Hackberry Elementary School

To parents thinking of Hackberry Elementary; IF you can help it, don t put your kids in this school. This school has a bad bullying issue. They have the teachers hands tied on dealing with it. The admin staff has done nothing to stop the problems. It is to a point in the some grades that the teachers cannot teach their classes. They have gotten to the point that all they can do is to teach the new STAAR test to the students. Nothing is done to the disruptive students. Our kids are both coming home complaining about the issues on a daily basis. We have gone to the principal and she states she will take care of it and it keeps happening. Some of the disruptive kids are destroying others personal property and nothing is done. We are looking for an alternative to his school for our kids next year.
--Submitted by a parent

I had to remove my kindergartener from this school for bullying. He was punched on a few occasions, taunted and made fun of and called "ghost" because he is white and has blonde hair, he was poked in eye with pencil, had kids threaten to beat him up on the bus because he kept forgetting to bring Pokemon cards to trade, and the final straw was when he was CHOKED by another student in his class. I was constantly in touch with his teacher, and the principal and all they kept telling me is "it's gotten SO much better since the beginning of the year! And the principals answer to it, was "he looks happy when I go for class visits and I'll monitor the class closer". The teacher spends a lot of her day referreeing children who behave like animals and have no accounability. My child would come home and say such and such happened in my class today, I'd ask the teacher and she'd say he made it up. Other parents in the class have had same happen with their students. They have lunch @ 10:45 and no breaks or snack for remainder of day in KINDER!! My child is going to be held back in Kinder for one more year, due to the crazy year this has been for him. Principal and Teachers do not care!
--Submitted by a parent

Like others have said, yes, this school teaches for the taks test. This is not an issue for us as it does teach the fundamentals. We also work with our children to push them further. The bad thing about this school is 54% of the kids speak Spanish and little to no English. The only positive to that is both our kids are A-Honor role. We came from a VERY good school district and moved into a new community that unfortunately zoned us to this little ISD of a district. Clearly this is a large concern for us and other parents seeing how all functions, calls and hand outs are predominately in Spanish. This school tends to be more of a daycare for those parents on a budget and school is merely an option to send the kids. Most of the kids are gone by the 4th grade and staying home alone. This is not a school anyone would be proud to send their kids. We hope that FISD steps in and takes over the District
--Submitted by a parent

Amazing littlte school. Atmosphere that the teachers and principals have is very family/parent friendly. Seems they really are interested in the childrens needs first and foremost. My child has enjoyed all her years going to this school!!
--Submitted by a parent

Wonderful school, staff and teachers. The teacher of my son is excellent. very well organized..
--Submitted by a parent

I have a thrid grder and a kindergartner at Hackberry. The third grader has been there since kindergarten. The teachers my children have are excellent. They take the time to make sure my children are getting the support and education they need. They are very open and constantly communicating. The principal has always taken the time whenever we have asked to sit down and review our childrens' needs and help make sure they are getting the best education. My oldest is in the gifted and talented program and has really benefited from the enhanced curriculum she receives being able to go one full day a week to a distrct wide gifted and talented class.
--Submitted by a parent

I've just started my two children at Hackberry and can not say enough good things about the school and teachers. Before enrolling the took the time to sit down with me and discuss my childrens needs. They asked for our opinions, as parents, and what we wanted for our childrens education. We have one child who has special needs, and they have done everything to accommodate him and make him feel welcome in the school and the classroom. All teachers have been in constant communication with us, and we are always up to date on what is happening in the classroom. Mr Moffat (principal) and Ms Gibson, (vice principal) have been absolutely wonderful. I could never have asked for a more wonderful school and teachers.
--Submitted by a parent

As most other reviews have said, Hackberry teaches the TAKS, and that's it. If it does not pertain to the TAKS test then they have no use for it. I had two kids at Hackberry for 5 years and had problems EVERY year. There is very high teacher turnover. In fact, there is only one or two teachers there now that were there when we started attending 5 years ago. I have a child who will start kindergarten next year but we are moving this summer because I refuse to enroll him in Hackberry.
--Submitted by a parent

I have two children at this school. This past year was our 4th year at Hackberry. My youngest has gone from an A student to barely passing in that time. We have had to fight for everything that they need. The goal at Hackberry is to pass the TAKS. After the last TAKS test the classes did basivally nothing for the remainder of the year (about 5-6 weeks) When my child was struggling I got no help from the teacher or the principal...even after multiple conferences. This school caters to the minority. Every grade level has a spanish speaking class. While I think it's great that they can provide this, I don't think that the other students should have to suffer because of it. This school wants kids to pass TAKS, but doesn't care if they don't actually learn anything in the process.
--Submitted by a parent

I have had children at Hackberry since the doors first opened. Not once have we been disappointed with their teachers. My children have excelled at Hackberry and have maintained A averages. They really enjoy going to school and their teachers have been a major reason for this. There has been some staff turnover, but I believe this is due in part to the growth and opening of new schools in the district where some of the teachers have been transferred. The TAKS does get attention when the time comes for testing. But the school makes it fun by having theme days and all the classes support those who are taking the tests with encouraging words and notes. Overall, my family has been very satisfied with our experiences at Hackberry.
--Submitted by a parent