Jeffers Hill

We are a military family on a 2-3yr PCS cycle. This school is fantastic!!!!! The teachers, staff, admin and parents are great. My middle and youngest children attended and were supported with IEPs and 504s. They worked with us before school and during to be sure the kids felt ready and comfortable. They worked with me as a team to teach the kids how to advocate for themselves. They were knowledgeable and had great suggestions and ideas to help with adjustments. I am so thankful that we were able to spend the time here that we did!!! I hope they receive a Blue Star rating for being military friendly.

Principals, teachers, support staff here lack the understanding of developmental stages and the ability to work with students that require them. They are in need of educational support to understand that children with behavioral and learning needs are not managed the way they manage their own personal family issues and will never meet the standards or expectations of a caring community or village. They are not equipped to provide a safe learning environment for children and need to be vetted on their safety protocols and implementation of educational support for children with 504s and IEPs.

From a parent’s perspective, I want to share our experience in a calm and balanced way. My children are very bright and have generally done well in school, so it was concerning to learn that my daughter was going through a brief period of difficulty academically and emotionally.During that time, I had expected more proactive communication from the teacher so that we could address the situation early. Instead, we did not receive timely feedback about her struggles. When my husband and I reached out to better understand what was happening and how we could support her at home, we felt that our concerns were not fully engaged with, and it was difficult to establish a collaborative dialogue.We also had a challenging experience with the IEP team. From our perspective, the process did not feel as collaborative as we had hoped. We expected a partnership approach where parents and school staff work closely together to support the child’s needs, but instead we often felt that our input was not fully incorporated into the discussion.Overall, while we recognize that many educators are doing their best and appreciate the effort that goes into supporting students, our experience left us hoping for a more open and cooperative approach between parents and the school, particularly when addressing student challenges.

I have had two children who have gone through their fair share of challenges this year. Having Mrs. Katie Carter as the principal has been extremely amazing for our family and our community. She is the best principal I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and engaging with. She is responsive and takes action every time and makes our community a better place. Safety and professionalism is her priority and you can tell she cares for the students, her staff and parents. SFES kindergarten and 1st grade teachers are all also amazing and caring. Our children are fortunate to have had them this school year.

My kid got hit 23 times and that is NOT ok