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

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[quote=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.[/quote]

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