Crystal Lake

My experience at Crystal Lake Elementary was extremely challenging, and ultimately, it was not the right environment for me. While there are some wonderful people at the school who genuinely care about students, I feel it is important to share my experience for anyone considering the school.I experienced difficulty receiving the classroom support I needed, particularly when working with a classroom that had a wide range of academic and behavioral needs. Many students were significantly behind academically, which made it challenging to provide instruction at the expected level while also addressing foundational skills and following the required benchmarks.Student behavior was another significant challenge. There were many days when frequent interruptions and behavioral issues made it difficult to teach effectively or even complete a sentence without being interrupted. This had a major impact on the learning environment and made it difficult to provide the kind of instruction I wanted for my students.I also found that I was not always able to teach, plan, or implement instruction in the way I felt was most effective while still meeting the required benchmarks. Collaboration with colleagues was challenging at times as well, which made an already demanding environment even more difficult.Technology was another ongoing frustration. There were frequent technology issues, and I struggled for approximately six months to get a Smart Board for my classroom. Having reliable technology is an important part of being able to effectively teach, and the lack of access made my job more difficult.I want to acknowledge that every teacher, student, and family can have a different experience. My review is based solely on my personal experience, and I hope the school continues to work toward providing teachers with the support, resources, collaboration, and learning environment they need to be successful.I am grateful for the students and people I met during my time there, but overall, my experience was not a positive one, and I would encourage prospective staff to ask detailed questions about classroom support, behavior, collaboration, technology, and teacher resources before making a decision.