River Grove Elementary School

If your child is a person of color or special needs do not send them to this school. A kid broke my child’s arm and even made a special needs student with Down syndrome have to transfer due to extreme bullying. After several times of reporting to the staff what is going on, the staff and teachers always pick the side of white people. They do not care about the well-being or education of your child. Despite the child bullying my son has a bad reputation at school, the school decided to not do anything, nor contact the child’s parents. The majority of the teachers do not care about the students education but rather just want them to get to next grade level. The teachers also do not care about building a welcoming education for students of color (black and Hispanic). Most of the teachers will turn a blind eye if they see an injustice happening between a person of color and a white person. The only good teacher my son has had was Mrs. Davidson, who always cared about my sons education and well-being and didn’t fail to contact me about the concerns she had about my child wether that was educational/mental health. She always made sure to include me in my child’s education and didn’t turn a blind eye when injustice was happening.

After a long search and touring handfuls of private and public schools, we chose to move to the district to attend Stafford. The impression the school, the leadership, the quality staff and tenure of the teachers made on us was also felt by my incoming kindergartener. He finally blossomed and thrived in the classroom, unlike any setting we had him in previously. We cannot say enough great things about our experience. Next year we will be sending our second child here as well to start kindergarten. The things that stand out about Stafford include the security (which was far superior to that of other schools we toured), the sense of community and family involvement, the academic record, how experienced and committed the teachers are and the immense resources available to push the gifted, pull up those behind, and work within an inclusive model. Just amazing. I have a unique situation as a business owner in the community and had long heard other parents speak very highly of Stafford and encouraged me to send my kids when they were old enough. I feel the same way about sharing with other parents.