Cook

If your child is a person of color or special needs do not send them to this school. A kid broke my child’s arm and even made a special needs student with Down syndrome have to transfer due to extreme bullying. After several times of reporting to the staff what is going on, the staff and teachers always pick the side of white people. They do not care about the well-being or education of your child. Despite the child bullying my son has a bad reputation at school, the school decided to not do anything, nor contact the child’s parents. The majority of the teachers do not care about the students education but rather just want them to get to next grade level. The teachers also do not care about building a welcoming education for students of color (black and Hispanic). Most of the teachers will turn a blind eye if they see an injustice happening between a person of color and a white person. The only good teacher my son has had was Mrs. Davidson, who always cared about my sons education and well-being and didn’t fail to contact me about the concerns she had about my child wether that was educational/mental health. She always made sure to include me in my child’s education and didn’t turn a blind eye when injustice was happening.

After a long search and touring handfuls of private and public schools, we chose to move to the district to attend Stafford. The impression the school, the leadership, the quality staff and tenure of the teachers made on us was also felt by my incoming kindergartener. He finally blossomed and thrived in the classroom, unlike any setting we had him in previously. We cannot say enough great things about our experience. Next year we will be sending our second child here as well to start kindergarten. The things that stand out about Stafford include the security (which was far superior to that of other schools we toured), the sense of community and family involvement, the academic record, how experienced and committed the teachers are and the immense resources available to push the gifted, pull up those behind, and work within an inclusive model. Just amazing. I have a unique situation as a business owner in the community and had long heard other parents speak very highly of Stafford and encouraged me to send my kids when they were old enough. I feel the same way about sharing with other parents.

Before enrolling our daughter in 3rd grade, we specifically asked whether a child with no French background could succeed at ILA. We were assured that she could and were encouraged to enroll.Unfortunately, our experience was very different.We repeatedly tried to contact our daughter's teacher, Françoise Coulon Lantz, to ask how we could support a beginner French learner at home. Communication did not occur until I showed up in-person requesting a meeting. During that meeting, she described our daughter as not knowing her purpose at school and acting "goofy." She then said many students had French-speaking parents, grandparents, or connections to France and asked, "What do you have?"As multilingual immigrants, this was surprising. I speak four languages and my husband speaks seven. We have never been asked to justify learning a language based on ancestry or cultural ties. We believe language education should be open to all children.Our daughter became afraid to ask questions, felt singled out at snack time, and excluded from classroom activities shared with parents in group chat. She was also expected to request restroom permission in French despite being a beginner, which often left her afraid to speak up!We also had concerning interactions with Pierre Burthey, who said families typically attend ILA due to French cultural ties or the ability to afford private school, then asked which applied to us. He also suggested our daughter might be better suited for public school.The impact on our daughter was significant. By the end of the fall term, she was anxious about attending school and often resisted going. We withdrew her. After winter break, the school created an individualized plan with other teacher replacing Françoise, and she thrived—regaining confidence and enjoying learning again.After three month, we were told by Pierre of his decision: our daughter is required to return to Françoise's class despite her distress. When we raised concerns, we felt dismissed and withdrew her that day.We are grateful to Valentin Raclot, Scott Murphy, Beatriz Ruiz, Valérie Rogers, Daour Mboup, Marc Bescond, Bayel Sarr, and Colin Labelle for their professionalism, kindness, and support. However, our overall experience at the 3rd–5th grade level was overwhelmingly negative. Families with children entering French immersion without prior experience should carefully consider whether this environment is the right fit. For our family, it was a nightmare!