Woodglen Elementary School

The principal has children attending the school and within the district. Inherently there is a conflict. There is such great fear to stir the soup that underlying problems get completely ignored or whitewashed. Parents will hover over the teachers so as to be certaint that their own children are treated well, even if it means that other children get marginalized. The level of teaching with few exceptions is substandard. The level of empathy for children with special needs is completely missing, and the level of apathy is overwhelming. When you walk into the schoool it is like everyone is putting on a show, rather than digging into the nitty gritty of why there are problems in the first place. I would not entrust my child to that school and would recommend that if you don't live in the Woodglen district, you don't plan to move there, as entrusting children to that school and that principal is a mistake when there are better within the same district.
--Submitted by a parent

This school doesn't meet the needs of the children. As well, the teachers are more afraid of what the parents think than what they need to do for the children.
--Submitted by a parent

This year 2008 brings a great principal who has really turned things around. Its a great school and great administration.
--Submitted by a parent

This past year, the Principal leadership has been poor. However, there will be a new Principal as of September, so things should improve. The quality of the faculty and staff are excellent. They all care greatly about the welfare of the students.
--Submitted by a staff

My son just finished kindergarten. He had the youngest teacher there. She was excellent. He thrived in her class. She challenged him academically. Yes I know it's only kindergarten, but if our child knows a little more than the others it helps. There were 20 kids in his class. All Kindergarten classes were 20 kids or less for the 2005/2006 school year. This is the largest elementary school in Clarsktown. It is run like a well oiled machine. The principal and vice principal are very involved. I always saw the principal and or the vice principal outside in the morning and afternoon with the buses.
--Submitted by a parent

wonderfull school,Teacher are very involved with students both socially & academically. my daughter loves going to school! Parent involvment is not so great. PTA is not strong. Principal & Vice are very involved with students.
--Submitted by a parent

The quality of the academic programs did not meet my expectations. When I initially investigated the school, I was told that there were approximately 18 childred in each class. When my child started Kindergarted there were 27 childred in his class. These numbers continued throughout his time there (5th grade). The 6th grade was moved to the middle school which treated the 6th graders like middle school students. I expected much more from this school. There were a number of 'new' teachers. Sometimes 'fresh' blood is good but I didn't find this to be the case. I found that they were not experienced enough for the educational task.
--Submitted by a teacher