Colonial Elementary School

My 2 step children and my daughter previously attended CES and my son currently attends as a 4th grader. My son has an IEP and 504 for speech and ADHD and the interaction and experiences between my son, myself, the teachers and the counseling staff has been phenomenal to say the least. Every teacher and every staff member I have had the pleasure to interact with has been helpful, caring, nutruring and sincere. Every one of our children have been honor roll students. And my son's PSSA's....well he scored advanced all the way around, with ADHD. That alone should speak for itself when it comes to the level of education this district provides!
--Submitted by a parent

While this is a larger school for an elementary school, it is due to the fact that they feed into it from several TOP level K-3 schools. Our daughter went through this school and excelled and thrived during those years. Teacher interaction with parents is very high, and the staff are very available to parents. We communicated via e-mail for daily/weekly items, and via the phone for more significant communication. Parent teacher meetings are frequent enough, and if you get involved with the school, you end up seeing the teachers at extra-curricular activities and other events. They have many many activities for this age range, and the technology in the classrooms (computers, math tools, computerized boards, etc) is astoundingly high end and new. This school exceeds anything a private school could offer. My 10-11 year old thrived here and went from an OK student to an honor roll student here.
--Submitted by a parent

I love this school! I think it is perfect for grades 4 and 5. I don't agree that 5th graders and 1st graders belong in the same building. I like the cluster-aspect of the school and I feel it prepares the students for the middle school experience. They are currently going through major renovations but it does not seem to be hindering on the students learning. The renovations seem to be helping build classrooms of the future!
--Submitted by a parent

Disorganized environment. Schools in the district are great k-3 but this place is a mess. Teachers are unapproachable.
--Submitted by a parent

Look at the PSSA scores for IEP students in the middle school. If you have a child with learning disabilities pull them out of this school now. This school fails LD kids. No foundation is provided here. Teachers are always in meetings and not the classroom.
--Submitted by a parent

My only problem with this school is that the children are only enrolled there for 2 years. I've had 2 children in this school and they both had wonderful experiences. My son's teacher was caring, compassionate and involved. There are so many extracurricular opportunities for the children in this school such as band, choir, and Odyssey of the Mind. I just wish this was a 3 year school instead of just 4th & 5th grade. I don't agree with a previous posting that Colonial Elementary is the weak link in the school district. It is the perfect transition from elementary school to middle school. Some parent's miss being 'involved' in the classroom and mistake this as a fault of the teachers. The teachers strive to make each child as independant as possible, which only helps them in transitioning to the middle school.
--Submitted by a parent

Too many kids in this school. The average 11 or 12 year can easily get lost. There is no individual attention. Teachers are more concerned with professional designations to increase salaries. Teachers are in meetings and at conferences and not in the classroom. This school is the weak link in an otherwise very good school district.
--Submitted by a parent