N Pocola Blvd, Pocola, OK 74902

Spiro Elementary discourages parents from being involved. If something happens to the child on the playground, parents are not allowed to enter the playground to help the child and the teacher will not help. Children are frequently hurt on the playground and ignored. The 'safety' rules make parents feel unwelcome. The PTA abuses their power by allowing their friends to park where ever they want. They ignore the bullying problem. Many parents see the only option to stop their child from being bullied is to go to the school and 'raise hell' or contact the other parents directly. They have a poor selection process for gifted and talented and don't begin selecting until 3rd grade. Children gifted with leadership or artistic talents are overlooked because they base the entire program on one test and don't tell the kids that it is a pattern test. They allow parents to select their child's teacher to encourage popularity rather than group them together by academic performance so all the kids have to learn at either a pace that is too fast or too slow. Although there are many wonderful coaches and teachers at this school, the poor use of funds and swiftness to change the rules to please a few parents that complain has turned it into an unwelcoming and uncomfortable environment for parents who wish to participate in their child's education.