TBD W WELDON Street
Starke, FL 32091

It's a shame that school ratings hurt good schools like this and unfairly advantage schools really not as good.Unlike more highly rated schools, this school is extremely safe. Who as a parent doesn't want this paramount for their child?In two years my kids have not experienced bullying, bomb threats, and none of the nonsense elsewhere that doesn't impact their scores on here. We pulled our son from a nearby high school in a progressive high school district because he was getting stressed-out everyday.First, there were four bomb threats in the first month of his freshman school year alone. Then the student bathrooms were disgusting. I went in and investigated, and took photos. They were a mess, filthy and broken, as well as dangerous.A student in the bathroom was curiously looking at me and I asked him, "Are they always like this?" He said, "Yes." I said, "That's wrong." He just nodded. The Bathrooms here at Bradford are clean, safe and in good order.While visiting the school nurse at the former school a student asked to use her bathroom. She says she normally let's some students do that.Another aspect was bullying. My son would witness bullying of smaller and handicapped kids. He'd tell me that nothing was ever done about it and that upset him a lot. There were kids that the administration would enforce rules against, and then the kids, the new bullies, they would not. Here at Bradford, there are adults in charge. Bullying and bad behavior is not tolerated by anyone. I can't get on Bradford High School grounds without permission. At my sons previous high school I just showed-up and walked around campus, amongst the kids for 30 minutes and nobody stopped to ask me what I was doing there. That was the final straw.Academics at Bradford has been considered lower, but that's because they serve a small community and don't play the Shuffle-the-Smart-Kids-Around game other districts with multiple schools do. All the kids are together, just like they were years ago, that's refreshing. In other schools there's sequestered wings and segragated classes to keep afloat a struggling school by dropping a special program in there. Bradford doesn't have that, yet. The Cambridge Program has arrived here, and while that is a welcome addition for children seeking advanced academic challenges, my concern is that the school might become like those other schools and lose it's charm, it's safety, and it's community for higher performance and scores on here.

I have two sides to my point of view. I began teaching at Starke Elementary in August of 1999. I have always taught an FCAT grade whether is was a mainstream class or not. I have had the experience of 4 principals and have enjoyed teaching under each one. I love what I do to the fullest and thoroughly enjoy the community I call my home. I have a 9 year old starting 4th grade this year and he and I have thoroughly enjoyed his past 4 years at Starke Elementary. His teachers always have what is the best for him and as a parent I feel communicated with. I try really hard not to pester them since I am on campus. This year I also have my 5 year old starting Kindergarten with the same teacher his brother had. I love that we have so many veteran teachers and some fresh new teachers to work with too. It is an absolute pleasure to be apart of the Starke Elementary Family.

i like this school it just that they ban headphones and they is really no longer sell phone friday and it's pretty boring but for learning it is good .has some problems for my pustule opian i think we should be able to have have headphones and they did not let me have my lunch because i got it from a rustont and it was not in my lunch box my friends had to give me food it is not that good of a school they did do much about the bullying in 6 th grade excerpt take me out be but i was still build which caused me to have severe depression . Also, the only thing they do when the bullying stops is my gf , a student. You can't use headphones in the hallway. That is what I mean when I say band headphones. You can use them for class but not to listen to music while you walk to class. Also I have benn builled for most of my life.