Hamilton El School

I’m at a loss with how many stars to rate it tbh. There are some good things but when you have conflict with staff and you try to follow protocol as far as the chain of command for trying to address issues, things just basically get swept under the rug. Staff just seems to stick together and teachers treat your kids any way they please. My son told me about his art teacher the other day and was visibly uncomfortable going to the class. I communicated these things to the teacher and got absolutely nowhere because he lied. My son’s story was consistent. My daughter confirmed how rude this teacher is saying he yells at the class. There are some nice things but I just do not understand why they allow teachers to be nasty to the children. This isn’t the first time this happened either. Another teacher was known for being really mean yet when I complained about it and stood up for my daughter, I was treated like I was the problem.

A lot of fighting is happening.The teacher act like they don’t want to help you and be mean,look at you ,like you did something wrong.And makes you feel like you did something wrong by the way they talk to you.The teacher looked at me raising my hand and ignored me when I need help. I go up to them for help they say they can’t help me.

I must say that 3 yrs ago when my daughter started attending this school I was constantly concern about safety, teaching strategies, communication with staff, and almost every aspect necessary for a school...however, I am very pleased to see that despite of their VERY LIMITED funds, I have seen improvements since 2014 up until now. Even the new principal seems to be doing exceptionally. Understand this school is in the midst of our lowest income area of the city but it gives peace of mind to see their efforts to improve despite their limitations. My daughter loves this school and the staff are dedicated to help. Teachers volunteer often and even cover out of their own pockets for field trips for the children. That's something you wont find in other schools.

Our daughter attended NSM for third grade and half of fourth grade,and while she was happy and academically stimulated in the lowerelementary class, she was bullied and taunted in her upper elementaryclass.In lower elementary, her teachers were incredibly nurturing and wefelt that she was part of a kind, open, and accepting community. Herteachers got her excited about new topics like deep time, history andgeography.Upper elementary, unfortunately, was a nightmare. She was physicallyattacked, isolated, excluded, and bullied daily. A pair boys took tofrequently calling her a "nerd" and a "dork." Our daughter reportedthat a group of students never seemed to be engaged in their work butinstead spent their time in the hallway gossiping and taunting others.After she started waking up in the middle of the night shaking andtalking about feeling deeply isolated at the school, we decided topull her out mid-year.While initially thought NSM would be a good fit because it emphasizesallowing children to follow their passions, we found that few of ourdaughter's peers seemed interested in academics which deepened herisolation. Our daughter often spent less than an hour a week on mathat the school, and while she learned no new math in a year and a halfat NSM (she did get extra practice on material she'd already learned),we were fortunate to find that Mathnasium was able to rekindle herinterest in the subject and keep her learning.Reflecting on our daughter's unhappy experience in upper elementary,we think there are some random reasons things didn't go well for her,like ending up in a class with a group of kids she didn't connectwith. We also think there were more systemic reasons, such as the verysmall class size, the lack of emphasis on academics, and thepermissive environment.Our daughter's experience at NSM was by no means universal, and wehope that sharing their experience will provide more information tofamilies considering the school. Our daughter is now thriving bothsocially and academically in her local public school.