GIFFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Absolutely the best school in the city! We've even had to move and i kept my children at Franklin. Wouldn't send them anywhere else! The best principal and the best teachers I've seen! They genuinely care about the kids and walk the talk! And the kids feel that and love school! Can't ask for a better environment!

I’ve been in Kellom prek-6th and I loved this school and some of its teachers, especially the counselors. I only had one bad experience with Leslie Douglas, a second grade teacher that had moved to skinner elementary. She targeted me from no reason, skipping me when giving out candy, not helping me with my work, telling me I’m spelling a word wrong until the due date of the assignment when I had the word spelled correctly the whole time, letting kids pick on me and talk down on my mom, refusing for me to get 3rds when the rest of the class did because of my size, and getting near my face when I didn’t understand a multiplication problem. There’s even been times were the principal called the class up for questioning because of her cussing on accident on the phone. She always put on a good teacher act when my mom was around, Trust me I was never a bad or difficult kid, to this day I have a very clean record so people have no reason to target me or treat me as if I cause trouble. I definitely would recommend this school now that Leslie Douglas has moved.

My two daughters attend this school--both are very different in personality and aptitude. Duchesne has allowed both girls to flourish while challenging each to grow into young women who can think and express herself well. Very thankful for this school!

I think the primary grades Pre-K-5 are great but question when kids get into middle school. For middle schoolers (6-8 grades) there is only talking at lunch, and one recess during the day. No talking in hallways, home room or when switching classes. They are not supposed to even talk at P.E or art. They are graded on how they act in mass and older students are required to sit by and help discipline the K, 1 and 2nd graders. They have some kind of church twice a week for an hour plus religion class. Lunch is 15 minutes for middle schoolers. They get 2 bathroom passes a week per class. The school issues "Passports" that publicly shame kids if their behavior doesn't meet their satisfaction. The middle school teachers have a group chat that talks about behavior of kids and who should be issued a Passport. There are limited opportunities for middle schoolers: no math club, drama club, etc, really only sports are offered. There is no foreign language. The school has a lot of days off which makes it hard for working parents, and there is no remote learning. There is a lot more time spent on discipline vs learning. The kids sit 4 at a table at lunch, even if that means a kid as to sit alone at a table by themselves because a maximum of 4 kids at lunch are allowed to sit together so one child might sit alone at lunch. The principal makes sure to have the one child sit alone without any friends at lunch if more than 4 are seated at a table. There is no communication between the teachers and the parents. The teachers send kids to the office, so they don't have to deal with actually learning how to discipline kids and gaining respect with the kids which leads to the kids have limited respect in return. Once some teachers have it out for your child, they will continuously get in trouble even if they didn't have any part in the wrongdoing. They don't want kids to be kids; and have unrealistic expectations for kids' natural fun behavior. The newer teachers issue detentions regularly and publicly shame kids in front of their peers for subjective behavior. And the school asks for a lot of donations so the church can fund other things besides the school. And the Principal looks at the cameras in the hallways to watch what the kids are doing.