Mountain Island Elementary School

Both of my children have attended Mountain Island Elementary. My daughter is currently there. I have only praise for this school's faculty, staff and parents. The atmosphere is one of community with everyone working together to ensure a positive learning environment for the children. The recent move to a STEM focus has been an added bonus to an already strong curriculum and emphasis on reading, the arts and academic experiential exposure. Parental involvement is high as evidenced by the high turnout in student productions, STEM night, school picnics and other activities. One of MIE's strengths is its diversity. All families, irrespective of socioeconomic or ethnic background work together to make this school a success. The SLT (School Leadership Team) which is a cross section of school administrators, parents and teachers work very closely to bring the most innovative learning tools and programs to the school well in advance of many of its counterparts. Its PTA is nationally recognized. My children have received an excellent education at Mountain Island Elementary. I highly recommend this school to other families seeking a quality education for their children.
—Submitted by a parent

The facilities are nice and the wealthier parents funnel a lot of time and money into the school to try and maintain the prestige. However the dynamics and demographics have changed over the last couple of years. Bullying has become an issue and when reported to the teachers it is brushed off. The leadership is not as strong as it was. There needs to be a real program for accelerated students other than one teacher who pulls certain students every couple of days for sporadic work. I am not as happy as I was with this school...
—Submitted by a parent

My child has been at MIE for three years and we could't be happier with the school. The teachers and administration are excellent and the facilities are top-notch. The very active and involved parents and PTA have funded so many great additions to the school including science labs, a nature trail and outdoor classroom and a wonderful AR program!
—Submitted by a parent

I pulled my daughter out of this school. Leadership at this school is lacking. Personal experience with some teaching staff was extremely unprofessional. The principal is doing very little. I will NEVER send a child to that school. It is going downhill FAST!!
—Submitted by a parent

This school has seen quite a few changes in the last couple of years. They lost a very strong principal, and the new one has poor relations skills with both parents and staff, which has contributed to many leaving the school. With the boundary changes, the school demographics have also changed quite a bit, and the test scores continue to drop.
—Submitted by a parent

We have 2 children at this school (K & 2nd) and are very impressed with most of the skills they are learning. There is too much focus on AR testing, and I have witness my 2nd grade child's class be reprimanded about not keeping a 85% average. I think she does this often. Overall the teachers are nice and most will agree that there is too much focus on AR and not enough on the other academics. My 2nd grader complains about not having enough time to learn math and ask questions when she doesn't understand. The school has been open since 2002 and is seriously over crowded. Most parents pick-up or drop off students, so car pool line is awful.
—Submitted by a parent

This is our home school and we love it. The curriculum is challenging and the advanced tools are in all of the classrooms. The parent participation every day is what makes this such a special place. There is consistancy on every grade level with each teacher. The principal is assesable with any questions or concerns we may have. My husband and I are from the north so we were concerned about the school system. But with the system at this school we have been totally impressed. Everyone goes that extra mile.
—Submitted by a parent

This is an excellent school with an excellent principal. It's overcrowded. Some parents complain that the school is very structured, requiring excellent behavior in the halls, for example, but a school of this size needs that. A bit of over-emphasis on test scores and testing, but that's true all over Mecklenburg county.
—Submitted by a parent