Fifth Avenue Elementary School

My daughter started Pre-K at Toomer this year and I could not be more impressed with the school and staff. I have lived in Kirkwood since 2004 and am amazed at how much this school has evolved into our thriving neighborhood school. There are so many involved parents walking their kids to school every morning (myself included) and the staff already knows my daughter's name and greets her every day as we walk in. The classroom is very stimulating and her teacher is very positive and engaged with the children. The Principal clearly has a firm focus on where she wants to take the school and is working extremely hard to implement her plan. I am excited about the implementation of Mandarin and the global focus. I would strongly recommend this school. The PTA is very active and works very hard for these children.

My child used to attend. Unfortunately only one of her teachers appeared to care & had a great work ethic. It seemed better in older days when I was a young freshman in college & my sibling attended; there were educators w/ good hearts like Mr. Paul & Mrs. Whitaker then. It's dissapointing seeing parents who DON'T work for the school & are giving HONEST unbiased feedback express having some of the same issues we had w/ a passive/ indifferent admin team too. It starts from the top; staff will only be as good as their leaders. The nepotism/ favoritism continues to be a part of the culture it appears. The targeting of certain children while excusing those learning how to terrorize others at an early age continues it appears. A minority of the staff would appreciate parents like me who were involved even volunteering in the classroom while others were backwards & at odds with parents who were involved (possibly concerned we'd report their poor performance/ misconduct). The fact is just like with title 1 schools, many teachers will come just to get their student loans paid. When you have one who truly cares, then appreciate/ honor him/ her, b/c they're far & few between. Most over-police the children they don't value who require more from them (the children who have disabilities that challenge them) so it's just easier to send them to the office for everything never determining if they're reacting to being over-stimulated or some other manifestation of their disability. My oldest is on the spectrum & didn't receive her accommodations listed on her IEP & specified in greater detail with more on her 504 (yes, I insisted on both). I noticed children like her would be considered distractions when they were most distracted by others, & sent to the office for miniscule things while bullies were running amuck seemingly not being disciplined - it was completely backwards. So I'd volunteer in the library offering that as a safe haven intervention for overwhelmed teachers to send active students who they believed were a distraction with their work so I could help them in small groups instead of being so quick to just send them to the office for everything. The fact that they'd be calm & listen doing their work quietly was baffling considering their teachers' complaints, so it made me wonder if it was all on the students, or perhaps also the environments their teachers were providing (chaotic spaces b/c they lacked patience & clearly weren't enjoying their jobs.)

My daughter has a learning disability, and although I wish it could have been addressed with an iep sooner, she has received services and is now thriving. With 2 children who have made their way through this school, I can say that a majority of the faculty and staff is top notch.

On paper and in theory, the school sounds like a great opportunity especially as the world changes rapidly and children deserve a slower, exploratory pace. However, in practice, the Waldorf School of Atlanta needs stronger and more balanced leadership, checks and balances for accountability, humility and courage when owning imperfections, transparency of expectations for all, and to sum it up: a trauma-informed education environment. While all schools will have inevitable challenges and mismatches, a seemingly progressive private school should be doing better keeping the children’s best interest at heart as it relates to relationship building and repair based on modern interpersonal relational practices, not on antiquated and questionable philosophies from which the school was created.

Much of our lives, we’ve been transplants from one big city to another, however after joining STM, we now feel at home, grounded and thrilled how well our son has progressed in this environment. We feel exceptionally pleased by the progress he’s made and the community feel we’ve experienced. We hope this is a powerful testament and reason for you child/ren to join STM. Simply love it! Thank you and see you soon!