James F Delaney Elementary School

This is our third year at Delaney and every year I grow to love this school more and more. The new principal is great. Very invloved. The teachers are kind and fun. They make learning exciting. My 2nd grader daughter is reading on a 4th grade level and my Kindergarten son is doing great as well. There is a great diversity here. They expect students to be responsible and ready to learn everyday. If you as a parent do YOUR part your child WILL thrive here. Any child would be blessed to attend Delaney. I thank God for this school every day.
--Submitted by a parent

Seriously reconsider another education option. Partiality and favoritism are what drives decisions, from the top down and vise versa. Typical "small town" paradigm with no outside accountability or objectivity.
--Submitted by a parent

My son has attended Delaney Elementary since kindergarten (he's now in 4th grade) and I have seen nothing but good things within the school. The homey feeling when you walk into the school itself is the best feeling ever! Let alone the caring teachers that work hard to teach the kids everyday:)
--Submitted by a parent

Very, very disappointed with this school. What would Mr. Delaney think? Budget cuts will most likely further the decline in quality. There really is no excuse in this information age to not be able to provide effective communication among every member within the school from administration, to faculty, to parent. Obviously not enough funding has been or will be provided for technology. More important than that, there is a marked absence of diligence on the part of the school administrators to communicate well to impart positive teacher-parent-child relationships. This experience make the decision to pursue other education options easier. If you are considering a private or home school education, seriously pursue those instead.
--Submitted by a parent

I have not been impressed with this school. Communication is sorely lacking, at least half of notes written to my daughter's teacher go unaddressed. Simple requests are ignored or given the runaround. Newsletters/ PTA information, etc, are often sent home too late to be relevant, if they are sent home at all. All of this pales in comparison to the fact that TWICE my daughter was not put on the bus to come home (she no longer rides the bus), and was 'misplaced' (though later found) while on a field trip. My daughter is very bright and ahead of the other students, and I get the impression that her teachers just don't know what to do with her. This school has given me such a bad feeling that it makes me wary of the district as a whole. We have sought out alternatives and will not be attending any Kennedale school next year. I gave an 'average' score because my daughter has only been attending this year, so I do not know if my experiences are isolated to this one teacher or are typical. We won't be sticking around to find out.
--Submitted by a parent

There are SIGNIFICANT areas of opportunity for improvement for Delaney as it relates to building relationships and school culture. At this writing, our child has been enrolled for one year. We have experienced first hand the decline as mentioned in the previous review. A probable reason is related to the retirement of a key leader, the principle. It is very unfortunate that Delaney does not have a strong collaboration with the other elementary school in Kennedale ISD, R.F. Patterson. To use just one example: If an outsider were to make a comparison by reviewing the activity and content of each school's website, it would be obvious the disparity of information between the two. RFP provides more comprehensive communication about a variety of topics between educators and the parent/student community such their principle's monthly newsletter, photo gallery archive, and professional development teacher postings that offer parents a teacher's perspective about programs currently implemented. It would be very hard to ignore the negative impact that the change in leadership has had on this particular school community.
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter attended this school several years ago and my son is now enrolled. In my opinion the quality of this school has declined since my daughter was a student at Delaney. Like most other public schools here the students ARE NOT challenged and the curriculum has been dumbed down to accommodate under acheiving students. We have placed my daughter in private school and intend to do the same with our son next school yearc
--Submitted by a parent

I cannot say enough about this school! It was an honor to get to know Mr. Delaney and the quality he expected is still being carried on today. We moved to Kennedale in 2002 and I immediatly was glad our son attended this school. The teachers and the principal are the very best anywhere. They want to make sure that each child is successful and no one is left out.
--Submitted by a parent

Delaney Elementary is a top notch school. Both of my kids attended grades K-4. This school is the closest thing that you can get to a private education in a public school setting. The teachers and principal care about each individual student and work hard to see that they are successful.
--Submitted by a parent

Both my kids currently attend this school and I could not be happier. The teachers are wonderful. They encourage each child to do their best. The academic programs are great. My 1st grader is challenged in her above grade level classes and my 3rd grader is doing well in her grade level classes. The music program is great. The 2nd grade class does a musical every year and each class sings at a PTA meeting during the year and at other various functions. The school also encourages other extra curricular activities. The parent involvement at Delaney is tremendous. The PTA is one of the best and is first class. Parent volunteers are also great. The school puts on a great Fall Carnival every year to help pay for programs through the year and the parent involvement is wonderful. I wouldn't want my kids to go anywhere else
--Submitted by Shawnda Hermann, a parent