is Parkway's and is well implemented. The student body is diverse, yet you feel the sense of community when you are there. Carman Trails is a well rounded school.
--Submitted by a parent

My child attends Carman Trails and I was quite surprised to see so many parents score this school so highly since I live in the community where all anybody ever does is complain about it. The administration of this school is faulty. We have been thoroughly unimpressed with the quality of academic programs at Carman Trails. It's pretty much luck of the draw as far as teachers are concerned. Some are great, some are terrible, and many are rather callous.
--Submitted by a parent

I have had more than one child go through Carman Trails with very different levels of educational and social needs. I have been very impressed with the teacher's involvment in each of my children's ability to suceed and grow. There are plenty of positive reinforcements both in the classroom and in the entire school building. The teachers are supportive of all children and the administation supports their teachers. My children have learned acceptance and patience. It has been a great start to a long path of learning and readied my children for the next step.
--Submitted by a parent

If you have a child in special ED, you might want to be careful with this school. The required, individual programs are not provided for the students needs. The disciplinary actions are very poor. I have to agree, I do think some children are not held accountable because their parents help out at the school. They have a wide variety of extracurricular activities. When we moved here I picked this school for my child based on the ratings and comments people posted on this website. Everything has its good and its bad, and this school does have its good points; however the school was quiet a disappointment to me and my child.
--Submitted by a parent