Avery Shrs
Coventry, CT 06238

Overall, CGS is a mixed bag. There are a handful of truly great teachers and staff that really want to make the school work for everyone, and then there are the rest. Teachers typically lack enough support to make their classrooms work well - both from a funding and staffing perspective.The school has little resources to truly work with children with special education needs. They may try to put together an IEP, but if you hope to get one you'll need to fight for it and even then it seems like some of the steps are skipped. Classrooms are understaffed to deal with special education - as observed in a classroom with no less than three children with IEPs and zero paraprofessional support. This means that all children suffer as a result.The prior principal of the school exhibited challenging authoritarian leadership strategies, particularly with young students - including suspension of kindergartners, first, and second graders, seclusion, and forcible restraint. While these techniques are legal and appropriate in some situations, their frequent application without taking time to understand what was going on with the children (usually because they didn't have the staff to do it), results in a nightmarish feedback loop for the youngest children that leaves them afraid of going to school and can quickly squash their desire to learn. In the end, this tendency combined with the low funding of Coventry Public Schools, seems to result in poor educational outcomes for all but the most average of students unless individual staff were able to intervene outside of their assigned roles.Despite this, there are some great people working at the school. Truly phenomenal teachers who try their best despite the odds. If your child is developing according to their age, then they can have a great time at the school. Parent involvement is great with a number of events each year and the student led conferences are a great technique. However, if your child is at all exceptional - whether it be gifted, developmentally delayed, physically disabled, or other exceptionality - then the lack of resources at Coventry Grammar School will make a great education even more of an uphill battle.

One of my children attended this school for 3 years and my other child just started there this school year. I have been very pleased with the principal and the teachers there. I have witnessed one of the paraprofessionals being very rude to a student, and I should have reported it. I have been thrilled with the 4 teachers who I have direct experience with at GHR. I feel confident that my kids are getting a great education. You can tell that the teachers care about the children and their families. Many of the staff, including Mr. Dangieu and Mrs. Emerson really stand out as being exceptional teachers! I highly recommend visiting your child at lunch or recess or helping in the classroom. It's good for your child, you and helpful to the teacher.