St. Cloud Elementary School

I am a parent in forest street school and I can confirm it is a amazing school . Parents if you want a school to enroll your kids into please choose this one.

This school is a disgrace! They don’t take bullying serious at all! My child started in January after being transferred from moving and almost immediately was bullied by a popular student who ended up turning nearly the entire 7th grade against my daughter. The principal NEVER responded to my emails about this matter UNTIL I went above his head! The boy that bullied my daughter was able to still stay in the same class as my daughter up until the very last day of school. Aside from that the school is disgusting especially the bathrooms my daughter took pics to show me and as far as academics my daughter came there as an honor roll student and left as one.

My 2 children have attended South Mountain Elementary ("The Big School") and South Mountain Annex (just down the street) over the past 4 years. Strong academic and social emotional focus at these schools. Homework was light K-2, but picked up around 3rd grade. Older grades focus on teaching grit and self-reliance. When one of my children started falling behind in reading, the school connected him with a reading specialist who worked with him in a small group until he caught up to the rest of the class. Now he's reading at a grade level above expectation, thanks to the individual attention. His confidence is back and he's excelling across subjects. When my other child started showing developmental delays, the school provided in-class supports to ensure he has what he needs to succeed. Strong PTA and community engagement -- fall/spring festivals, back to school night, book fairs. The kids take walking field trips to the Reservation, plus bus trips to the zoo or local museums/arboretums. The Kindergarten kids have their own "Kinder Garden." There is a social worker in the school who helps children with food/resource insecurity or other family issues. There is a musical for kids in the older grades. Lots of diversity compared to other towns nearby - in fact, 17% of the kids at South Mountain identify as mixed race. Cultural day is awesome, as lots of kids have interesting and unique backgrounds and food/religious cultures to share. The one piece of critical feedback that I have is around the overall liberal mindset of this town overall, and its impact on learning. When we prioritize funding and overall resourcing at the district-level, sometimes big ideas take precedence over practical application. For example, during Covid, we were so preoccupied with keeping schools closed (in the name of equity, moreso than safety, as data showed that kids were relatively insulated from the worst of the effects of the pandemic), we unfortunately let learning slip for ALL groups.

I saw some other reviews here about the lack of support for not "fitting the mold", or students with learning challenges. We absolutely felt this way when we first came to Golda Och, but this year we have seen a *major* improvement and truly commend the school for the new support staff they hired, and accommodations made. All of the teachers and learning specialists truly care about the wellbeing of the students, and put in great effort to make my child feel comfortable this year. No school is perfect, but we are glad we chose Golda Och and would recommend it to others.