Hyde International Studies and Communications Magnet Elementary School

Very negative experience for my son. In pre-k he loved going to school every day, was friends with all his classmates, and got glowing reviews of academic progress from his teachers. After the first quarter at Hyde he hated school and began to say he had no friends at school. He began to show signs of anxiety about reading and about upcoming school events. Somewhat traumatizing to my kindergartener whose previous sense of belonging and love for school has now been squashed after 1 year at Hyde. If not experiencing it, I would not have believed it possible for this age range. I only hope another school can rebuild his sense of self worth by making him feel welcome.

The teachers are great and the parent involvement at this school is unbelievable. The parents are there to assist in the classroom, with special projects and support activities. All of this available support allows the teachers to really think outside the box in their teaching methods. Each semester, every grade has an assigned country to study for their magnet focus. The kids learn about the assigned country, sometimes have guests with special knowledge of the country, taste foods from the country and finally present what they have learned in a presentation to the school and the parents. (The last presentation I attended was multi-media and even included song and dance.)My second and third of four children are at Hyde now and we are looking forward to the fourth starting there in another year.

Hyde Elementary deserves a score of 10. Ten. The KSA test scores cited don't really say anything at all, and they are four years out our date! Here is data that speaks for itself: Out of 57 fifth graders in the 2010-2011 school year at Hyde, 19 were accepted into the Pre-International Baccalaureate Program at Hyde. Quite simply, Hyde is the best elementary, public or private, in Wichita.

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