County Road 423
Poplar Bluff, MO 63901

My children's grades and attitude towards school declined after moved to Oak Grove from O'Neal last year. My 1st grader who did well in kindergarten failed first grade. His teacher refused to offer any services to him and I ended up hiring a private person to teach him what she failed to. He loved kindergarten and was so excited to start first grade, but just a month into the year he began complaining that he didn't want to go. He cried a lot and once refused to get on the bus. My fourth grader's grades also declined last year. She barley passed with D's even though her teacher was also her teacher at boys & girls club where she was supposed to receive homework help and extra practice & attention. I've never met her teacher. I attempted to set up a parent-teacher conference with her but was only met with excuses that she had to work, was too busy or had kids of her own that prevented her from staying after school or meeting me before school. Communication in general is very poor. I feel like I'm the last parent to find out anything. Although the doors are locked they will buzz anyone in without even questioning who they are or what they are doing there.

I am a former student at PBHS. Overall, I think it is what one would expect from a school that is the only public high school in a town. There's a broad range of economic diversity, and you have kids from all sides of the tracks. Some kids are academically motivated and hoping to go to a good college, whereas others are wannabe gangsters who could care less about school. Of course, clicks do form as a result, and a student's individual experience greatly depends on whom is in his or her friend group. For the most part, I think many of the teachers and principals are fantastic. I had some excellent educators that played a big role in my life. The athletic department is pretty good, and as a member of two sports teams, I found the coaches to be challenging but fair. The main weakness of PBHS is the lack of academic competition amongst the students. I do not believe this is the administration or teachers' fault, but rather due to the low college graduation rate among the parents. I've since lived in several major cities, and I am always shocked at the extremely high percentage of students who go on to four-year universities. That is simply not the case in PB.

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