East Brainerd Elementary School

My daughter attends East Brainerd Elementary school and I could not be more pleased. The Faculty and Staff are outstanding! The school is old, but a building does not make the school. The Faculty and Staff go out of their way to make sure that you are welcome. The communication from the school is constant and informative. The school sends monthly newsletters, sends connect-ed calls, and most classes/grade levels send home agendas or newsletters. The school has an open door policy which I love! I can come in and out as I please observing my child's class, volunteering, or having lunch with my child. For anyone who has a negative thing to say about EBE, I would challenge that statement, by asking how involved they are? Have they done their part by meeting with the teacher or administration to voice concerns? My experience is that EBE cares about the success of the child and will do what is in the best interest of the child. Hamilton County schools overall may face issues as all public schools do, but at EBE they make it work.
--Submitted by a parent

We were trying to make a decision about my child staying in private school or transferring to a local public school. After much debate and my child touring EBE, we decided that EBE was the school for us. My child loves EBE more than the private school she was attending. Her teachers at EBE have been Ms. Papillion and Ms. Pflug. These two teachers are outstanding. They have challenged my child and raised not only her grades, but her confidence as well. I have had nothing but positive interaction not only with her teachers, but the principal as well. I would encourage anyone looking for a great school with great teachers to look no where else but EBE. This school has provided a great foundation for not only middle school, but life in general.
--Submitted by a parent

As a parent who has had a child at EBE for two years - I know what is going on in our school. My spouse and I have partnered with Mrs. Phlug and Mrs. Papillon and we have interacted in the classroom with the students. We are involved in our daughter's education and we support their teachers! That type of partnership is what makes any school a great school. EBE also has a fantastic Principal and he exhibits genuine leadership. Parents can rest assured that their child is recieving the best education that Hamilton County has to offer when the child attends EBE.
--Submitted by a parent

Our school looks terrible from the outside but thats not what counts. The teachers and staff are amazing. My daughter has Mrs.Pflug and she has helped her to focus on writing and has done a great job preparing her for middle school. The time and encouragement that Mrs. Pflug puts into her students shows how important they are to her. Mrs. Pflug stays with her class during lunch; building relationships and spending time with them. I think that shows how she goes the extra mile. All the teachers at EBE are GREAT!! but Mrs. Pflug GOES THE EXTRA MILE !!!! Thank for making 5th grade special. A School Rises Or Falls on leadership. Ours Rises with Dr. Stewart and our great staff!
--Submitted by a parent

We are new to Tennessee and luckily landed in East Brainerd's boundaries. We love our daughter's teacher and have a great relationship with her. When we have had concerns, they have been resolved quickly and to our satisfaction. As a teacher, I am EXTREMELY picky about who teaches my children and what they are taught. I have seen research based learning strategies and methodologies taught in the classrooms and spelling is taught. I will say that Hamilton County in general is a HORRIBLE school district that needs MASSIVE help. However, East Brainerd is a good school with teachers that care and work hard for their students.
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter is in Mr. Nichols class and we cannot say enough good things about him. He really is great. Our son, however, is in Sue Pflug's class and we could not be more disappointed. They watch movies more than they do anything. We are very strict about what our kids watch and she allowed them to watch some documentary about Hercules that had 10 cuss words in it just by the middle of the movie. She compares the kids and publically tells the rest of the kids who is going to pass in her class and who is not. Spelling is no longer required but alot of the teachers still teach it (Mr. Nichols does). Pflug does not. She says that it is included in the language but she never ever corrects it. I set up an appointment with her after he kept coming home with 100's and I began to look at his work and he would have tons of punctuation errors and 9 to 11 misspelled words. In the meeting, she told me that she is worried about TCAP and basically, as long as they do well on the TCAP, she does not care about there other grades. She does almost nothing in class and sends them TCAP prep one night a week.
--Submitted by a parent

Pflug is awful. She lets them use a calculator for all their math work. My son is going to get to the point that he cannot work a math problem. She frequently pulls him off his work to grade papers for her. I told her that he has no businees doing her work and asked her to stop and she has not. He cannot punctuate worth anything and has trouble spelling, but she put him in charge of grading other student's stories according to their content. He was giving them grades of 3 because he thought the story was boring. How on earth can you ask a child to rate another child's paper according to content? It's insane. My son comes home twice a week saying that she made another student cry. If they forget how to do something, she yells at them. I saved the biggest one for last. On two different occasions, our son has been handed pornographic material from another 10 year old boy in his class. It has been one trial after another. If your child has to go to this school, please request not to have Sue Pflug. It is pronounced floog, like phlegm and lugie. BEWARE.
--Submitted by a parent

East Brainerd Elemementary is a disgrace to education. My daughter dispises this rat hole of a school. The building is falling apart, Whinnie the Poo movies are watched in PE class, teachers move 2nd graders to 1st grade classes withour parental consent! That's right, my daughter was moved out of her 2nd grade class to a 1st grade class for a day without my consent, or notifying me. Communication from this institution is terrible. We are considering paying nearly $5,000 a year to remove her and give her the education she deserves. EBE's efforts to educate our future leaders are pathetic! I am filing a formal complaint with the Hamilton County Board of Education. KEEP YOUR CHILDREN OUT OF THIS SCHOOL!
--Submitted by a parent

I can't say enough good things about East Brainerd Elementary. I have two children attending, and all of their experiences have been ultimately positive in helping them blossom into the best they can be socially and academically. Academic standards have been surprisingly rigorous, and where my children have excelled they are encouraged and challenged at their levels. When they transferred, they were behind even though they had been praised as doing well in a private school 'accelerated curriculum.' Now both are testing at above grade level.
--Submitted by a parent

I have been impressed how this school addresses educating all students--regardless of how well prepared they came to learn. Also, E. Brainerd Elementary seems to be well able to use parent/community involvement. It was impressive to see churches, parents and community businesses all involved in the construction of the new playground. It looks amazing!