Uintah School

We have been on the private-public fence for a few years now, and continue to choose Uintah for its amazing parent involvement, loving, smart, enthusiastic teachers, and great facilities. I think there is a truism in that you will not get excellence in every teacher experience regardless if you are paying hefty private school tuition or are in a public school. I think that the drawback continues to be that the school must t"each the test" and that takes away from room for more innovation, creativity in teaching, and new learning techniques such as open age learning, so those will same math level all end up in multi-age classroom for math, those needing more attention with reading might all be reading level gathered for that segment, etc. When we had large class sizes in 3rd G. the Principle responded immediately and highered a new teacher! Awesome can do attitude here at Uintah.
—Submitted by a parent

My children and I have loved Uintah Elementary. The teachers are kind, attentive, hard-working, and fun. My children have excelled at this school. The parental involvement is great. The only negative is the large class sizes, especially in the higher grades. My son is in 5th grade, and there are 34 students in his class.
—Submitted by a parent

Uintah is great because the teachers, administrators, and parents all work together for the kids!
—Submitted by a parent

Super teachers! Super facilities!
—Submitted by a parent

We enjoyed Uintah. Parental involvement was very high. Good teachers made all the difference. The art program was excellent. It was mostly ran by volunteers, PTA and some other moneys. There is a good neighborhood feeling. Kids learn standard-based education in a loving and supporting environment. There are solid options for accelerated learners as well as special needs children. There are other after school-affiliated programs that my son attended: Spanish and Skiing. I loved it.
—Submitted by a parent

this school was ok for what if has to work with so I'm pleased but not pleased with it at the same time if you know what I mean. the class room are to full of children and over power the teacher.

My daughter is a 1st grader this year and so far LOVES her school! From my perspective she is learning a lot, is having fun, and has made good friends. There seems to be a good balance of creativity and academics. My daughter has made so much progress this year in her reading. I am very happy with Uintah so far.
—Submitted by a parent

Because of high test scores, we do not get funding for in class aides, etc. The parents are the ones who teach art and much of the music in the classroom. Too much emphasis on no child left behind. And the class sizes are just too large. The level of homework seems excessive and there is pressure to make the test scores 'fit.' We don't even have an in house school nurse. Without the intense parent involvement, the children would be lost. I wish all teachers were as innovative and child centered as those in the lower grades (e.G. K-2). It's too bad we need to donate money directly in the classrooms because our school does not qualify for anything 'extra' as some other schools that have lower aggregate test scores do. It's unfair to the teachers who have no time to help a struggling student in a class of 30.
—Submitted by a parent

We came to Uintah very concerned about Utah's underfunding of schools and its crowded classrooms. Our experience has been wonderful - a caring community of committed teachers offering a fun, strong curriculum, and a core group of parents who 'step up' for art/music/reading /party organizing roles in the classroom. We go back and forth about private education, but our son loves his school and won't hear about a change. And, the test scores speak for themselves. Only drawbacks - crowded classrooms in the upper grades (although the test scores don't reflect that) and not much in the way of diversity. A fairly heavy dose of worksheets and homework are my child's only gripes.
—Submitted by a parent

The teachers here have a knack for broadening the vision of the students. For example the kindergarten teacher taught the students to be 'authors and illistrators' The students become so interested in her stories that they don't realize she sneeking in the ABC's and higher math.
—Submitted by Jane Ricks, a parent

Parent involvement at this school is amazing! My experience is that if you don't sign up the first day to volunteer in the classroom, most of the volunteer opportunities have already been spoken for. My child has had teachers that bring enthusiasm and educational expertise to the classroom each day. The Principal is supportive of the teachers and brings a robust enthusiasm to the school.
—Submitted by a parent

I'd say this school is half good half bad. There are some excellent teachers here but about half are the type that wished they were retired and tend to switch on a video instead of teaching.