North Beach Elementary School

Great News! Beginning with the 2010-11 school year, North Beach has a new principal, a young man who seems very enthused to be there. This has been great for staff, parents, and students, as for the previous 3 years the school had suffered under a principal who simply wasn't a good fit. We've got wonderful teachers who support innovative programs such as our "Walk to Math" and "Walk to Reading" blocks in which students leave their classroom to walk to the Math class or Reading class that best matches their current level and needs. This means a precocious kindergartner might go read with the 2nd graders. For math, if your kid is at grade level they go to one math class, if they are struggling, they walk to another, if they are advanced, they go study math with the older students. VERY innovative for a public school. Huge parental involvement too, and it is welcomed and used well by the teachers.
--Submitted by Grant Fjermedal, a parent

It's a small school, has a family feel, and has great teachers!!!!
--Submitted by a parent

Because it it large enough to have great resources and programs, but small enough that the principal knows every kid (and most of the parents) by name. We often have 100% PTA membership from year to year. Kindness and inclusiveness are core values along with academics. The 'gifted' program isn't all/nothing: kids who might benefit from advanced instruction in math but not English, etc., can still can access that advanced learning in that one area -- a side benefit of this is that you don't end up with a 'clique' mentality of the 'smarties' vs the 'regulars.' New science shows that that division actually hurts BOTH groups.
--Submitted by a parent

The dedicated staff and community of families working together to make the school the best it can be!
--Submitted by a parent

Without proper leadership a school does not thrive, teacher's settle for the status quo, and children get left behind. Once principal Morningstar left, this school has been struggling to find its momentum behind its leadership and failing. My child's first kindergarten year was under the leadership of Mrs. Morningstar and our year was stellar. Each year since has seen a steady decline in leadership and it is blaringly obvious when an issue arises. While academically I have nothing negative to say about the school, academics is not the only area of importance. I have been extremely disappointed in our last two years at North Beach (2007-2009) and will be sending my child to another school next year.
--Submitted by a parent

North Beach is a small, neighborhood school with caring teachers, very involved parents and a nice selection of extracurricular activities (science club, art club, claymation, chorus, etc.). The principal and staff are open to making changes that benefit the students and nicely balance classroom learning with art and music. My only complaint would be too much homework for the kindergartners. We do have 9-page packets to be completed in a week. Mostly my son enjoys them, but occasionally, after a long day of school, it is just too much for a 5-6 year old.
--Submitted by a parent

Good parent involvement and community. There are some great teachers there who really care and some great support staff in the PE dept and a great new resource center counselor who has been very proactive. The parents within the community are also very active. Two major complaints would be the relatively new principal's lack of ability to deal with the parents involvement and concerns and the repetitive nature of some of the math homework which is skewed for testing purposes - lot's of repetition and learning to do it as fast as possible.
--Submitted by a parent

I sent my daughter to North Beach for kindergarten - 3rd grade and it was a rather miserable experience for her. We were initially attracted to the school because it was within walking distance and it had 'Spectrum', a public gifted education program, in place. The Saxon Math worksheets were not satisfactory at all, and the staff was not willing to accomodate any different programs for her and the other 'Spectrum' students. I sincerely hope that the math and gifted classes supposedly in place have greatly improved.
--Submitted by a parent

Our kindergarten experience at North Beach has been quite different. While there are homework packets every week, we've never received anything 9 pages. There is an understanding that the homework is meant to reinforce the work of the week, however we've never felt any pressure to accomplish everything in the packet and if we did, a quick discussion dismissed that pressure. For our child it has been a great year and has really helped him develop a love of math, science, music, and socialization. His experience with the teachers and principal have been great.
--Submitted by a parent

North Beach has a great feel, lots of parent involvement, principal seems strong. The Kindergarten program, however, is joyless. There is such a focus on test scores at the expense of any choice time, games, or learning centers. It is direct instruction and worksheets all day long with a 9 page homework packet each week. I hope the other grades are more balanced. So far school hasn't been very much fun.
--Submitted by a parent