I had a child through Sandburg under Mr. Yarborough and those experiences were vastly improved over the experiences relayed firsthand from students that attended Sandburg years before Mr. Yarborough's term. After a short break, I have a child in Sandburg again. While the reform of the teaching staff remains, it appears the some or all of the progress made under Mr. Yarborough has evaporated. This is based on my experiences, my child's experiences, and those of other parents and their children. Under the new principal, chaos/incompetence/apathy are back at the administrative level, uncaring and impersonal counselors, and self-protective closed ranks mentality among the administration. Classroom bullying and stealing are back. Hopefully, the fighting in the hallway doesn't return. I don't believe the range of incomes brackets or social backgrounds of the students is to blame, as Mr. Yarborough's term proved, this can be addressed effectively. The administration is at fault, creating the environment for the students behavior.

That's my current review.

The demographics have been quite diverse and fairly stable in recent years. 22307 and 22308 include some prime real estate.

Sandburg was known to be pretty bad about 10 years ago, when I lived in the district. Teachers were very unhappy and didn't like the principal. However, I am not absolutely positive, but I think I heard a Sandburg teacher recently say they got a new principal that everyone is pleased with. If that happened, then a new principal can really change a school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with Sandburg is how they drew the district line. It mixes low-income and mid-income families together, so you get an odd grouping of families with very different backgrounds. Leads to tensions at this school.

I had the same reaction to this comment. God forbid we mix kids with different backgrounds. It's called "real life."

Not really. I work with and am friends with people who have a college degree at a minimum.