Bryn Mawr Elementary School

Our daughter started this school as a kindergartener 2 years ago and from the very first day we were impressed. We found all of the teachers to be well qualified including a tireless principle who strives to keep parent involvement at its peak. However, there does seem to be a history of non-parent involvement. It is no coincidence that the parents we see during school functions and after school activities seem to belong to the children who are succeeding. Might I suggest to the low star reviewers to also play an active role your child s education, e.g. homework, school participation, etc., and not rely solely on the teacher. Think of it as a partnership with the school. If you do your part well, the teachers can do theirs better.
--Submitted by a parent

i love the students and the teachers . they are very kind and helpful to one another .

This is a terrible school. The teachers don't challenge the students that need to be challenged and they blame the parents. I have a student that excels in reading and is very smart for his grade. The teacher said that she can't give him harder work because she has too many students to keep track of. Maybe she shouldn't be a teacher then. The councilor and the teacher have both made it clear that they discriminate against young parents and that the parents aren't doing their job. They try to "help", but their help is one sided-their side. I didn't want to send my child here in the first place because of their bad reviews. Now I know why they have the bad reviews. I am looking into a different school for my child in hopes that they will challenge my son to his full potential.
--Submitted by a parent

This school has a new principal for 2007. Based on observations so far, under her leadership, this school will not continue on the previous upward trajectory that we've seen. The 2007 enrollment process was terrible. The school fails to adequately keep parents informed of important issues. While my daughters kindergarten teacher was amazing, her first grade teacher is very inexperienced and was unfamiliar with the curriculum for the year during the first parent-teacher night. There are not enough resources to address the varying skill levels in the classrooms or to provide language skills support to the high ESL population. Overall, this school seems to be going down-hill. On the positive, the reading program has been very successful, but that seems to be the only area of success.
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter is a 2nd grader, and we have been very pleased with the school so far. She is now reading at 4th grade level, and her teacher makes an extra effort to keep her challenged in math. Considering the lack of parent involvement and high number of low-income and ELL students, the teachers do a wonderful job.
--Submitted by a parent

Both my son and daughter went to Bryn Mawr Elementary. For our family it was a very positive experience. I felt that the implementation of the SFA reading program was a wonderful addition to the curriculum. Both my children benefited from SFA.
--Submitted by a parent

I think Bryn Mawr is ok but they need to understand people from different ethnic backgrounds a little better.