Bow Elementary School

We moved to Bow for the schools and we love it!! Great school, great teachers. awesome ratio!!
—Submitted by a parent

My son has excelled with the help of the staff and volunteers at the Elementary School. The PTO has a ton of activites and the parents and kids alike are all wonderful. My kinder went from hating learning letters in the summer to reading and sounding out entire words in a matter of months. I love that I live in Bow and consider it a privilage to have such an amazing school system.
—Submitted by a parent

Bow Elementary School does so much for our children. I have had nothing but good experiences with them!
—Submitted by a parent

This school has extra programs for children who need to be challenged as well as programs that help children who need a little extra assistance in learning. Every staff member has a smile on their face daily and you can tell they want to be with there with your child on a daily basis.
—Submitted by a parent

I couldn't agree more with the 3 reviews posted from 2005! I, too, am an educator parent and find that the school is high achieving but not well rounded. Creativity from teachers is not valued. In fact, I would think quite the opposite. The well-educated staff seems to be discouraged from thinking outside the box and encouraged to teach to the test. It s hard not to be high achieving when most students enter kindergarten and first grade already reading! Parents are very involved and there is a lot of academic support at home. I wonder how high the school would score in another community. As for positives the school does offer excellent early intervention for struggling readers. If you are looking for a well-rounded, creative, and enriching school, look elsewhere. This school is run of the mill, lucky to be in an involved community. We're considering taking our kids out.
—Submitted by a parent

We have had a wonderful experence with the Elementary School. Both of my children have had involved teachers that care about their well being. My 3ed grade child reads at a 6th grade level. Her teacher this year has gone above and beyond with helping her understand assignments. Her teacher has contacted me at home with concerns. My son is in Middle School now but when he was at the Elementary School his teachers worked very closely with us. They both loved the music program so much that they have gone on to take lessons outside the school. The office staff is wonderful, Mrs. Gibbons has shown a level of concern for the students that we sure didn't see in the district we were in before. Overall my children have a great base for education as they go on in their lives.
—Submitted by a parent

In my opinion both as an educator and parent this school district is lacking many fundamentals in the race for progression. They have moved towards that progressive edge by hiring a more innovative staff which seem to leave after short periods of time leaving the traditional practices in place. They are faced with the standard that has been set by teachers who are nearing retirement or unwilling to stray from the established past practices, closing the doors on these new teachers, which in turn impacts my children's opportunity for the best possible education. Their lack of funding also has a great impact on the opportunity afforded to my children. The deficit of air conditioning in the facility, lack of funding to appropriately train teachers, puts Bow in a low standing in comparison with the north east. region.
—Submitted by a parent

The special education department of the Bow schools leaves something to be desired. Actually a lot to be desired. The money comes before the needs of the child. I have had nothing but battles with the school over what my child needs. They have no regard for physicians opinions. There has been some improvement since they hired the current special ed director.
—Submitted by a parent

There are two sets of teachers in this school. Tenured teachers are not creative and are satisfied with taking the same old approach each and every year. These teachers clearly do not want to be challenged and therefore offer our children an inferior education. There are then the younger teachers who have drive, desire and determination to educate our children and will take new and different approaches to succeed. They, core the most part, care about our children. Bow schools set higher standards then most others throughout the state. Though children may rank more favorably in other school districts once you get to Bow the child's scoring will go down. This leads to poor placement when the child moves onto other school districts or higher education. It is very destructive.
—Submitted by a parent