Ritta Elementary School

My husband I messed up. While house hunting last year I was always vigilant in checking the school district first. Then one weekend I didn't check the district's for the houses we were going to see. Fell in love with the house but we're now stuck here. I will definitely be home schooling for middle and we plan to sell this place before my kids reach High school. No way in hell would I send them to Fulton. We thought the Elementary school wouldn't be so bad. Until my then 8 year old daughter came home in the first week in tears. She was shunned and bullied because she's smart and soft spoken. Straight A honor roll student. A group of girls made fun of her and told her they won't be her friend because she's white. Seriously. Up until that point she and her older brother by a year were unaware that racism is a thing. Tried to email and call the teacher about it and never got a response. I'm absolutely disgusted. My two older ones have been going here since April 2017 and my youngest will be starting Kindergarten in August. Hopefully we can move before then.

My daughter attended NWMS for 5 years, and in that time, we saw her go from being an enthusiastic and curious learner to hating anything academic, especially school. She didn't learn to read, and, in fact, the school encouraged us to get her tested for learning disabilities and ADHD (this is very common - they suggest most kids get tested and/or seek counseling because it is ALWAYS the kid's problem, and not the school's problem - according to them, of course). We had to get tutoring outside of school because the school is not equipped to offer any help or additional assistance. I will also add that they teach from a whole language approach instead of teaching phonics, and as a result, most students there suffer from "dyslexia" and have reading struggles for years. And if that isn't enough to deter you, the teachers and staff say that they use positive discipline, but children as young as 3 are put in time out in the hall (alone), yelled at by adults, and/or sent to the admin's office, and children are sent home and kicked out routinely. Bullying is a huge problem, with students not being encouraged to share or include others, and the teachers favor some kids over others. They wanted to send my daughter home for acting out some after we had a new baby - she was attempting to get attention from friends by talking during work time, nothing crazy! She has been attending another Montessori school in the area and learned to read, fluently and at grade level, in one year due to proper instruction. Her new school said it was obvious she had school trauma from attending NWMS, and that they frequently see that with kids who switch from NWMS. Heed my advice and make a better choice for your child.