Reply to Feedback on Hearst ES

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[quote=Anonymous]This year is our 1st grader's third year at Hearst and we love it (so does she).  There are many things we love about Hearst, but if I had to pick one, I'd say the close-knit and inclusive community of parents and teachers.  We are also very satisfied with the level of instruction in PK, K, and 1st Grade.  So far, so good.

To address some points raised by prior posters:  in-school birthday parties and the Literacy Parade (it wasn't technically a Halloween Parade) were eliminated after consulting both staff and parents (at least those parents who came to the PTA meeting where this was discussed).  Many parents, including me, were in favor of eliminating both of those activities.  I am not a meanie mcmeanerson who thinks elementary school should be robbed of fun things -- those particular activities weren't adding much value and had some downsides.

The in-person birthday celebrations took away from instructional time and also created an expectation that parents would be able to attend in the middle of the day.  This obviously was not feasible for everyone. Also, most kids (at least in our experience) invited the whole class to their birthday party outside of school, so it all got to be a little redundant.  As for the Literacy Parade --which occurred in lieu of a Halloween Parade -- it was a lovely idea, but fell short in practice.  The idea was that students would dress up as characters from or inspired by books they were reading.  But, for lower grades, kids didn't get to pick their costumes and didn't necessary feel much connection to or excitement about them.  I think higher grades (maybe 3rd and up) could pick their costumes, but I'm not sure.  For many parents, this also required many parents to get two sets of costumes -- one for the parade mandated by the teacher and one for Halloween.  As far as I can tell, Hearst doesn't seem any less fun this year without those activities.

Aftercare is totally adequate.  It's not the most amazing program ever, but it feels like a luxury to have a program that has room for all who want to participate, is reasonably priced, and takes place at the school. This year the program seems to have stepped it up a bit and our daughter is really enjoying the expanded range of arts and crafts.  The enrichment program that supplements the aftercare program is really great (and again, reasonably priced and takes place at the school or adjacent park).

There are fairly regular open-houses on Friday mornings where you can come and meet teachers, parents, and usually, the principal.  Please come by and learn about our wonderful school.  Best of luck to you!

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