Lawton Elementary School

Lawton lacks strong, sustained, consistent leadership and, thanks to district 'appointments' has had five principals in two years. Two of whom were/are completely new to principalship. The cluster model for Spectrum in now in place so there are no more self-contained advanced learning classes which, depending on your preference may be a good thing. Differentiated homework, according to school policy, is not available although homework is essentially optional. The school has an active core of parents but a lot more parent bystanders. It's not a bad school but not a great school either. There is potential.
--Submitted by a parent

Lawton is having trouble. The staff(some) and principal are not comfortable with the Spectrum self-contained gifted program, so they have "blended" the program into general ed assuring parents the kids will do just as well. It's so ironic that this bastion of white privilege (Magnolia) is so anti-elitist when it comes to placing kids by ability. Otherwise, it's nice to see people who could go private, money-wise, staying in public school. Staff ranges from very good to old school and a few lazy-bones. Principal is so green she squeaks and has her hands more than full with some pushy staff, noisy parents and ill-managed district. Nice building, should handle a good quake, and the janitor, playground guy and gym teacher are A+. Cliquey? Oh ya, but if you live in the attendance area, I would go and enjoy the ride. Definitely a bargain.
--Submitted by a parent

We have young children so I cannot comment beyond the second grade. Of the 5 teachers we've had are, two should choose another profession. I was appalled when I witnessed a teacher habitually using "old school" techniques of embarrassment to gain control of the class. To be fair, large classroom sizes can be overwhelming, but a seasoned professional educator worth their salt should have other tools. The real problem has been the response: Lead administrator response borders on incompetence. Charitably, one could say she has LOTS to learn. There are more concerns centering on communication. As for parent involvement, it is high but you're either part of the "in" crowd or the "out" crowd. Sadly, much like high school.
--Submitted by a parent

We have had fabulous, OK, and not OK teachers at this school, so our experience there has been spotty. We are not nearly as satisified with this school since the years when Ed Noh was there, due to the principal juggle and the new leadership. Parent involvement is strong, but a bit cliquish. The class sizes are large, which might be typical of other public schools, which makes it more difficult for teachers to address more individual needs or the social/emotional aspects of development. So that is not a reflection on the teachers but rather a reflection of "the system". Walk to math and reading are good. The school has been topsy turvy on deciding how to deal with Spectrum, and the communication about decisions and implications of that have been extremely poor. If you are interested in Spectrum you should ask lots of questions about how they are going to implement the program for the 2011/2012 school year.
--Submitted by a parent

Update on the teacher in the last review. She is gone. Lawton is a great school! I always wonder why parents pay for private K-5 education when this amazing educational opportunity exists in their own backyard!
--Submitted by a parent

Lawton is an excellent school. They have many before and after school programs for the children to choose from. The enrichment committee ensures music and art is received by all. The PTA is very strong there and have raised substantial amounts of money to provide additional staff and programs. The staff is great there, however with any entity there is always one bad egg. One of the teachers is horrible. She is one of those educators who has been around for a long time and appears to have no desire to change. The principal doesn't seem to want to get into the middle of the situation. A few kids left this year to other schools because of her. If she would leave, the school would be a better place.
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter is in 2nd grade and has a learning disability. Lawton is great at giving her the support she needs. Principal Ed Noh sets a great example as he is out there every day greeting the kids and parents and knows all of them by name. The parents community is very strong, working on fundraisers and doing projects around the school to keep it beautiful, clean and bright. Most teachers are very dedicated and go that extra mile for the kids. The only knock I have is that class sizes are way too big. The school district needs to hire more teachers and reduce the classroom sizes as too much time is spent on teachers making sure are where they're supposed to be instead of teaching. It's not the teachers' fault; it the school district's lack of funds. Welcome to public schooling!
--Submitted by a parent

Great school for advanced students. My children loved male teachers they had for 4th and 5th grades.
--Submitted by a parent

Lawton is an excellent small public school. Principal Noh has taken an agressive anti-bullying approach that resolved my 4th grader's problems last year (he is now friends with one of the bullies). His 3rd grade teacher, Mrs Wong was excellent and developed several techniques for him to self refocus and stay on task, and he is now above grade level in reading and math in his 5th grade class. The teaching staff has been working together for several years and developed complementary strengths. There is a high porportion of strong male teachers, especially in 4th and 5th grades, which is good for teaching active boys. The 'Unicycle' and 'Bagels and Books' after and before school activities are great for kids that are not athletically gifted or oriented.
--Submitted by a parent

This is a wonderful small public school. Currently a great principal.
--Submitted by a parent