Oakwood Elementary School

We moved from a public charter school in Cache Valley but have several children and we have been in the district for over a decade.  There are some truly great teachers and a few administrators in the Preston district. There have been several great teachers who have left. There are also some administrators (and a few teachers) that seem motivated by power and control, other teachers that would PREFER to not have parent interaction/help in the classroom, which the lack of transparency should be concerning. I have also had a teacher say to my child and I, that they can't read (a certain book), (approved by me and also in grade/level appropriate) because "they will run out of books to read" That is a truly ridiculous statement in this day and age where information is so widely available. It appears all class time that is not busywork, is for the purpose 'teaching for the tests' as opposed to learning for knowledge and excitement. I know this is not the teachers fault, but largely because of funding based on the state mandated testing. I also know this is a challenging concept to handle, but I believe in teachers and their abilities to KNOW their students better than the state or national level and typically trust in their perception on how to help their students learn. This is not a district problem, but a national /funding one. District-wide, there is also very little done to motivate great students to be their best. They have removed most of the accelerated classes. We will never profit from raising a participation-trophy generation. We need gifted teachers who get paid much, much more, the ability to fire angry unhappy teachers. They have removed most of the arts and electives classes (and have untrained teachers in some of those, who can't teach the subject and keep cutting great programs (electronics, Languages, visual arts)  I LOVE living in a smaller town but would love to figure out how to support education that supports our students. I am truly grateful disability and ESL programs exist and are working well in the schools, but a society that aims to teach to the most unfortunate student - while ignoring those that are capable of accelerated learning and refuses to provide classes or possibilities to help them as well... will be a society that reflects the lowest common denominator.