How do you know if a school is bad?

[Anonymous]

My DC really seems to like their elementary school — has made some close friends and occasionally drops some new knowledge they learned. But as a parent, I’m at a loss. It’s been a few years (yeah with a pandemic in the middle) but I know absolutely NOTHING about what happens after I drop my kid off every day. We are given literally no curriculum overview, no work comes back to me, we meet with the teacher twice a year for 15 minutes. When I talk to other kids or parents in other schools they know what their kid is learning, they are drowning in artwork and journal entries and tests and projects. The kids get to present on a subject or write poetry or make villages out of macaroni or whatever. I am seeing no evidence of the work that contributed to good or bad “grades”. I get that there are many modes of education and maybe my kid is getting an amazing education but I would never know! Nothing is shared (I’ve asked) and we aren’t allowed to literally go in the school (ACPS way behind the times).

Am I asking too much? Should I drop it if my kid isn’t coming home crying?

[Anonymous]

You have the answer OP. A school that treats teaching and learning as the best kept secret is actually preventing you from seeing their inside mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC really seems to like their elementary school — has made some close friends and occasionally drops some new knowledge they learned. But as a parent, I’m at a loss. It’s been a few years (yeah with a pandemic in the middle) but I know absolutely NOTHING about what happens after I drop my kid off every day. We are given literally no curriculum overview, no work comes back to me, we meet with the teacher twice a year for 15 minutes. When I talk to other kids or parents in other schools they know what their kid is learning, they are drowning in artwork and journal entries and tests and projects. The kids get to present on a subject or write poetry or make villages out of macaroni or whatever. I am seeing no evidence of the work that contributed to good or bad “grades”. I get that there are many modes of education and maybe my kid is getting an amazing education but I would never know! Nothing is shared (I’ve asked) and we aren’t allowed to literally go in the school (ACPS way behind the times).

Am I asking too much? Should I drop it if my kid isn’t coming home crying?

Some schools are very stressful to work at. I used to work at a school with very high needs. Teachers are so burnt out that things that they used to do many years ago, they no longer did. There was a leadership change and morale went rock bottom. No one did any projects, wrote any newsletters - everyday was about getting through the curriculum as fast as possible. Most people were just trying to get the basics covered. And I am not sure if you heard, but "standardization" is pretty much something that is being pushed right now throughout various districts. It means that Class A needs to be doing the same exact thing as Class B, C and D if they're in the same grade level. You are better off asking another kid or parent in your own school (who is also in the same grade as your kid) rather than a kid or parent in "other" schools.

[Anonymous]

What school is this OP? we're also in ACPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have the answer OP. A school that treats teaching and learning as the best kept secret is actually preventing you from seeing their inside mess.

+1

What the OP describes is the same as what we experienced at George Mason (with the exception of kinder and second and those two teachers left). Friends who are still there tell me it's gotten even worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC really seems to like their elementary school — has made some close friends and occasionally drops some new knowledge they learned. But as a parent, I’m at a loss. It’s been a few years (yeah with a pandemic in the middle) but I know absolutely NOTHING about what happens after I drop my kid off every day. We are given literally no curriculum overview, no work comes back to me, we meet with the teacher twice a year for 15 minutes. When I talk to other kids or parents in other schools they know what their kid is learning, they are drowning in artwork and journal entries and tests and projects. The kids get to present on a subject or write poetry or make villages out of macaroni or whatever. I am seeing no evidence of the work that contributed to good or bad “grades”. I get that there are many modes of education and maybe my kid is getting an amazing education but I would never know! Nothing is shared (I’ve asked) and we aren’t allowed to literally go in the school (ACPS way behind the times).

Am I asking too much? Should I drop it if my kid isn’t coming home crying?

Curriculum overview is presented at Back to School night (yes it was virtual, but still was presented there) and if you email the teacher, they should also direct you to where it is on the website. Do they do work on SeeSaw? Maybe if the teacher is not sending home papers (that can happen if they are working in a journal or notebook instead of worksheets), they are doing a lot of things on SeeSaw which we got used to in the pandemic. You can connect to the students SeeSaw account and see what they are doing. I would reach out to the teacher and see what they say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC really seems to like their elementary school — has made some close friends and occasionally drops some new knowledge they learned. But as a parent, I’m at a loss. It’s been a few years (yeah with a pandemic in the middle) but I know absolutely NOTHING about what happens after I drop my kid off every day. We are given literally no curriculum overview, no work comes back to me, we meet with the teacher twice a year for 15 minutes. When I talk to other kids or parents in other schools they know what their kid is learning, they are drowning in artwork and journal entries and tests and projects. The kids get to present on a subject or write poetry or make villages out of macaroni or whatever. I am seeing no evidence of the work that contributed to good or bad “grades”. I get that there are many modes of education and maybe my kid is getting an amazing education but I would never know! Nothing is shared (I’ve asked) and we aren’t allowed to literally go in the school (ACPS way behind the times).

Am I asking too much? Should I drop it if my kid isn’t coming home crying?

Curriculum overview is presented at Back to School night (yes it was virtual, but still was presented there) and if you email the teacher, they should also direct you to where it is on the website. Do they do work on SeeSaw? Maybe if the teacher is not sending home papers (that can happen if they are working in a journal or notebook instead of worksheets), they are doing a lot of things on SeeSaw which we got used to in the pandemic. You can connect to the students SeeSaw account and see what they are doing. I would reach out to the teacher and see what they say.

You have to make an appointment with ACPS and go to a separate location to review curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC really seems to like their elementary school — has made some close friends and occasionally drops some new knowledge they learned. But as a parent, I’m at a loss. It’s been a few years (yeah with a pandemic in the middle) but I know absolutely NOTHING about what happens after I drop my kid off every day. We are given literally no curriculum overview, no work comes back to me, we meet with the teacher twice a year for 15 minutes. When I talk to other kids or parents in other schools they know what their kid is learning, they are drowning in artwork and journal entries and tests and projects. The kids get to present on a subject or write poetry or make villages out of macaroni or whatever. I am seeing no evidence of the work that contributed to good or bad “grades”. I get that there are many modes of education and maybe my kid is getting an amazing education but I would never know! Nothing is shared (I’ve asked) and we aren’t allowed to literally go in the school (ACPS way behind the times).

Am I asking too much? Should I drop it if my kid isn’t coming home crying?

When physical paperwork/art etc weren’t coming home with my elementary student I found out (by asking my so) just how much time was being spent Learning on the computer this year. It’s a shame you can’t go in to the school. I was able to go in to volunteer at a student event and confirmed some concerning things (things my son mentioned in terms of cleanliness of the school and disciplinary issues happening) just by observing.

Something to keep an eye on for next year if you notice the trend continue. In our county, they are using the laptops in some classes (like ours) way more than seems appropriate for this age level.