5 Saint James Ave
Enfield, CT 06082

Worst experience I ever had with my son at this school. The ESE lady Bridget is the absolute worst. She has no passion or care for these exceptional students. Dont bring your ESE students here. They will not get the services they need. It's basically a glorified daycare as I've heard it called. I can count 2-3 teachers who actually care but I feel are limited to what they can provide for the students. The Enfield district is just as bad. You can call about a concern and be sent right back to the school which will not address the issues. If they did you wouldn't have to call the district. They go hand in hand. I feel Bridget has denied my son proper education at this school and should not run things anymore she's run her course how do you deny a child services then ask a parent to sign a disclosure form to get services they are entitled to within their rights and law. She will force you to withdrawal your child just so they don't have to follow procedures and protocols. It's sad. These kids are challenged enough and people like her make it harder for them. The nurses are not even fully educated to be there and do not follow protocols as well and the head nurse of the Enfield area is just as bad turning the cheek to things being done wrong and won't reply back until you get outside help to address things. Just the worst school and district I ever had to deal with. May be a good area but the school as a while has failed. Now I have to go back and undo all the messed up changes they did to my son's goals and services they felt he didn't need. I've heard from students how my son is treated and it's sad. I've seen a teacher in front of me talk to him wrong but told they are short staffed so he has to work with her. Be wary if your child needs ese services and you put them here.

This is my son’s third year at Henry Barnard. Everyone we have encountered has been wonderful and supportive. So far, it has been a great experience all around.

This school was extremely discriminatory towards children of color. I have experienced so much micro-aggression and nasty behavior from the staff in this school. They exploited the fact that I was young and naive and treated me as if I was a loud nuisance even though I was extremely quiet. During my stay here I was repeatedly mistaken for the only other black girl in my class and when I tried correcting them for the 100th time they proceeded to yell at me to do what they asked anyways. Additionally, the staff would touch my hair without my permission, tell me to “make sure you bring it back” after borrowing materials from them even though they do not do the same to students not of color. The students there were also very disrespectful. There was many, many, many incidents where white students would call black students monkeys, make fun of darker skin tone and enforce racial stereotypes. During class these kids had toy babies (one white, one black) they named the white one a generic name and the black one Jamal. They then proceeded to name the doll more stereotypical black names. The majority of the classroom was white and the teacher did not correct the behavior, just continued to smile. Another incident involves a white student at the school asking a black girl if her hair was real, she then proceeded to say it wasn’t but she used human hair. He responded by saying “that’s disgusting. Why do you guys do that?” The student was obviously never corrected.If your child is to attend here I truly advise you to think it through.

I am looking to send my son to another schools. His third grade teacher is inflexible and rigid, and does not seem to have a genuine love of children. As an educator myself, I am disappointed in the lack of understanding from the principal and teacher about the needs of children with emotional disabilities. That being said, the guidance counselor is wonderful!