Sousa Elementary School

If I could have given this school 0 stars I would have. I cannot believe the lack of support that my daughter received at this school. She was bullied by multiple people and the school refused to do anything about it. She was basically told she needed to just ignore the bullies and endure their behavior toward her. No matter what she did, it wasn't enough to stop those kids from continuing to instigate. She would come home crying at least once a week and had lies about her being spread to the other students and the staff. I tried on multiple occasions to talk with her teachers and counselors and nothing seemed to improve. They refused to discipline the other kids in any way and wanted to ignore the entire situation. My daughter and one of her friends even received hate notes from one of the students and the school still refused to take any action. They simply made the girls involved write happy grams to each other and wanted to force them all to be friends even after all of the negativity. My daughter begged me to let her change schools because she was not able to get away from all of the problems that were created by others. I ended up switching her schools mid year this year because she started to dread school (which she used to love) and was always stressed and anxious about how social interactions with others would go. Moving her out of that school was byfar the best choice I could have made for her. I have attempted to talk to the principal who has still yet to return my call. I have attempted to communicate with the assistant superintendent as well but have not received any response. I am highly disappointed by the fact that the no tolerance bullying rules don't seem to actually mean anything or have any repercussions. Additionally, the staff does not communicate what is going on in class educationally or if there are problems between the children. I had to find out anything about what happened in school directly from my daughter or by going down and forcing a meeting with her teachers to try to get to the bottom of things, which never seemed to have and effect on how things were handled. It's sad that my daughter chose to start over from scratch rather than endure even 1 more day at Sousa. If you have the chance to send your child to ANY other school I would definitely advise it. My daughter is much happier and way less stressed being way from the environment that Sousa created by their unwillingness to help.

This WAS a pretty decent school in the past. The 2022-2023 school year is off to a very poor start. Make no mistake about it only about half the staff actually care for your child, the rest are clearly here just for the paycheck. Be prepared for your children to be bullied by both students and staff, have clothing, shoes, jackets, and accessories ruined or stolen if your children attend this school. Bullying is completely acceptable at this school depending on who is doing the bullying. Apparently, they think everyone has deep pockets and can replace clothing, accessories, jackets etc on a weekly basis. Be prepared for your female and male children to be treated differently and held to different standards, as well. Advocate, advocate, advocate.

If I could give zero stars, I would. These people did not feed my daughter. First day of school, and the school failed. I am absolutely livid.

I have had it with Sousa. I have given them many chances to help fix issues with how they schedule their online sessions with students and it was to no avail. I’m not the only one with complaints I have met with other parents and we share the same concerns. Here are the issues we continue to have:1. The 1st grade teachers are impatient with the students and the parents. 2. They do not hold live classes for every subject instead they hold reading and writing with little time for students to ask questions and understand. There are no accommodations for students with different learning needs. 3. The principal is the most unprofessional and weak leader I have ever met. She justifies the teachers lack of performance and lack of caring for the students. 4. The teachers do not spend time with the students to work to insure their understanding of the assignments. Isn’t this what teachers should do?The teachers need to quit they give teachers a bad name, so does the principal. This issue will be escalated.

I have had my children at Sousa for the past couple of years and I could not be more disappointed at the lack of professionalism from the teachers. I would expect teachers to hold live classes for every subject and not just assign work and leave it up to young students to teach themselves. Teachers are inconsistent with their scheduling, I have received messages at 6am wanting to schedule testing for that same day. The teachers are short tempered and have spoken to me with irritated attitudes when I reach out for help or clarification. If you are seeking a welcoming school with dedicated teachers seek another school.