Castle Hills Elementary School

CHE. Hummm... what can I say... As a parent, I do not feel welcome when I enter the front office. No one even looks up at you to say "hello". When they do acknowledge you, it feels like "what do you want, you are bothering me...". The teacher are apathetic. The Liberian is terrible. No one there seem to be happy and no one there seems to "go the extra mile". Seems like everyone just shows up to work and does the bare minimum. My son does not like CHE. The Teachers are not engaging and the learning is not interactive. The children are not allowed to talk at all or have fun learning in a happy interactive environment. The new principle is trying to make it better, but if you ask me, she needs to fire every teacher and hire a completely new staff. The teachers there are boring, burnt out, and just don't seem to care.
—Submitted by a parent

I cannot imagine a better public elementary school. My daughter had a great kindergarten experience. The parents are all professionals and and have high expectations. The PTA is very active and parents fight for volunteer slots. The school pulls only from the CH neighborhood so the school really feels like a community. The supplies and resources available to students are truly impressive. Kids can take part in after-school golf, science, drama, etc. activities.
—Submitted by a parent

The school is like a prison. My kids were on the honor roll and never got in trouble, however, they hated school and dreaded going each day. No talking, no hugging, you must walk in a line at all time in the hall, no fun . . . The principle has run off most of the good teachers. Parents are not welcome in the school. Not my opinion. Fact. Do your own reseach and find out. Very sad because it was once a great school. Students will get a decent education but they will not get it in a good environment.
—Submitted by a parent

Positive school atmosphere. Awesome PTA involvement. Great teachers. Principal, Ms. Blake, is firm, caring and professional. Great curriculum. Ex: 4th graders dissected sheep's eyeball. Has after-school care, art and academic after-school activities. I would like after-school sports activity.
—Submitted by a parent

Castle Hills Elementary School is home of the Dragons, where children Believe, Achieve, and Succeed! Castle Hills Elementary has an exemplary rating; the teachers are engaged, the parents are involved, and the students are successful. The teachers, staff, students, parents, families, PTA, and Castle Hills Community are one big happy family.
—Submitted by a parent

Castle Hills has the best admin staff I have ever seen. Especilly the counselor.
—Submitted by a parent

This is our 3rd year attending Castle Hills Elementary. We love the school, the principal Mrs. Blake is wonderful, she is a strong leader and keeps excellent communication with the parents. Parent involvement in this school is outstanding. The teachers we've had have been really good and are truly focused on helping their students succeed. Lots of learning resources for the kids, a lot of support from the neighborhood, I can't say enough good things about this school. The only thing missing is more extracurricular activities, sports etc.. available for the children within the school.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter has been at Castle Hills for four years and I was a little concerned with the lack of diversity and was tempted to move my daughter to Prestonwood, however after attending her 1st grade Open house and see how exciting she was and how loving the teachers were it completely changed my mind. She has definitely excelled and each teacher seems to cater to each child based on their level so all can learn. It took a few yrs to get use to the Leadership but it boils down to the best teachers for the kids. We're stayin till she graduate.. god willing.. :-)
—Submitted by a parent

We moved to Dallas 3 years ago. My 6 year old daughter has been there for 2 years, Kindergarten and currently first grade. Our 16 year old son has been in private school for the past 6 years. I can without hesitation say that the level of teaching and care given the students is overwhelming. This is a great community and it is highlighted in this gem of a school
—Submitted by a parent

My son is currently at CHE. There is excellent parent involvement, a new playground, and small class sizes of 20 children per class. The staff is very caring and eager to assist children in meeting the high standards of the school.
—Submitted by a parent

This is a great neighborhood school, great PTA and a lot of parent involvement. The teachers are great.
—Submitted by a parent

My 3 children attended this school three years ago, and I was quite disappointed with the principal, Ms. Blake. If that is what the teachers have to look up to as an example, I feel sorry for the students that are currently attending this school.
—Submitted by a parent

This small neighborhood school is contained within one of the best neighborhoods planned for families with children. The PTA is very active, and gets great support of both time and money from parents. The teachers are happy to be there. My only wish would be more extracurricular activities and more time for PE.
—Submitted by a parent

Too Small and only 20 houses away from another Elementary School. The facilities are new however but there's no playground facilities on campus and the school is already at capacity.
—Submitted by a parent

We are thinking about moving to the area where Castle Hills Elementary is the local public elementary school. We currently live within LISD and chose to send our sone to private school for kindergarten because we felt that Valley Ridge Elementary was an inappropriate match for our educational expectations. We met with Mrs. Blake, the principal at Castle Hills Elem. and we were so very pleasantly surprised! Not only was the staff in the office more friendly and welcoming, but Mrs. Blake took time from her very busy schedule to speak with us, explain a little about the school, and her philosphies of respecting each other (kids, parents, teachers, staff ----etc) and how things worked. We looked around the school, and were greeted by the most wonderfully behaved children who actually looked at us and smiled and even said 'hello'. Originally, we had come to the conclusion that the only option we had would be to struggle to get our son to school each morning to a private school several suburbs away. Having met Mrs. Blake and seeing the effect she has had on the school in an admitedly limited capacity, I have to say that it will be a pleasure to have this as an option for our son as we choose where he will go for 1st grade.