O'rourke Elementary School

My children have been very happy while attending O'Rourke. The teachers really care about their students. I know as a parent many changes are taking place with the Common Core Standards. The skills are harder. Skills that were taught once in fourth grade is now being taught in second grade. I feel that as a parent we need to praise the teachers, but as parents we have responsibilities as well. Teachers only have so many hours in the day. They have 20 plus students in their room. We as parents can not expect teachers to do it all. I remember when I was in school my parents always made sure my homework was done and I understood. I believe we need to praise our educators! The educators at this school are some of the BEST!

I took my daughter out of private school because I felt like public school may have been a better fit for us. After being affiliated with this school for many years, it is most definitely time for us to part ways. This school is based on race and you have to fit a certain kind of life style to be offered any kind of assistance from them. They are not willing to work with children with MINOR disorders and look for other ways to get rid of them. My experience with certain teachers and principal is horrible. They have lost several of the best teachers due to how the principal treats them. I WOULD NOT recommend this school for anything.

I am a student I have read the reviews and I have seen that most of the complaints are about how your child is gifted and not given enough work.Lucky me I am gifted as well.My I came back and am way above average.I am in PACE as I'm explaining but your children are still getting extra work at school if you are gifted and teachers might actually be a little tougher on them if they are.As for your PACE until 3 grade complaints that goes for every school in mobile county .Quad salute to all the military family's with/without children out there you are strong and thank you for what you do.

We are a military family and moving from the Miami area to Mobile, Alabama I knew there were going to be changes to say the least. Then I started to notice the very small amounts of homework being sent home, lack or organization for school work /tests and AR testing was never caught up until the last week of the quarter etc I began to have questions about my son and his schooling. So I asked for a parent teacher conference which all my questions were answered with that s just the way we do things here in Mobile . My son is well above average but nothing is offered for gifted kids below 3rd grade which is sad to say the least. Pretty much if you don t want a kid who s behind you have to do the work of a teacher and teaching as a parent. This school has a very happy and nice staff but when it comes to actually teaching I feel this school is below average.

It's a shame to say that this school is average, but in this country it would be unfair not to. The teachers are sweet and kind but unfortunately aren't really worried about anything except getting those standardized tests up to par. If your child is gifted and isn't in the third grade yet (unable to receive pull out services from PACE) then you can forget about getting anything extra out of the classroom. My child is three years above his grade level in math alone and hasn't received ONE sheet of extra work just to help keep him busy. The school tested his IQ, came back highly gifted, still nothing was offered to him to help him actually LEARN something. Apparently attendance is the only requirement by law these days. I can count on one hand the things that he's learned since he's been here. And the sad thing is that this is typical in Alabama and I know that. I sure wish one of those sweet and kind teachers could make an effort to break the cycle though and put some effort into teaching the children that aren't fitting into the mould the school system has carved out for them. They aren't all the same - just wish mine could have instruction and learning too.