Marlan J. Walker Elementary School

My daughter has attended this school since kindergarten and I have not had any bad experiences there. I think a lot of the issues have to do with the child. My daughter loves the school and the spanish program.
—Submitted by a parent

My son went here for kindergarten, he was treated excellent and managed the curriculum well. he is now at a school ranked 8 and is bored and not doing as well. This school is not for everyone, mostly not for children who are not top notch, Sorry, but the truth hurts.
—Submitted by a parent

AYP!!! This school is a big ball of stress. With all of the cuts looming over everyone stress is expected. Leadership is needed to pull this school out of the sink hole it s headed for. Dual language is a great idea, much needed in this day and age. BUT, if the program is not executed to its full potential why force it? My daughter went from A s and B s in the first trimester to C s and D s this past trimester. I ve paid $40 an hour for her to be tutored by Walker teachers. Now she has a private tutor at 3 times the cost, just to get her at grade level. During prep for CRT she was given a reading tutor, once the CRT testing was complete so was the extra reading help. I m extremely disappointed in this school, and myself, I should ve done some about it before now
—Submitted by a parent

DO NOT allow your child to fall behind in this joke of a school! My child went from almost all A's to C's and possibly failing!! Staff is rude and horrible to children and parents alike, there is no safety or security on campus, and the 'Spanish" program is "not really for them to learn spanish???" - or so I was told by the Spanish teacher when I asked why my child still didnt speak ANY! I wrote to CCSD twice now and their solution is to have my child transfer (which we are doing immed.) - instead of fixing the problems! Please do not make your children go to Walker and do not be fooled by their 'international' school antics- worst school EVER!
—Submitted by a parent

My son went to Walker for five years and now my daughter is there. I have had nothing but great experiences with staff, teachers, and the administration. I have found that the parents who are frusterated with the school don't speak up until issues are critical. I am a teacher and would recommend this school to anyone.
—Submitted by a parent

My child has been going to Walker since kindergarten. He loves his classes, he loves the panish part and he has great teachers. They go out of their way to inform you about your child and they are always professional. Thank you walker Elementary on a scale of 1-10 you guys are a 20. The 10 (which is the highest a school can get on this website) does not do this school justice!!
—Submitted by a parent

My kids have been going to this school since kindergarten and they are in 5th, 4th and 2nd grade now. I absolutely love the fact that they are learning spanish this early in life. The teachers are wonderful and the kids really enjoy school. Two thumbs up!!
—Submitted by a parent

While I do like the dual language program, it sometimes overshadows other instructional areas. For example, with some teachers, bright students are not being challenged and advanced in basic academic areas. They are being taught at grade level even if they are far above. The reasoning seems to be that they are being challenged by learning another language, which is true but should not take precedent. Overall climate could be improved by genuine concern, good customer service, and friendly staff members. (There are many already, but one rude faculty member can ruin the entire environment.)
—Submitted by a parent

If your child is in kindergarten, I would not suggest this school.They are not kind and caring in this program.I am ready and willing to help and have been told they do not even want parents in the class. Rude behavior from teachers, not really interested in communication with parents from my experience.I have sent my child to another school.They put on a nice face. I suggest you stay on top of the teachers here!
—Submitted by Kelley, a parent

My kids love the school. All of the teachers that my kids have have are wonderful! The PTA is great! They do so many fun things for all of the kids and families. I only wish that it would of passed for the kids to wear uniforms. Heres to a great new year at Walker!
—Submitted by a parent

I have two boys at this school, each of them are in kindergarten and 1st grade respectively. Our experience here has been one that I regret everyday. On a lighter note, we did love their teachers. My children did excelled in their classes, despite the distraction of the front office and the health office. I do not recommend this school for any child.Ever!
—Submitted by a parent

Thank Goodness Smalley is being built! I can finally get my kids out of this horrible program and still keep them in a neighborhood school. This spanish program looks good on paper but it truly failing these kids. A handful of them are doing ok, but most of them are falling through the cracks! We just had our child tested at Sylvan and found him to be at least on fulll grade level behind in reading, writing and math. The scary thing is that he is bringing home all A's and high B's from school!
—Submitted by a parent

I'm always sad to hear when a student doesn't enjoy their school. The school dress code has been voted on each year the school has been open by the parents and PTA and in fact for the next school year the uniform policy has been defeated. I always felt our children had enough colors to choose from. Blue, green, white for shirts. Blue, black, green or tan for pants or shorts. The only thing my children don't like is that the shirts can't have logos other than the schools. They would like to once in a while have a special Yu-Gi-Oh or some other logo shirt they are dying to wear to school. Out of 180 school days a year, this is an issue only 2 or 3 days. I now think it will be a bigger issue in our house than before. Bring back the uniforms.
—Submitted by Derek and Seans Dad, a parent

My son did not like going to school here. There are several things we did not like. The school only allowed students to wear certain colors, it is a track school that only gave him two weeks of summer vacation. I didn't like that, because he only had two weeks to get ready for the next school year!Also, he had to take a Spanish course. He was having enouph to worry about his regular classes! I do not reccomend this school at all.
—Submitted by a parent

I had several kids at this school, and the ones that were in the Spanish program fell way behind in their abilities to read and understand what they had read, while my kids that were not in the program, did excellent! I have taken the kids that were in the Spanish program out and wished that I had done it a lot sooner!
—Submitted by a parent

I too believe that it is not fair to our children to be forced into learning a second language when they haven't even learned what they need to learn in their main language of English! We moved into a nice area and now we are rezoning our son because of this dual language program. Out of 3 years of going to this school we have only had 1 good year, the other two were horrible. We should have a choice as to if we want our kids to learn Spanish or not. The staff is very unhelpful in reconciling issues. I don't recommend this school at all.
—Submitted by a parent

I think the spanish portion of the school might or might not be a nice idea, I do not believe that it has benifited my child at all. I have recieved little help for my daughter in her struggles with phonics and reading. I pay for extra help for my daughter after school.I believe that if she were to get a full day of english instruction she may not be getting so confused with the difference between spanish and english phonics. Becuase we have no choice our daughter takes up half her day on a subject she is not even being graded on, or recieving any assistance from the school, we are forced to consider moving her to a private or rezoned school. I believe that our children would be better educated if we did not waste valuable resources. That the board of education continuously tells us we don't have!
—Submitted by a parent

Pros: It's no surprise that parents living in different school zones are fighting to get children into this school. The principal/vice-principal take an active role and are truly interested in seeing your child succeed. The teachers/staff are wonderful and facilities are conducive to learning. The school requires uniforms but the dress code is lenient so there are several style options. Cons: This is a year-round school and is a pilot program that incorporates international studies. Some parents love it, some hate it. I believe this program can be a valuable teaching tool depending on the student. If your child has ANY type of learning difficulties this program can be hard. Several parents have complained that their child doesn t get enough help in math/reading/etc. Some feel time learning Spanish could be better spent. Regardless of the various 'controversies' of the school, the entire staff makes every effort to insure your child excels.
—Submitted by First Grade Mom, a parent

The teachers are incredible and well qualified. Both the principal and vice principal are very professional. Mrs. Smith is an expert with this type of school abd teaching method. This school is fortunate that the PTA raises lots of money for the children to have learning aids and books in the library. I feel fortunate that my Daughter is attending and am looking forward to my son attending this wonderful school.
—Submitted by Dale McCarthy, a parent

Spanish immersion is Walker's flagship. The problem with it is they hire teachers who are 'fluent' in Spanish, but it is a second language. Imagine captivating 15 1st graders' attention in your second language. Why not hire great teachers who don't speak a lick of English.
—Submitted by a parent