Salem
Canal, NJ

Everyone involved with this school should be ashamed of themselves. Parents who say it’s great and kids are excited are lying. You are failing your kids, failing your community and failing yourselves. I understand one Starbucks location probably has a bigger operating budget but it is clear that no real teaching is occurring here. Support the teachers, work with the school and save these kids. Don’t throw their lives away!

I agree about more after school activities and sports. Some kind of clubs, supervised hangout,dances, study groups,cultural exploration...............

So far we have had a great experience with this school. The Child Study Team has been great in helping our (actually medically diagnosed with ADHD) son. He has two WONDERFUL teachers, I just hope he gets teachers next year who are as understanding. I don't like the "no siblings at events" rule, I feel like I miss out on things because I have a younger child who is not in school full-day yet. I don't know why the parent who posted on 4/27/11 felt the CST was responsible for testing their child but that's the parents responsibility. And if your 1st grader is being suspended in the 1st week of school it's not really the schools fault now is it? Yes, there are issues at this school, but I still feel that the teachers are doing the best with what they are given. The area we live in is by no means upper class, take from that what you will. The teachers have chosen to keep working, rather than strike, even though they still have no contract. I've seen some parents come into the office who don't even know their kids teachers name.

I have 2 kids in this school and while I'm happy with it, there is still room for improvement. If parents are invited to the school for any reason (Halloween parade, Back to School Night, etc) they pretty much kick you out with an announcement over the PA system. I'm unable to be a room parent due to having my younger child with me part of the day (siblings aren't allowed at classroom functions) and I feel like I am missing out on a lot of things with my older child. They also do things like the Spring Concert in the middle of the day. That just screams "we don't care about the working parents" and then there is the fact that each child gets sent home with a letter saying they are only allowed 2 people to attend and siblings aren't invited. The teachers we have met have been great, the Child Study Team has been more than helpful (both my kids get therapy through the school) but some of these policies make it very hard to get involved.

Muy mala pq algunos maestros no tienen la capacidad de enseñar correctamente a los estudiantes ellos tienen q ayudarlos para q son maestros para q enseñen bien en las clases quieren q los estudiantes sepan todo sin explicar bien las cosas a ellos y algunos maestros tienen una actitud muy fea hacia los estudiantes