828 Windridge Ln
Downingtown, PA 19335

My daughter is in her second year at DMS. First, the new bussing situation is unacceptable. Children must walk to and from busses through the busy high school parking lot, to the high school next door. For this reason I now drive my child both ways each day. One thing DMS does we'll is teach kids how to manage their time and schedules. Academically though I am not impressed with DASD at all. We move frequently and both of my children are far advanced in English, Science and History. My child has learned no new material in these subjects since we moved to Downingtown after 4th grade. Her current 7th grade history teacher does not teach, but babysits while the kids copy text from photo copied material in folders. We are at the mid-term of Q1 now and all lessons have been taught this way. I'd estimate that at least 50% of the work is project based and done in groups with inadequate supervision. This typically results in one child doing the work,a fair amount of social drama and no real learning. Considering all the accolades DASD receives, and the tax rate for the district, I expected more rigorous curriculum and a better learning environment. We have been disappointed.

love the school its very interactive with the students

I've noticed a push for technology to be used a lot in the younger classrooms, Kindergarten and Frist grade they have Chromebook that are required to be taken home every night. My child looks forward to Friday for "Dojo Island Day", where they play games on the computer. They also use the computers to teach Math and reading. Not sure kids of this age should be put in front of a computer, especially when we already have a problem isolation in the district.

MC6GC isn’t great if your kid isn’t a cookie cutter kid. Special Ed classrooms need work. And counselors need to inform parents when their child is depressed. The social emotional learning is non existent and the teachers are bored of teaching the same thing for years on end. No investment in the student because they only have them for one school year. They expect kids to relay important information and some kids ablent to communicate everything.