South Fork Elementary

Bolton is the local school for the Ardmore/Hawthorne community which is primarily comprised of middle-class homes with college educated parents. However, 99% of students come from low-income families—it’s right here on great schools. That is because Ardmore families do not send their children to Bolton. There are six families on my block with young elementary kids and now that I have withdrawn my child...zero attend Bolton. It's private school or home school. Bolton buses children in from across the city for diversity in a huge gerrymandered school zone that doesn’t serve anyone properly.The culture is not conducive to learning and is focused on discipline, procedure, and lots of worksheets. Our daughter was here less that 4 months and we had two incidents of her having to defend herself from pushing and touching her clothes by little boys. We also had to opt-out of homework because our kindergartener was given assignments to complete over the course of a month. You get to choose the assignments, but kindergarteners should NOT have homework.The school looks like the just one I attended for elementary 30 years ago, it’s very old and run down except for large tv’s in every classroom. It did always appear clean though. They use an app called Classdojo to communicate with you, but you have to send written letters to them about everything even with phone calls and app messages. They tell you not to send your child with any sickness whatsoever, yet badger you about an absence. There is no accountability, everything is blamed on their "Systems" and "Procedures."You’re treated as if you should be grateful, you as a parent ,are allowed a modicum of inclusion in your child’s education. We’re completely done with public school and WSFCS in general halfway through Kindergarten due our experience here.If you parent intentionally, please consider other options before sending your child here.

I don't know what happens from the younger grades to the older grades here, the younger kids are sweet and engaged, smart and happy kids who generally listen overall to teachers. By 4th and especially 5th they are disrespectful, rude, argumentative, talking back, and basically little delinquents in training, downright obnoxious really. They do not want to follow rules and their parents teach them not only that they don't have to but that they can hit people whenever they like without consequences. I'll probably be recognizing some of them in mugshots in coming years, as a lot of the children in this district, because this is the way its going these days. Please actually parent your kids before they end up in jail, for arguing with a police officer after they clocked somebody because "they did something to them first, and my momma told me if someone does something to me to do it back!" Smh

My son has attended Whitaker for Kindergarten and is currently in first grade. His teachers have been outstanding. There is a strong focus on social skills as much as academic skills. The PTA is strong and very involved. I would highly recommend this school.

This School is disgraceful. They let my 6 year old grandson go without food!!! I’m sure if he was White this would not of happened.

My daughter has been going here for 2 years so far she has loved it she loves making new friends and staff are awesome

After Sister Geri retired, the heart and soul of the school left with her. The once welcoming, inclusive environment is now unaccommodating and cold. Students with disabilities do not receive accommodations in middle school and many children are academically left behind without remediation. I would absolutely not recommend this school.

I want to speak up for the sake of other families.There are currently multiple open investigations involving this school. Out of respect for those involved—and because I’ve been asked by law enforcement—I cannot share details, especially since they involve minors.What I can share is my personal experience.My family was part of St. John’s for nearly six years, and my daughter thrived for most of that time. However, after Tiffany Banks became principal two years ago, our experience changed significantly.Over the past year, I had multiple meetings with administration regarding serious concerns about my daughter’s safety and well-being. Those concerns were not handled in a way that gave me confidence that my child—or other children—were being properly protected.When I later discovered my daughter had been hurting for months, the response I received from leadership was deeply troubling and lacked both urgency and compassion. As a parent, that was something I could not ignore.We made the decision to withdraw our children in January.In my experience, there was a lack of transparency and a pattern of communication that left me feeling that important information was not being fully shared with parents.I stayed quiet for months, but I can no longer do that in good conscience.If you are considering this school, I strongly encourage you to ask direct questions, stay closely involved, and trust your instincts when it comes to your child’s safety.If you would like to speak privately, you are welcome to message me Directly on Facebook, under Sydney Cole. Unfortunately, the school has blocked me from making a Google review and has blocked me on their social medias. Please help me protect the children.