Manchester Elementary School

I feel most of the teachers here are helpful and really do care. On the other hand the principal who is responsible for dicipline is non-existent. My son is bullied on a daily basis at this school and nothing is done about it. I'm really happy this is his last year here! I'm really tired of him coming home in tears from being picked on. I finally broke down and came away from my own values telling him to STAND up for himself and protect himself to make a definitive statement to the bullies. If the school wont do it for him, he must do it for himself.
—Submitted by a parent

My 3 children have been attending Manchester for 5 years. The teachers are personable, the staff is kind and helpful, and the curriculum is challenging-yet attainable. I love the family-like atmosphere in such a relatively small elementary school.
—Submitted by a parent

Great teachers! Super principal and the students are awesome!
—Submitted by a parent

My child has been at Manchester for 3 years now. Though I was really unhappy with Manchester Elementary's Kindergarten program. When my child was in this classroom, the Teacher was fabulous and we were constantlky told that she was at grade level and above. Unfortunately two weekd after getting into 1st grade here we were told she was way behind. How is it possible to go from above grade level or in the least meeting grade level expectations to below in just 3 short Summer months? Through hard work on our part and our childs she is now doing exceedingly well again. I love the Teachers and the Staff. I have never had any problems with the Principal and though I don't know him well, he appears to be a friendly and involved Leader at this School. They also have great Family fun nights and student activities.
—Submitted by a parent

This is my last year at Manchester and overall it was a great school. Of course I had problems but I believe I'm going to miss this school. The teachers give a reasonable amount of homework. Manchester gives just the right amount of time to finish your schoolwork also. So I would recommend Manchester.
—Submitted by a student

So far, our experience with Manchester has been above average. My child had a bully harassing him a bit and when I merely mentioned this to the teacher at conference (didn't even know the bully's name) this problem was dealt with by the next school day. The bully came up to my child, said they were sorry and would like to be friends. That alone bowled me over, I only halfheartedly believed the teacher when informed Manchester has a zero tolerance bully policy. (I've heard that many times before, after all.) The principal also appears to be involved and caring. Is out there waving to all the parents and kids and chit chatting with them at drop-off. The office staff and the teachers all seem very friendly and approachable and we like that. I feel that if we ever had a problem, we have people on our side.
—Submitted by a parent

It is heartening to hear the parent speak of feeling their child is safe and cared for at Manchester. We aren't familiar with the special needs program faculty or staff. It's nice to hear that it is well run. In spite of the failings of Manchester there are many excellent and caring teachers and staff there. Even so, I would urge all parents to stay engaged and take action immediately if any concerns are brought by their student(s). Some postings on this site have expressed concerns about student to student bullying and a lack of diciplinary action. We did have that experience, but rather had an unresolved and prolonged situation of a staff member bullying, intimidating, and tormenting our child. But like some of the other postings have stated, we ultimately hold the principal responsible. He is weak and as a result fosters an unsafe environment for students.
—Submitted by a parent

I chose Manchester school for my 1st grader because of the special education program. I observed in the classroom and saw the confidence the children felt with the teachers. The school psychologist is on a first name basis with the kids and they obviously think she is great. Every interaction I saw between student and staff was positive. The children from what I observed were safe and felt safe. I worked as a customer service manager for years and have good people instincts. My son's well being is the number one priority in my life and when he gets on the bus to goes to Manchester every morning I know he is safe capable hands. I would challenge parents to work with that strong foundation and support our local public schools.
—Submitted by Sally Morrison, a parent

Our feeling as parents who are active in volunteering, and observe first hand, is that this public school is weak in Principal leadership. Students with behavioral issues are not dealt with satisfactorily.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter has attended Manchester Elementary for 6 years. I will be pulling her out to attend another school for her 6th grade year. There is several things that should be adressed,such as the Principles lack of involvement when it comes to bullying and teachers playing the teacher role and not the buddy or slacker role.I also think that the self manager program should be reevaluated. My daughter is very social and a great student,but because she talkes to much she cannot become a self manager,yet bullies and children failing academically can.Where do there values come from acadamia or Favoritism?
—Submitted by a parent

I did not feel that this was a safe environment in general. My best advice is to ask parents of kids who go there and ask the kids about it. There is much to be learned. My best and worst school experiences (as a parent) were at this school. I removed my kids after learning a lot of things that were occuring and now I am homeschooling this year. That said, the best music teacher and the best 6th grade teacher ever work at this school. They are quality teachers! (I would also like to clarify when I rate the lowest for safety and discipline, I would say that the teachers did a fine job and my concern was not there.) Good luck!
—Submitted by a parent

I went to this school and now so does my son. It is a wonderful school well supervised and taken care of great teachers so much parent involvement a safe3 school as far as I am concerned.
—Submitted by a parent

This is a great school if you have a STAR student but if you have a child with any sort of learning disabilities I would focus on a different school. We have three kids that attend this school from 6th grade on down and we have had both good and bad teachers along the way. The principal does nothing to support the parents and in effect likes to pretend that nothing is wrong at his school. Boy, is he ever wrong! The academic support for struggling kids is poor and lacking organization. You have to jump through so many hoops in order to get help for a struggling kid that by the time you have done all the testing necessary you have effectively made a bad situation worse! That being said, my kids love this school!
—Submitted by a parent

My little student loves Manchester, however, the teachers are on the poor side. They tend to teach to the winners and leave the other kids behind. Its a shame because it hurts the kids. The principle is an ineffective administrator who lets his staff ignore problems until they are huge. Parents beware if your child needs help with anything! My wife chose Manchester based on their mission statement. Bad move. The WASL scores tell the whole story.
—Submitted by a parent

Both of my kids went to Manchester and they are now doing well in junior high and high school. Most of the teachers are good however there are a few that I wonder why they are even teaching because they don't appear to even like kids. The administrative staff is supportive and helpful and the actual school itself is nicely arranged into 'pods' where they have made a point to inter-mix the different grade levels as opposed to having all the young kids in one area, older kids in another etc. They have many classrooms where several grade levels are put together. This is good for kids who can stay on task and also good for kids who benefit from working together with older or younger kids. Parent involvement is a great asset to the school and they have one of the most volunteer hours than any school in the district. The one thing that I would change in the school is the library. It is very disorganized, and how kids can find anything in it is beyond me. All in all, it's a good school.
—Submitted by a parent