Winona Elementary School

This is coming from a student. I went to the school and I went to go talk to the counselor and they said what do you want me to do about it? The kids are mean and the teachers don't do anything about it

Choosing to send our children to Saint John the Evangelist has been the smartest and most beneficial decision that my wife and I have made. A wonderful, loving school community.

I waited a year to write this because I wanted to make sure I wasn't "overreacting." My kiddo attended High Plains from EC to 1st. EC was a wonderful experience, but EC isn't operating as part of HP. In kinder my kiddo had a lovely teacher, however educationally she was falling behind. Twice that year my kid was given food she was allergic to INSIDE her "allergy aware" classroom. 1st grade: Throughout the year there were several red flags that should have been caught by the school, such as the teacher not allowing parents to volunteer in the classroom, EVER. Sending no classwork home for parents to see. Not communicating with parents except during reviews. 6 students were pulled from her classroom to be homeschooled. Parents expressed concerns, called meetings, asked for help. Only to have the administration ignore every concern. During the year my kiddo fearful of going to school. I had to walk her to her room each day because of the terror she felt. I asked repeatedly for help to understand what was going on. Come to find out she, and several other students were being bullied by a significantly violent student who was not only allowed to stay in the classroom but was being protected by the teacher. This student had violent outbursts and physically assaulted other students more than one occasion. To the point that the school had to evacuate the classroom and remove the doors to the restroom so students wouldn't be assaulted behind closed doors. The admin failed to respond and in turn failed every student in that class. In addition, my kiddo was "allowed" to roam the school, and on one occasion was sent to the nurse ALONE after having been exposed to peanut butter in her "allergy aware" classroom by a student sitting at her table! They fired that teacher at the end of the year. Towards the end of the year a student brought a weapon into the school and families were never notified until the news became public on the police blotter website. I moved my kid to a new school for 2nd grade, where she started the year at a kindergarten level reading and math even though HP gave her high scores in 1st. When her new school realized how far behind she was they contacted HP to see if had more details, they claimed it was her abilities and did not take accountability for the awful 1st grade year. My kid and her new worked hard this year to get her not only caught up but AHEAD for 3rd grade. So clearly High Plains was the issue and not my kids abilities.