Melrose Elementary School

This school is by far one of the worst schools in the county. It should be shut down and re staffed. There are a small handful of people who actually try and do the right thing but a far greater number of people from the teachers to the front desk who are way to comfortable putting their hands on these kids . My kids dreads going to school here. We tried to get him in a magnet program and as soon as they found out. Some how he was dropped from it. They do not want the best interest for these kids .

We feel incredibly lucky to have our child at Perkins. Many of her teachers have been there for over twenty years, and it's easy to see why. There is a light-hearted love for learning and the arts permeating the entire school. Every child has weekly tutorials (with six or less children per class) in dance, visual art, violin, music and drama. They also have three days of Spanish and science labs. P.E. and recess is offered every day. Orchestra class is available twice a week. My child is also part of the Gifted program -- and the teachers for that are excellent. The school is as diverse as the city (which we love), and my child loves to go to school there. We were initially worried about the test scores of the school, but, once we broke down the district's test results according to gender, race and socioeconomics, we realized our child was less likely to fall behind at Perkins than at other higher rated schools in the district. Perkins is great.

My family was very excited when we were accepted unfortunately, it was short lived. The teachers are very hard on the students. The homework load is absolutely insane. My son had nothing but issues with his teacher who made it clear her job was to provide parents with the materials to teach their kids. She tried saying my son was behind in math but was previously suggested to skip a grade due to high math and reading levels. He ended up testing at one of the highest levels in the state. She didn’t seem to care very much nor know my child at all. My scholar who loved school since preschool who was doing math on the sidewalk at age 2 was severely let down and he would beg me not to make him go to school. It was incredibly disheartening. My daughter who has an IEP ended up doing well this year but that’s mostly because I spent 4hours a night working with her. At the beginning of the year her special education teacher told me she was just lazy and wouldn’t accommodate lazy kids. (She was in 5th at a 2nd grade level) at the end of the year I begged for retention I was told flat out that I could try and fight it with the superintendent but they would not call retention. In the state of Florida you have to pass a third grade exam to move to 4th at the time she was still at a second grade level (we moved to Florida in 4th) I asked them to give her that exam to prove she was ready they again said no. The principal was so unhelpful. The only person we liked was her 5th grade teacher who happened to be the only person willing to advocate for her. I wouldn’t recommend this school to my worst enemy.

Our twin boys have attended this school since kindergarten and are now in the 2nd grade. They’ve been in separate classes each year, so we’ve gotten to know 6 teachers- each of whom are FANTASTIC. We have never once regretted our decision to apply to Jamerson as our first choice school. I can’t say enough great things about this school- teachers, administrators, parents and other students are all fantastic. Our boys truly love going there and we love it for them.

Love the teachers and administration. My child loves going to school so much if I have to pick her up early she gets sad. So grateful for being apart of the school.