University Park Elementary School: Brutally honest opinions from current parents?

[Anonymous]

I went to the open house this week and checked out the three Kindergarten classes. I was impressed with the teaching, the bright classrooms, and the student work on the walls.

[Anonymous]

It looks way different in the class with 35+ kids in there with just one teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It looks way different in the class with 35+ kids in there with just one teacher.

Is there a class like that?

[Anonymous]

My child's kindergarten class has 18 students...not sure where 35+ is coming from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child's kindergarten class has 18 students...not sure where 35+ is coming from.

Kinder and 1st both have small class sizes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of the old, good teachers are leaving because the new principal is so bad.

This is true. And very disappointing.

[Anonymous]

We have been there for 6 years and have several children that have attended. We are also a mixed race. What I have noticed:

The school is very diverse, I wouldn't say 70% white as a previous post mentioned more like 40-50% (this was one of the things we liked). That being said the majority of the "other" races are lower income and live outside of University Park. I feel like you are never really part of the the school unless you are in the actual neighborhood. People are nice, we have never encountered any racism issues but in the 6 years that we have been there I can really only say there is one parent that I would consider a life long friend. There are issues with parents vs. PTA and parents vs. Principal. A lot of people dislike the principal (I have personally never had a problem). But the PTA is known for being very active and it generally generates a good amount of funds via fundraisers which means that there is money to cover field trips, extra supplies, and tons of enrichment opportunities.

The neighborhood is expensive and while we were still considering buying after being in the school for so long we realized that there are better schools in nice neighborhoods for lower costs. The other downfall which is not really UPES's fault is that the Middle School and High School are horrible. We have heard more bad than good and ultimately decided not to send our son to either after graduating from UPES and are now looking at doing all over again for the next child unless we move into an area that provides all 3 schools with the characteristics/specs that we like. I should mention that both my husband and I attending Hyattsville schools did fine, have degrees, and great jobs but we have just been disappointed in the change. College Park Academy is an option but not a guarantee and I have hear mixed reviews, it's a blended learning environment which does work well for kids that are not self directed (like my son).

I can agree with the "Hispanics don't do play dates" statement. (This is actually funny if you are Hispanic because you would understand why (I am Hispanic). Not getting into that though.
Most of the people attend the PTA meeting are white, so if you are expecting a diverse PTA, well we're not there yet.
The school grounds is in the process of being updated, maybe the inside will be next. If they were to do some painting, redo the media center, gym, and cafeteria that would rock!
There are a lot of older parents so if you are someone who had kids in your early 20s... and are looking to make friends in a similar age group.... might not be that easy...
Class sizes for us have never been more than 25, I think this year we are around 20 to 21 for each of the grades my kids are in. Not great but when you consider surrounding schools it's awesome.

I have loved most of the teachers. A few have left especially in the last year and I hear a few more are leaving hence the "issues" I mentioned above.

Looking back, if we would have had the money to do private (for all of our kids) and could find one that was similarly diverse I would have gone private. Otherwise we are now doing the next best thing, moving to a county with better schools.

Overall, my kids have been happy it worked for us but we are ready to move on.

Just my 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

We've had a really good experience at this school. A reading specialist turned my daughter's aversion to reading into a love for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the old, good teachers are leaving because the new principal is so bad.

This is true. And very disappointing.

Why do you think they are leaving? What is bad about her?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the old, good teachers are leaving because the new principal is so bad.

This is true. And very disappointing.

Why do you think they are leaving? What is bad about her?

- Principal has her favorites in the school & everyone knows who they are - gives other teachers a hard time if & when she decides she doesn't like them, or isn't friends with them.
- Principal pits teachers against parents in the community - teachers MUST "tow the company line" no matter what, and can be basically ousted if they don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the old, good teachers are leaving because the new principal is so bad.

This is true. And very disappointing.

Why do you think they are leaving? What is bad about her?

- Principal has her favorites in the school & everyone knows who they are - gives other teachers a hard time if & when she decides she doesn't like them, or isn't friends with them.
- Principal pits teachers against parents in the community - teachers MUST "tow the company line" no matter what, and can be basically ousted if they don't.

Is this a big enough deal, that it will change the quality of the school? Will it deter future families? Or is this the typical ebb and flow of public school politics/administration? My child is a few years away from elementary school, but this type of feedback doesn't give me much confidence in UPES and its future direction

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the old, good teachers are leaving because the new principal is so bad.

This is true. And very disappointing.

Why do you think they are leaving? What is bad about her?

- Principal has her favorites in the school & everyone knows who they are - gives other teachers a hard time if & when she decides she doesn't like them, or isn't friends with them.
- Principal pits teachers against parents in the community - teachers MUST "tow the company line" no matter what, and can be basically ousted if they don't.

Is this a big enough deal, that it will change the quality of the school? Will it deter future families? Or is this the typical ebb and flow of public school politics/administration? My child is a few years away from elementary school, but this type of feedback doesn't give me much confidence in UPES and its future direction

It's already changed the quality of the school and the teachers. And frankly, it most likely changes quality of teaching, when teachers are this unhappy that they're leaving for other schools. The ones who are still there are not having a positive experience.

Towing the company line means a lot of things. It means being put in the middle of some awful political situations between parents, a teacher parents are not thrilled with, and the principal/administration. It means not being allowed to complain when your classroom has no heat in winter. It means not having a voice in many cases. And it means always being on edge that you'll "be next".

[Anonymous]

I'm not a current parent, but my now 11th grader went to UPES and loved it. It was by no means perfect, but my daughter loved the school and thrived there. I was chronically dissatisfied with the academics, but the school's shortcomings didn't slow down my daughter in the long run.

My younger kid's experience at UPES wasn't as good. I moved him to another school. My second kid's academics were better at the other school, but the social life wasn't nearly as good because his friends all lived at least 30 minutes away. In retrospect, I think he would have been fine at UPES.

I do know other parents who took kids out of UPES because they felt that the school did not sufficiently help with kids' learning disabilities. The kid had to be failing before the school would test these kids, and some parents paid out of pocket for expensive testing needed to justify special ed services. If your kid is well adjusted academically and socially, it's a great place. If you kid has learning differences or a behaviorial diagnosis, be prepared to spend much time advocating for your kid. That may be the situation everywhere, though.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a current parent, but my now 11th grader went to UPES and loved it. It was by no means perfect, but my daughter loved the school and thrived there. I was chronically dissatisfied with the academics, but the school's shortcomings didn't slow down my daughter in the long run.

My younger kid's experience at UPES wasn't as good. I moved him to another school. My second kid's academics were better at the other school, but the social life wasn't nearly as good because his friends all lived at least 30 minutes away. In retrospect, I think he would have been fine at UPES.

I do know other parents who took kids out of UPES because they felt that the school did not sufficiently help with kids' learning disabilities. The kid had to be failing before the school would test these kids, and some parents paid out of pocket for expensive testing needed to justify special ed services. If your kid is well adjusted academically and socially, it's a great place. If you kid has learning differences or a behaviorial diagnosis, be prepared to spend much time advocating for your kid. That may be the situation everywhere, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a current parent, but my now 11th grader went to UPES and loved it. It was by no means perfect, but my daughter loved the school and thrived there. I was chronically dissatisfied with the academics, but the school's shortcomings didn't slow down my daughter in the long run.

My younger kid's experience at UPES wasn't as good. I moved him to another school. My second kid's academics were better at the other school, but the social life wasn't nearly as good because his friends all lived at least 30 minutes away. In retrospect, I think he would have been fine at UPES.

I do know other parents who took kids out of UPES because they felt that the school did not sufficiently help with kids' learning disabilities. The kid had to be failing before the school would test these kids, and some parents paid out of pocket for expensive testing needed to justify special ed services. If your kid is well adjusted academically and socially, it's a great place. If you kid has learning differences or a behaviorial diagnosis, be prepared to spend much time advocating for your kid. That may be the situation everywhere, though.

Really good insight - thanks. Can you say more about chronic dissatisfaction with the academics? And if you are willing -whether you continued on to public middle and high schools?